In 2019, ACCESS Health International (AHI) Southeast Asia, with support from the MetLife Foundation, launched the Fintech for Health program with the objective to explore opportunities at the intersection of finance, technology and healthcare that enable patients to access quality healthcare more affordably and conveniently. Over the last three years, the project worked with numerous partners in the Asia region to make health services accessible and affordable for the lower and low-middle-income population. The project has undertaken knowledge creation and exchange on the application of fintech and insurance across the health ecosystem for various stakeholders including governments, providers, insurers, reinsurers, and startups. Ultimately, the Fintech for Health program supports the tenets of universal health coverage, in its vision that all people can access, affordable and quality care without suffering financial hardship, whereby public and private sector health systems are transparent and effective. ACCESS Health International hosted the Digital Financial Services for Health Regional Conference Asia on February 23, 2023 in New Delhi, India. The conference brought together approximately fifty healthcare experts, thought leaders, industry representatives, and government officials from across India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Singapore in person and online. The program was designed to provide a platform for knowledge-sharing, exchange of ideas, and partnership-building on fintech for health. The conference was inaugurated with an opening remark by Dr. Basant Garg, Addl. CEO and Mission Director, National Health Authority. He emphasized the importance of digital health and its role in advancing the goals of universal health coverage. In 2021, the national health insurance scheme of India, Ayushman Bharat, took a revolutionary step forward to digitize and integrate the health system with the launch of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM). Subsequently, NDHM launched several digital public goods such as the creation of Aadhar – India's unique biometric identification, UPI-India's payment network for inter-bank transfer, and CoWIN – India's digital COVID-19 vaccination platform. He reiterated the adoption and potential to scale in India, giving digital health an incredible opportunity to transform the health system. Ms. Sireesha Perabathina, Senior Consultant and Project Lead for the Fintech for Health program shared the journey of the Fintech for Health program, supported by MetLife Foundation. The presentation highlighted the challenges and successes of working across different countries and cultures to promote the use of digital technology in healthcare. She also emphasized on the key learning of how use of digital public goods can improve cost building of Fintech for Health solutions and collaboration with federal and province / state programs can improve uptake and popularity of Fintech for Health solutions in the region. She also talked about how ecosystem-level capacity building can help advocate for innovative products. Shri Amitabh Kant, the G20 Sherpa for India’s Presidency this year, provided the keynote address to the conference. He highlighted the importance of India’s digital public infrastructure model and the value bringing fintech, health, and digital transformation together globally. Mr. Arvind Gupta, Co-Founder and Head, Digital India Foundation (DIF), shared his expertise on inclusion and identity for millions through a presentation on "India's Digital Public Goods: Story of India Stack." He discussed various models to improve private sector engagement for digital public goods and promoted an exchange of ideas to bring the sectors together for improved penetration and learnings for inclusion. The presentation and interaction with the audience created avenues for further exploration of synergies and work collaboratively through the India Stack. Mr. Avijit Dhar, PMU Lead, National Health Authority (NHA), presented on "Affordable and accessible care through digital public goods and social insurance: Story of Ayushman Bharat." The audience had an interactive session to discuss collaboration with the government on Unified Health Interface and ways to scale the solutions using digital public goods. The discussion also touched on data ownership and privacy concerns, encouraging the uptake of digital public goods among the stakeholders. This marked an interesting exchange between the government representatives and the private sector to further improve the adoption of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission through the private sector. Mr. Mohd Faiz bin Mohd Nor, Lead of Global Alliances at Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), highlighted the many digital growth opportunities in Malaysia. He discussed how Malaysia has been successful in using digital technology to improve healthcare access and delivery. As Malaysia continues on its digital healthcare journey, Mr. Nor shared specific the opportunities for fintech for health companies to work in Malaysia and attract private sector to improve the