Almost one-third of the healthcare organizations in the Asia-Pacific region are well aligned with their ecosystem, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). However, sustainability lies in effectively handling the challenges of healthcare organizations, by sensing the future technological trends.
IDC recently released its Asia-Pacific market outlook. The predictions provide the Digital Health trends in the region -- enabling healthcare organizations to be proactive, instead of merely being reactive.
The study emphasizes a rapid shift from hospital-centric to patient-centric care delivery. Widespread deployment of Telehealth services led consumers in the region to look at integrated (hybrid) care.
Medical 'Care Anywhere' Market Development
Although digital front door strategy plays a critical role across the care continuum, a combination of physical and digital access -- while defining and designing hybrid integrated care -- must be ensured for countries in the region.
According to the IDC assessment, unique ecosystem models are essential in addressing the digital divide by including the most remote rural patients. The IDC study reviewed widening gaps across healthcare, ignoring chronic disease patients, and digital skill-shortage as the key challenges.
"The transformative change that the healthcare industry in Asia-Pacific is currently navigating through is primarily driven by consumer preferences, HealthTech firms, and evolving ecosystems," says Manoj Vallikkat, research manager at IDC.
Going forward, as the shift from hospital-centric care to patient-centric care happens, stakeholders of the healthcare ecosystem in the Asia-Pacific region will have increased focus on a 'Care Anywhere' approach, which is increasingly data-driven, to make the care system more accessible, affordable, and scalable.
IDC’s top 10 predictions provide guidance for executive leaders on how to best navigate the healthcare ecosystem moving forward:
- Privacy, Monetization, and Consent: By 2024, multiple governments in Asia-Pacific will tighten regulations regarding health data sharing, consent, and monetization after at least five overaggressive incidents exploiting interoperability.
- Value-Based Infrastructure: By 2024, 50 percent of healthcare organizations' attempts to scale value-based care models will fail unless they invest in data-driven governance, operations, and organizational infrastructure in Asia-Pacific.
- Personalized Care: By 2025, 30 percent of chronic care patients in Asia-Pacific will truly own and openly leverage their personal health information to advocate for, secure, and realize better personalized care.
- Care Anywhere: Through 2024, growth in online digital programs in Asia-Pacific will increase discontinuity of care and data fragmentation, resulting in a doubling of a patients’ risk for adverse medical events.
- AI-Driven Predictive Care: By 2025, 35 percent more providers in Asia-Pacific will have adopted AI-driven solutions and algorithms to support predictive care models.
- Next-Generation Workforce: By 2026, 50 percent of healthcare organizations in Asia-Pacific will rely on hybrid workplaces and models to battle digital burnout, reframe workforce roles, and create seamless employee experiences.
- Prescription Digital Therapeutics: By 2026, the market for prescription digital therapeutics in Asia-Pacific will more than triple, led by mental health and chronic conditions, blurring the boundaries between healthcare and life sciences.
- 5G Networks: By 2026, one out of three hospitals in Asia-Pacific will be 5G enabled to accelerate innovation in medical imaging, remote care, the Internet of medical things, and immersive services.
- CRAACO: Integrated research organizations in Asia-Pacific will double in number by 2027, fueling the adoption of clinical research as a care option within the healthcare ecosystem.
- Ambient Interfaces: By 2027, ambient interfaces powered by intelligent speech recognition, sensors, and/or gesture-based controls will be used by 40 percent of healthcare professionals and 20 percent of households in Asia-Pacific.
Outlook for Medical 'Care Anywhere' Apps Growth
Fueled by the COVID-19 global pandemic, digitally-enabled remote care and clinical trials will drive 70 percent growth across the globe in spending on connected health technologies by healthcare service providers and life science companies during 2023.
That said, I anticipate the digital transformation mission of forward-looking healthcare system leaders will be to create a value-based medical capability focused on shifting from legacy "sick care" to more creative "wellness care" -- based upon preventive medicine and lifestyle outcome-oriented goals.