- Findings indicate that APAC's healthcare leaders are
championing predictive analytics, but staff's lack of experience with new
technologies is impeding planning for more than half
- Anticipation of care delivery outside the hospital in the future, but
some in the region are not prioritizing virtual care now
- Largest global survey of its kind features critical insights from almost 3,000
healthcare leaders across 14 countries on meeting the demands of today and their vision
for healthcare three years from now
SINGAPORE - Media OutReach - 6 May 2021 - Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology,
today announced the publication of its Future Health Index (FHI) 2021 report:
'A Resilient Future: Healthcare leaders look beyond the crisis'. Now in its sixth year, the Future Health Index 2021
report is based on proprietary research across 14 countries, including the APAC
region (Australia, China, India, and Singapore), representing the
largest global survey of its kind to analyze the current and future priorities
of healthcare leaders worldwide.
Feedback
from healthcare leaders – including executive officers, financial officers,
technology and information officers, operating officers and more – explores the challenges they have
faced since the onset of the pandemic, and where their current and future
priorities lie, revealing a new vision for the future of healthcare. With a
focus on patient-centred healthcare enabled by smart technology, their vision
is shaped by a fresh emphasis on partnerships, sustainability and new models of
care delivery, both inside and outside the hospital.
A mixed outlook
According
to Philips' report, nearly three quarters (72%) of APAC healthcare leaders are
confident in their hospital or healthcare facility's ability to deliver quality
healthcare in the next three years. Although this is overwhelmingly positive
after the challenges of the pandemic, APAC'S confidence levels are slightly
below the average (75%) healthcare leader across the 14 countries that Philips
surveyed.
The Future
Health Index 2021 report also reveals significant differences in optimism
across the APAC region, with many more healthcare leaders in Singapore (84%)
feeling confident, compared to those in China (58%) and Australia (66%).
"APAC's healthcare systems have
all shown resilience in their responses to the pandemic, however when it comes
to confidence about the future, we're seeing a mixed picture - with Singapore
pulling ahead of other countries across Asia," said Caroline Clarke, Market
Leader and EVP, Philips ASEAN Pacific. "While crisis response will continue to
be a priority for many healthcare leaders in the months ahead, it is important
that they look to the future too, to ensure that they don't fall behind in
technology upgrades and progress towards healthcare digitization."
Increased anticipation of
care delivery outside the hospital, but some in region failing to prioritize
virtual care now
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated radical shifts
in care delivery for both patients and providers around the world and the Future
Health Index 2021 report reveals that, as APAC's healthcare leaders consider what
comes next, many are pragmatic about where and how care is delivered.
APAC's healthcare
leaders expect that, three years from now, on average around a quarter (25%) of
routine care delivery will take place outside the walls of a hospital or
healthcare facility, up from 22% today.
Despite this,
prioritization of virtual care is patchy across the region. Healthcare leaders
in India are among the most likely of all countries surveyed to currently
prioritize a shift to remote/virtual care (75%) – well ahead of the average
healthcare leader response across the 14 countries surveyed (42%). However,
countries in the rest of region are lagging behind with only around four in ten
in Singapore (40%), around one in three in China (32%) and about one in four in
Australia (27%) making it a current priority.
The fall-out of
dealing with COVID-19 could be what is distracting APAC's healthcare leaders
from making remote/virtual care a greater focus, with more than half (60%)
saying that preparing to respond to crises is their primary priority right now
and 58% citing the pandemic as the main external factor that is impeding their
ability to plan for the future.
There are also
regional disparities in terms of how and where virtual care will be delivered
in the future. Singapore is blazing the trail for shifting routine care from
hospitals to home settings – while those
surveyed in Singapore said that just 19% of routine care being provided outside
of the hospital is currently delivered in the home, they predict that 45% will
be delivered at home three years from now, a bold target which is far higher
than the APAC[1]
average (18%).
By comparison, despite
healthcare leaders overwhelmingly prioritizing a shift to remote/virtual care
in India, only 5% see the home as a prominent location for routine care
delivery there three years from now. Instead, most feel that ambulatory primary
care centers like urgent care and walk-in clinics (57%) and out-of-hospital
procedural environments like ambulatory surgical centers and office-based labs
(33%) will be the focus in India.
Predictive
analytics a major focus for the future, but skills gaps must be addressed first
APAC's healthcare
leaders are second only to healthcare leaders in Europe when it comes to championing
predictive analytics; 27% of APAC healthcare leaders agree that their hospital
or healthcare facility needs to invest in implementing predictive technologies,
like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to be prepared for the
future. This is behind Europe's 36% but far above the Middle East & Africa's
6%.
The investment in
AI by APAC healthcare leaders is currently focused primarily on administrative
tasks like automating documentation, scheduling appointments, and improving
workflow, above clinical and diagnostic applications. However, this looks set
to change in the near future as APAC's healthcare leaders look to invest in AI
to predict outcomes (33%), integrate diagnostics (33%) and for clinical
decision support (26%) in three years.
Despite
these ambitions, staff inexperience and staff shortages could impede progress,
if not urgently addressed. Staff's lack of experience with new technologies
ranks among the top internal barriers impeding their ability to prepare for the
future, with about half of APAC's healthcare leaders (51%) citing it as a
current impediment, whilst around one in four (26%) say that staff shortages
are holding them back.
Lack of training is also cited
as one of the biggest barriers to the wider adoption of digital health
technologies by nearly one third (30%), as are difficulties with data
management (41%), likely relating to high volumes of data and a lack of clarity
around ownership.
"The pandemic has confirmed the
viability of remote care but dealing with the current crisis could be
preventing many of APAC's healthcare leaders from prioritizing this as much as
they otherwise would. Likewise, staff inexperience and skill shortages risk
hindering further digitization in the region if not urgently addressed. It is
vital that APAC's healthcare leaders invest in the right training to move
beyond purely administrative applications of these game-changing technologies
to unlock their full potential in the future," added Caroline Clarke.
Industry poised for unprecedented
move on sustainability
Philips' Future Health Index
2021 report also finds that implementing environmental sustainability practices
is set to become a dominant trend in APAC, and across the 14 countries surveyed,
within the next three years.
While not a current concern for
many, 49% of APAC's healthcare leaders expect to prioritize the implementation
of sustainability practices in their hospital or healthcare facility three
years from now, up from just 5% today.
Since 2016, Philips has conducted
original research to help determine the readiness of countries to address
global health challenges and build efficient and effective health systems. For details on the Future Heath methodology and to access the Future Health Index 2021 report in its entirety, visit: https://www.philips.com.sg/a-w/about/news/future-health-index/reports/2021/healthcare-leaders-look-beyond-the-crisis.html.
[1]
APAC countries surveyed for FHI 2021: Australia, China, India, Singapore
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