healthcare ecosystem in the country. The conference also heard from Mr. Ankur Basu, Country Manager of Milvik BIMA, on how BIMA Milvik is enabling Bangladesh's emerging middle-income segments to access primary and secondary care. His presentation was followed by an elaborate discussion on the operational nuances and feasibility of the inclusion of the digital wallet in various programs and systems to scale innovation and access to affordable care. Ms. Beth Lopez, Founder, and CEO of Docosan, shared her experience of how thousands of people in Vietnam received telemedicine and sexual and reproductive healthcare. Her presentation emphasized the importance of using digital technology to improve healthcare access through telemedicine and bundled health kits for self-testing and self-care in rural and remote areas of Vietnam. Ms. Hon Ling Kueh, Senior Vice President, Insurance, Merchantrade Asia, highlighted how financial inclusion and health insurance are instruments for social impact in Malaysia especially for the migrant populations working in Malaysia. These populations lack access to healthcare and are under heavy stress of out-of-pocket expenditure on health. Her presentation highlighted the importance of health coverage and affordable health solutions to achieve health outcomes. Addressing the conference, Pallavi Tak, Vice President of Programs at CIIE.Co, spoke about how to scale social enterprises working at the intersection of health and financial inclusion. She emphasized the importance of collaboration between different stakeholders and the role of digital technology in scaling social impact. Her talk provided valuable and practical insights on how to leverage digital financial services for health to improve healthcare access and affordability. The conference concluded with a panel discussion on paving […]
The Role of Strengthening AI in Health Systems Reform
ACCESS Health Southeast Asia Consultants Miguel Tan and Wen Jin Er recently authored an article for Asian Hospital and Healthcare Management about the role of AI in strengthening health systems. See an excerpt below and read the full article here. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is pushing the frontiers of digital innovation in the current decade. The release of ChatGPT beckons a tipping point of a tech revolution, with its humanlike ability to write codes, poems, and academic reports. AI's potential to disrupt traditional industries, once a pipedream, will be realised in healthcare soon. Private and government investments in AI are increasingly common in healthcare. Between 2022 to 2029, the global AI in healthcare market is projected to grow from US$13.82 billion to a staggering US$164.10 billion1. With boundless healthcare applications such as virtual nursing assistants, research of novel therapies, and medical diagnostics, AI promises to rebuild health systems for the future.
Boosting Private Sector Participation to Achieve Equitable Healthcare in Uttar Pradesh
On January 23rd 2023, ACCESS Health International facilitated a stakeholder consultation workshop for the Government of Uttar Pradesh in collaboration with the State Agency for Comprehensive Health Insurance and Integrated Services (SACHIS)-the state agency for the implantation of Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY)-and NATHEALTH-a federation of healthcare providers-to boost private sector participation for healthcare excellence in the state. Over 100 participants from various private sector partners in India participated in the workshop-including from industry bodies, private multi-speciality hospitals, pharma and diagnostic companies, and healthcare and social enterprises. Through the course of the day-long workshop, a plethora of key insights emerged-particularly those pertaining to pivotal investment prospects for the private sector in the Uttar Pradesh healthcare landscape. The Principal Secretary, Health & Family Welfare presented the Government's Proposed Private Sector Investment Policy that touched upon Viability Gap Funding, land provisions, and other crucial elements to encourage building more healthcare infrastructure in the state. The value proposition of PM-JAY in Uttar Pradesh was also discussed in detail, with the CEO of SACHIS elucidating upon the benefits for private service providers of participating in the insurance scheme and building specialities-especially in areas that have sparse healthcare facilities. The existing Public-Private Partnerships in the state and the avenues for forging new ones were also discussed. The day's proceedings offered a steady stream of insights with the participants from the private sector sharing their learnings to leverage for a fortified healthcare system in the state. From suggestions like bolstering telemedicine services and AI-backed solutions that can help beneficiaries seek treatment even in remote areas to hospitals declaring their intent to join PM-JAY and encouraging others to follow suit. Capacity building of medical personnel, effective healthcare delivery models, and strengthening primary-care facilities were some of areas of discussion that were pursued.
