How can hospitals adapt as care shifts beyond their walls?

China, India, and Japan are driving growth in the telehealth market.

Hospitals in the Asia-Pacific region are no longer the default site of care as services shift into homes, communities, and digital platforms, raising pressure on traditional facilities to redefine their role.

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd. said health systems are redesigning care pathways beyond hospital walls, marking a structural shift in delivery models across the region.

Care is already being delivered outside hospitals at scale, supported by rapid growth in telehealth and virtual care across major Asia-Pacific markets.

China, India, and Japan are driving growth in the telehealth market, Polaris Market Research & Consulting, Inc. said, projecting the market will reach $898.97b by 2034 from $128.77b last year.

Virtual care is increasingly embedded in health systems through remote consultations, monitoring, and integrated platforms that extend clinical services beyond hospital infrastructure.

eHealth NSW, the digital health and information technology arm of New South Wales (NSW) Health in Australia, said virtual care is integrated into routine delivery, enabling coordination across hospital and community settings.

The shift is visible in practice. In Australia, NSW Health’s Hospital in the Home programme delivers hospital-level treatment in patients’ homes. In Singapore, initiatives led by the Ministry of Health Office for Healthcare Transformation provide inpatient-level care outside traditional facilities.

Health systems across the Asia-Pacific region are also expanding outpatient services and strengthening community-based care, alongside a stronger focus on prevention and early intervention.

DataCube Research Pvt. Ltd. cited sustained growth in outpatient care across the region, reinforcing the move away from hospital-centric delivery. Hospitals are increasingly focused on high-acuity and complex cases rather than routine care.

However, infrastructure investment continues to favour traditional models. VynZ Research said hospital bed capacity is still expanding in some parts of the region.

This reflects a mismatch between evolving care models and legacy planning frameworks, even as systems face cost and workforce pressures.

The question for hospitals is how they adapt. Integration of digital tools and coordination with community services will be central to that transition.

As health systems evolve, hospitals are likely to remain key but increasingly as coordination hubs rather than default treatment sites.

Questions to ponder:

1. How quickly can hospitals shift from treatment sites to coordination hubs?
2. Will infrastructure investment align with decentralised care delivery?