InterSystems survey finds Asian private hospitals expanding digital capabilities to support patient-focused transformation

Private hospitals in South East Asia end their use of paper records, enabling transformational changes such as value-based care initiatives, although system interoperability remains a barrier.

Private hospitals in South East Asia will dramatically expand the capabilities of their healthcare information systems over the next five years to support transformational changes such as value-based care initiatives and better care coordination, according to a survey by InterSystems, a global leader in information technology platforms for health, business and government.

“Private hospitals in South East Asia operate in a highly competitive environment where they need to differentiate themselves to attract patients with high expectations and wanting the best clinical care,” said Kerry Stratton, Managing Director, South East Asia at InterSystems. “With digital transformation private hospitals can innovate and stand out from the competition by providing a superior patient experience and the highest levels of clinical excellence.”

Survey Highlights
Drivers for Digital Transformation

1. Internal process efficiencies – 78%
2. The need to innovate – 75%
3. Patient expectations – 73%

Barriers to Digital Transformation

1. Change management challenges – 61%
2. System interoperability challenges – 55%
3. Lack of qualified staff – 45%

Changes in System Capabilities in 5 years

1. Real-time big data analysis – up from 13% to 69%
2. Artificial intelligence – up from 5% to 56%
3. Use of paper records – down from 56% to 6%

Transformational Changes in 5 years

1. Value-based care initiatives – up from 16% to 64%
2. Care coordination with outside organizations – up from 22% to 58%
3. Analysis of clinical information about groups of patients – up from 19% to 52%

New Digital Technology Capabilities
Many hospitals claim to be digital today, thanks to the adoption of electronic medical records (EMRs), which provide the foundation for digital transformation. But according to the InterSystems survey, Taking the Pulse of Digital Transformation in Healthcare – South East Asia, most Asian private hospitals are still in the process of phasing out paper records and need to make additional investments for data to flow across the continuum of health and care.

Private hospitals will almost completely end the use of paper-based records in favor of fully digital systems within five years, however. While 56% of survey respondents said they currently use paper-based records, the figure is expected to fall to only 6% of private hospitals in five years.

The move to the full digitization of health information will pave the way for a range of new digital technology capabilities. The survey found that most Asian private hospitals expect to implement real-time big data analysis capabilities over the next five years, with the proportion increasing from 13% of hospitals currently to 69% in five years.

Around half of private hospitals surveyed expect to implement artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, with the figure rising from 5% currently to 56% in five years. Nearly half of private hospitals will implement support for remote patient monitoring systems (e.g. in-home devices), with the percentage increasing from 6% currently to 53% in five years.

Transformational Changes
The InterSystems survey found that new digital technology capabilities will enable many transformational changes at private hospitals. The biggest is expected to be a move to support value-based care initiatives – an alternative to fee-for-service reimbursement. Currently only 16% of Asian hospitals’ digital systems support value-based care initiatives, a figure expected to quadruple to 64% in five years.

The second-biggest change is expected to be supporting care coordination with outside organizations, rising from 22% currently to 58% in five years. The third was ability to analyze clinical information about groups (cohorts) of patients, increasing from 19% currently to 52% of private hospitals in five years. The fourth-biggest change was the ability to support patient wellness strategies, up from 36% currently to 63% in the same time period.

“The entire customer experience needs to be taken into account while planning a hospital’s digital transformation, and the good news is that this is starting to happen,” said Stratton. “The most common transformational changes that Asian private hospitals expect to make – whether improving the value they receive, better targeted treatments, improved care coordination, or wellness strategies – all have a strong focus on the patient.”

To create the survey, 70 senior executives were polled at 28 leading private hospitals across Asian countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. You can download the full Taking the Pulse of Digital Transformation in Healthcare – South East Asia survey report here.

About InterSystems
InterSystems is the information engine that powers some of the world’s most important applications. In healthcare, business, government, and other sectors where lives and livelihoods are at stake, InterSystems has been a strategic technology provider since 1978. InterSystems is a privately held company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts (USA), with offices worldwide, and its software products are used daily by millions of people in more than 80 countries. For more information, please visit https://www.intersystems.com/.