ACCESS Health India to serve on the Advisory Committee of WHO SEARO Forum for Primary Health Care-Oriented Health Systems
ACCESS Health International will serve on the WHO SEARO Advisory Committee to the Regional Forum for Primary Health Care-Oriented Health Systems. The forum was launched at the Regional Workshop to Strengthen Primary Health Care in the South-East Asia Region in Bangkok, Thailand on November 28. Representing ACCESS Health at the forum were Regional Director, South Asia, Dr. Krishna Reddy Nallamalla, Deputy Country Director (Technical) Maulik Chokshi, and Director of Communications, Relations, and Partnerships, Dr Uma Aysola. The Regional PHC Forum will drive action across countries through capturing and facilitating implementation-focused knowledge and experience, strengthened collaboration across development, implementation, and research partners, towards Member State priorities. The forum will also enable joint advocacy for strengthened PHC investment in the Region. Member State priorities and needs will drive the Regional PHC Forum, with partners providing support. The cohort will work on seven thematic tracks under primary healthcare, ACCESS Health will lead the track on financing. The other tracks include PHC workforces, urban PHC, quality of medical products, community, PHC performance monitoring, and assured services. Representatives from SE Asia Region Member States, WHO, USAID, UNICEF, Asian Development Bank, Gates Foundation, JHPIEGO, PATH International, ACCESS Health International, and other relevant partner institutions will serve as an Advisory Committee to the Forum. The Advisory Committee will identify thematic areas and leads, as well as support the preparation and content of regular convening of the SEAR PHC Forum. The Advisory Committee will, as relevant, also seek to guide and enable joint research.
ACCESS Health at Economist Impact: Future of Healthcare Week Asia 2022
Sejal Mistry, Regional Director at ACCESS Health International, participated in a panel session at this year's Economist Impact Future of Healthcare Week Asia. The theme of the panel centered around healthcare financing trends, and how to prioritize health spending to achieve universal healthcare. During the session, panelists discussed how healthcare spending across countries is slowing despite rising inflation, as governments seeking to repair budget deficits after the pandemic. More challenges loom in the horizon, such as the rise in burden of chronic and non-communicable diseases. New innovative financing models are required to fund future healthcare services in Asia. Corporate health insurance was discussed as a means of boosting universal health coverage in the post-pandemic era. To achieve this goal, panelists stressed the importance of a multi-stakeholder ecosystem across the public, private, and civil sector.
ACCESS Health Southeast Asia host inaugural Modern Aging Series Panel
On November 16, ACCESS Health Southeast Asia kicked off the inaugural Modern Aging Series Panel, which explored opportunities for innovation in aging in Singapore and APAC. In attendance were representatives from the industry, including pharma, design, finance, research, social, and the public sector. The first session focused on opportunities in the longevity economy, with speakers highlighting cross-cutting areas for aging innovation, including translational medicine for aging, inclusive consumer products (e.g. travel industry), workplace longevity, and job redesign for older adults. Some key takeaways from the session were: – Prioritize health span over life span: Longevity medicine research and chronic disease management will maximizing the productive years of older adults – Job redesign for older adults must be centered around their needs (e.g. flexible working hours) – Reskilling initiatives should tailor to older adults' learning pace and industry demands. – Workplace and business innovation require cross-industry coalitions to increase workplace inclusivity for older workers. – Every generation of older adults (Boomers, Gen X) has different consumer preferences and literacy that product innovation for aging must factor in. Overall, the inaugural Modern Aging panel reflected a plurality of insights on the potential of longevity economy in local and regional industries, as well as the shared interest in aging innovation.
Financial Inclusion for Universal Health Coverage Summit 2022
On October 18, ACCESS Health International Southeast Asia organized the Financial Inclusion for Universal Health Coverage Summit in collaboration with the Institute of Insurance and Risk Management, Hyderabad. The summit brought together relevant stakeholders and actors from various sectors, including health, finance, and technology. Attendees included start-up founders, central and state government representatives, insurance companies, academicians, development sector partners, and experts. The summit explored a variety of approaches to health financing, financial inclusion, digital transformation, and primary healthcare. ACCESS Health International Southeast Asia will be organizing a follow-up collaborative brainstorming discussion to take these ideas and approaches further.
