Source: EDB Singapore
We spoke with Dr Zubin J Daruwalla, the Health Industries Leader of PwC Singapore and take a look at why digital health is set to disrupt Southeast Asia’s (SEA) growing healthcare industry, and how Singapore empowers companies for growth in SEA.
“COVID-19 has most certainly imposed what was already a long time coming,” says PwC Singapore’s Health Industries Leader, Dr Zubin Daruwalla. The pandemic has accelerated the arrival of what he terms the New Health Economy (NHE) – the future of healthcare.
With the NHE, the delivery and innovation of healthcare solutions are now guided by consumer needs, giving rise to digital health solutions that directly connect provider and patient. From telehealth to remote patient analytics, COVID-19 has normalised the use of digital solutions in our everyday lives, transforming healthcare norms.
For example, when Singapore’s first digital health startup, MyDoc, launched in 2012, the company faced resistance from consumers and clinical practitioners who favoured in-person consultations. During the pandemic, MyDoc’s COVID-19 clinic saw a 32-fold jump in weekly sign-up rates in its first weekend.
This growing openness to HealthTech innovations is a boon to the region’s markets, addressing immediate needs as well as longstanding problems of access and unequal standards of healthcare across SEA.Returning to school within two days of a concussion can lead to faster recovery in children and youth, according to a new Canadian study. The findings run contrary to a popular belief that time off school is best following a concussion, which is a type of traumatic brain injury.
"As a pediatric emergency physician who treats hundreds of youths with new and persistent concussion symptoms, I see far too many kids who are told to avoid school until they are symptom-free which can cause more harm and delay the recovery process," the study's senior author, Dr. Roger Zemek, said in a news release. "The results of this study provide strong evidence that an early return to school is associated with better outcomes."
Zemek is a senior scientist at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Research Institute in Ottawa, and the clinical research chair in pediatric concussion at the University of Ottawa. Published Friday in the peer-reviewed medical journal JAMA Network Open, part of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the study examined 1,630 youth aged five to 18 from nine Canadian pediatric emergency departments.
Although many medical groups recommend taking a day or two off school following a concussion, the study found that youth aged eight to 18 who returned to school within two days of a concussion were more likely to experience lower symptom burden and faster recoveries at two weeks, when compared with those who stayed at home longer. While the most symptomatic patients actually saw the greatest benefits, the same results were not observed in children aged five to seven.
"This study shows that children should make every effort to return to school even if they are still experiencing symptoms as it will help with their recovery process," explained Zemek, who also leads the Living Guideline for Pediatric Concussion Care, which provides up-to-date clinical recommendations and tools for managing youth with concussions.
The Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) says that following a concussion, children "may have to initially stay home from school, as schoolwork can make symptoms worse."
"But, with support from the school, it is recommended that they go back as soon as they are able," the national group adds in its current concussion recommendations. "It is not necessary to wait until symptoms are entirely gone before returning."
The new study suggests that an early return to school may provide therapeutic benefits through socialization, reduced stress from not missing classes, maintaining a normal sleep-wake schedule, and returning to light-to-moderate physical activity. The study adds that a future clinical trial will be required to determine the best timing for returning to school following a concussion.
"In this cohort study of youth aged 5 to 18 years, these results supported the growing belief that prolonged absences from school and other life activities after a concussion may be detrimental to recovery," the study states. "An early return to school may be associated with a lower symptom burden and, ultimately, faster recovery."
Trends fuelling HealthTech growth opportunities in Southeast Asia
Demand for quality healthcare in SEA is projected to keep growing. In the region’s largest six nations alone, public healthcare expenditure will double to US$740 billion (S$1,012 billion) between 2017 and 2025, driven by demographics and risk behaviours such as obesity and smoking.
Enter technology, which enables swathes of SEA’s population to leapfrog healthcare access hurdles, manage healthcare needs and improve their quality of life.
The region is enjoying strong growth in telehealth, digital therapeutics, diagnostics, remote patient monitoring and analytics. PwC had observed this in the “Digital Healthcare Leap” as far back as 2016.
Increased consumer demand for healthcare on fingertips
For SEA consumers in this mobile-first region, HealthTech solutions are increasingly becoming a lifestyle staple. Digital tools are bringing healthcare solutions to consumers’ fingertips, giving them access to customised, patient-first healthcare experiences.
For instance, the region’s leading ‘superapp’ now offers integrated healthcare content, consultations, and medicine purchases, thanks to a collaboration between regional ride-hailing tech company Grab and digital healthcare leader Ping An Good Doctor.
