Why are Asia-Pacific hospitals slow to adopt outcome-based care?

More than half of doctors want care tied to patient outcomes.

More than half of doctors across the Asia-Pacific region are more interested in payment models tied to patient outcomes than they were two years ago, but fewer than a third say their hospitals have implemented them, exposing gaps in data, treatment standards, and reporting systems.

“Doctors are specific about what would move them: evidence-based treatment protocols, more reliable data systems, and a lower reporting burden,” Bain & Company, Inc. said in its 2026 Asia-Pacific survey.

The poll covered 600 doctors in Australia and the Philippines and 6,300 consumers across nine markets. Bain said the Asia-Pacific region accounts for 60% of the world’s population but only 22% of global healthcare spending.

Value-based care ties healthcare payments to patient outcomes rather than the number of services provided. Hospitals need standard treatment procedures and reliable data before taking greater financial responsibility for those outcomes, Bain said.

China’s experience shows what payment reform can achieve. A study published in BMC Health Services Research in April found that hospitals using diagnosis-related group payment, which pays based on a patient’s condition rather than each service provided, cut hospitalisation costs by more than 19%.

The study found no significant change in readmission or mortality rates, meaning lower costs did not coincide with changes in those measures.

Singapore faces a different challenge. A March analysis in the International Journal of Integrated Care found that smaller clinics adopting fixed payments per patient under Healthier SG faced difficulties managing financial risk because of their limited scale and resources.

Bain said providers should standardise treatment before taking greater financial risk for patient outcomes. Payers and hospitals also need common outcome measures, connected data systems, and simpler reporting requirements.

Doctors appear ready for payment models that reward better outcomes, but hospitals still need the systems to make them work.

Questions to ponder:

• What should hospitals build first before shifting away from fee-for-service payments?
• How can smaller clinics manage the financial risks of outcome-based payments?
• How can governments reduce reporting requirements without weakening accountability?