ACCESS Health SE Asia at Singapore Week of Innovation & Technology (SWITCH)
ACCESS Health Southeast Asia participated in two different events at the Singapore Week of Innovation Technology (SWITCH). On October 25, Vigneswari A, ACCESS Health SE Asia Consultant, moderated a fireside chat with Lauren Liang from Swiss Re, on strengthening universal health coverage (UHC) through innovations in private insurance. The speakers discussed the common challenges facing UHC including: growing healthcare expenditures, the rise in non-communicable diseases, and weak financial protection. The chat concluded by reiterating the importance of public-private partnerships to increase the uptake of private insurance in strengthening UHC. On October 26, ACCESS Health Southeast Asia and AWS Institute organized a panel session on cloud adoption in public health. The session saw Simeen Mirza, Senior Consultant at ACCESS Health SE Asia, present findings from the report Overcoming Barriers to Cloud Adoption in Public Healthcare. This was followed by a discussion with Dr. Suhina Singh from Jonda Health, Farhana Nakhooda from Health Catalyst, Dr. Chet Yong from Amazon Web Services, Leong Kui Lim from Speedoc, and Pak Setiaji from Indonesia's Digital Transformation Office. The panelists reflected on how the Covid-19 pandemic sparked many countries to adopt cloud technology for greater efficiency. More governments and organizations in the region are increasingly investing in cloud and data analytics as they shift towards value-based care. Many common challenges plague cloud adoption in the region, however, such as the lack of digital infrastructure, privacy and security in handling sensitive patient data, and cloud skill gap. Moving forward, panelists agreed it is essential to keep abreast and update data governance regulation, training healthcare workers in cloud literacy, and building data architecture to support cloud usage.
Staff Spotlight: Sejal Mistry
Sejal Mistry is the Regional Director of ACCESS Health Southeast Asia and recently celebrated five years with the organization. She has been the driving force behind building the Southeast Asia office's successful health financing consulting and advisory practice and brings a diverse, international background to the role. Sejal began her career at the US National Institutes of Health, first as a researcher, then as a policy advisor. Much of her education and work experience was focused the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. She studied antiretroviral treatment in South Africa and joined the U.S. PEPFAR initiative. Later, she moved to South Korea and worked for the government as a Senior International Health Advisor on health financing and strategic purchasing. This experience set the foundation for her work on health financing and UHC at ACCESS Health International. Sejal is passionate about healthcare policy at national and international levels and enjoys the "intellectual excitement of being at the forefront of some really unique ideas and approaches" working at ACCESS Health International. She is also grateful to work with smart, dedicated, and caring people, and we are grateful to benefit from her talents.