Pan-Asian insurance firms are collaborating with HealthTech startups to integrate digital solutions within their suite of services, such as AIA’s partnership with Holmusk and Cigna and AIG’s partnership with Doctor Anywhere.
Digital therapeutics are also on the rise, offering evidence-based personalised care. Mobio Interactive’s Am Mindfulness app, for instance, is the first clinically-validated health platform that lowers users’ anxiety and stress levels through computer vision and artificial intelligence (AI), made accessible to patients through their smart phone cameras.
New technologies enabling efficient service delivery
HealthTech innovations are also unlocking faster and more effective medical intervention for healthcare providers, by complementing clinical practices and improving healthcare outcomes.
With the pandemic shining a spotlight on diagnostic innovations, recent innovations include Breathonix’s breathalyser-type diagnostic test kit that detects COVID-19 under a minute, and Veredus’s lab-on-chip technology for pathogen detection that enables portable point-of-care testing.
Remote monitoring is also shifting healthcare from hospitals to homes. For instance, Singapore’s Ministry of Health Office for Healthcare Transformation’s remote monitoring and SMS chatbot supports patients with diseases such as diabetes, a source of major concern in
the region.
Hospitals are also leveraging data analytics for insights. Healthcare corporation Fullerton Health and healthcare analytics company Health Catalyst are partnering up for customised, data-driven solutions to improve Fullerton Health’s clinical, financial and operational performance across the region.
For HealthTech companies and investors ready to take on SEA, Dr Daruwalla offers the following tips:
1. Involve the right clinician innovator early
2. Validate the problem statements and proposed solutions way upfront
3. Ensure awareness of the various existing corporate structures and funding mechanisms
4. Develop a strong understanding of the regulatory landscape across the region and beyond
5. Build a robust business case and strategy
6. Understand health data, how to use and govern it, and identify the value that can be derived from it
7. Strengthen your position in Singapore as a launch pad for not only regional but also global expansion
Singapore: Southeast Asia’s digital health innovations hub
Singapore stands out as an attractive base for HealthTech companies hungry for regional growth.
According to Dr Daruwalla, Singapore has all the ecosystem elements for a healthy digital healthcare market:
1. Disruptive healthtech startups
Today there are over 400 HealthTech start-ups in Singapore, up from just about 141 some four years ago. Health and BioTech sub-sectors saw funding to the tune of S$342 million in the first half for 2020, way above S$230 million the sector garnered during the whole of 2019, according to PwC’s Tech start-up funding trends and outlook: Singapore report.
2. Strong regulatory guidelines for healthtech
Singapore’s National Telemedicine Guidelines and other similar frameworks have set clear principles around areas such as AI and data governance, medical devices, and telemedicine. This fosters high levels of consumer and practitioner trust and enables the smooth test-bedding and commercialisation of new products and services.
3. Seamless access to health information
Singapore’s health information infrastructure is digitised and centralised. From as early as 2011, the National Electronic Health Record (NEHR) system has consolidated patient records on a shared database to enable holistic assessments and interventions across service providers.
4. Assurance of data security
Patient data security is taken seriously, with the Personal Data Protection Act introduced in 2012 and advisory guidelines for healthcare were issued to address the sector’s unique circumstances.
5. Public-private collaboration on patient-centred digital innovation
Public health agencies are partnering the private sector on solutions that place the patient at its heart.
For example, Singapore’s Health Promotion Board and Apple’s first-of-its-kind LumiHealth programme employs behavioural insights from the Apple Watch to encourage user adoption of healthier lifestyles over a longer period of time.
With such a conducive environment, Singapore has been unofficially dubbed “ASEAN’s sandbox for digital innovation,” producing a growing range of solutions.
Having worked closely with multiple HealthTech startups, Dr Daruwalla shares that: “Extensive experience in strategy to execution is key to greatly reducing the time and hassle taken by startups in their journey. It’s important to recognise the variation in needs, based on each startup’s maturity levels. Also, what goes a long way is the willingness to get to the ground level with these startups in executing winning strategies, as well as helping them to manage scaled up operations.”
Keeping pace: The future of HealthTech growth in SEA
Growing HealthTech adoption is coming at a time when innovations are delivering holistic and meaningful outcomes, as well as greater convenience for consumers, patients, and healthcare systems across SEA.
Singapore’s robust healthcare ecosystem is an attractive base for HealthTech companies stepping up to address current challenges and to deliver higher quality and more efficient healthcare services for the region.
And with demand expected to keep growing, the healthcare space in SEA is no longer just ripe with opportunity — it is bearing fruit for intrepid innovators.