Financial Inclusion for Universal Health Coverage Summit 2022
ACCESS Health International Southeast Asia co-hosted the Financial Inclusion for Universal Health Coverage Summit on October 18, 2022 with the Institute of Insurance and Risk Management, Hyderabad. The summit was attended by start-up founders, central and state government representatives, insurance companies, industry, academicians, development sector partners and experts. The summit brought together a diverse set of stakeholders and actors from various sectors, including health, finance, and technology. The summit achieved its goal of engaging stakeholders to brainstorm and echo ideas that pave the way to innovation, development, and distribution of digital financial services that help achieve financial inclusion, better health, and ultimately, universal health coverage for the people of India. The stakeholders engaged through two empowering panel discussions on innovation and distribution of digital financial services for health, respectively. Panelists for the event included experts from both the public and private sectors. The summit also included insightful presentations on fintech landscape and opportunities in India based on the report by ACCESS Health International Southeast Asia and on the application of e-RUPI by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The summit discussed numerous ideas and approaches on a variety of topics including health financing, financial inclusion, digital transformation, and primary healthcare. It sets the stage for ACCESS Health International Southeast Asia's upcoming initiatives and activities in India and beyond on integration of digital financial services and health. Key insights from the discussion: India's journey to achieve universal health coverage and better health for all The summit began with Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) calling to identify synergies between stakeholders to collaborate and create a 360-dimensional change in India's health ecosystem. IRDAI expressed strong optimism for meaningful outputs from the summit while, emphasizing the learnings from the lessons learnt during the COVID-19 pandemic management in India, especially with health service delivery and financing. Mention of some of the critical issues, such as: lack of knowledge and understanding of the health financing needs, innovative practices for vulnerable populations, reduce the pain points in the health and financing ecosystem, identify synergies and collaboratively work to bridge the gaps between sectors and the system that hamper the collaboration between private and public systems of the country in the area of health service delivery and financing set the stage for rest of the day. NITI Aayog laid the foundation of the summit by pointing out nature and capacity of public sector initiatives under Ayushman Bharat including the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), the social health insurance for the lower income populations, Health and Wellness Centers (AB-HWCs), the primary-level healthcare initiative, National Digital Health Mission (ABDM), the digital health ecosystem initiative, and the Health Infrastructure Mission (ABHIM), the public healthcare infrastructure development initiative by the Government of India. Shedding light on the challenges and pain points, NITI Aayog expressed the difficulties in development of a model which is sustainable, affordable and can address all the challenges regarding distribution, volume and outsourcing for improved private sector collaboration. Laying down government's priority to prevent families going into poverty due to medical expenses, NITI Aayog expressed the need for private sector to closely work with PM-JAY and ABDM while leveraging fintech, which has been a game changer in terms of financial access for people. Opportunities for Fintech in India's healthcare ecosystem: Echoing the objective of universal health coverage, ACCESS Health International Southeast Asia began with a presentation on fintech for health and pathways for UHC through financial inclusion and technology. Nourishing the summit with comprehensive and articulated insights, the presentation provided various forms of digital financial services that have been conceptualized and available. Drawing on the work done in Bangladesh, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Nepal, China, and India, the presentation showcased the impact of integration between digital platforms and traditional financial services through use of digital wallet, digital ID, and analytics. Focusing on India, the presentation delivered the role of community level care and the complementary nature of digital financial services to PM-JAY and other public programs in health through the lens of affordability and accessibility for lower and lower-middle income populations. The presentation further contextualized the use of digital financial services through personas representing lower and lower-middle income people incurring medical expenses. ACCESS Health International Southeast Asia shared their vision to bring together public sector and the private sector with innovative startups and companies that are looking to make a difference to the people. Delving further into India's health and fintech ecosystem, the second presentation from ACCESS Health International Southeast shared the recently published report to showcase opportunities and challenges for digital financial services in the country. The presentation provided a comprehensive profile of India in terms of the health systems, fintech and health-tech startup landscape, and numerous initiatives created by the public and private sectors including Unified Payments Interface (UPI), e-RUPI, Unified Health Interface (UHI), Jan Dhan Yojana, digital wallets and applications. The presentation provided data-driven insights through enabling factors and a quantitative index that showcased the potential and scope for digital financial services in health. The presentation further shed light on 24 opportunities conceptualized by the authors and detailed the country-specific solution for India that is elaborated in the report. The presentation concluded with elaboration on the India solution that built upon the foundations of UHI and UPI to create a fintech-enabled interoperable health ecosystem that can be leveraged by the government, healthcare providers, hospitals, and most importantly reduce the out-of-pocket expenditure for the lower and lower middle-income populations. These presentation set the context and provided the participants with a window into the wide and impactful scope for digital financial services in healthcare. Development of affordable innovations in digital financial services for health: The first panel discussion at the summit was focused on deliberating private-sector led development innovative and affordable digital financial services for healthcare needs of the lower and lower middle-income populations. The panel included representation from fintech and health-tech startups including Clinikk, Navia Life Care, and DigiSparsh along with TPAs and insurance companies such as MediAssist and Aditya Birla Insurance. […]