Books

  • The 16th International Conference on Urban Health took place in November 2019 in Xiamen, China, the city where Scottish parasitologist Sir Patrick Manson first discovered vector borne infections. For four days attendees gathered to network and discuss the year’s theme, “People Oriented Urbanization: Transforming Cities for Health and Well-Being”, in relation to relevant United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda.

    As one of the speakers chosen to share insight on the thematic priority of “Emerging Diseases, Healthcare, [and] Public Services”, ACCESS Health Chair and President William A. Haseltine took the opportunity to reflect on some of the conference’s key takeaways in the context of healthcare system reform. He emphasized the importance of distributed models of care and information technology to improving urban health and shifting focus from treatment to prevention. The transcript of Haseltine’s presentation is below.

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  • On October 29, ACCESS Health and MetLife Foundation launched the Fintech for Health Innovation Platform aimed at promoting cross sectoral innovation that helps people pay for and access the care they need, when they need it. Focused on six markets across Asia, the platform will conduct research on best practices blending finance and healthcare innovations; facilitate connections between organizations that promote innovation in healthcare access and affordability; and test and scale projects that help people pay for and afford the care they need, using digital financial services and a financial inclusion approach.

    One of the launch’s morning sessions was a panel discussion between leaders from the health, technology, and finance industries moderated by Sejal Mistry, Director of Research and Development at ACCESS Health. The panelists included Frank Troise, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SoHo Capital; Tony Estrella, Managing Director of Taliossa Investment; and Jeff Chen, Group Chief Innovation Officer and Head of Capital Markets at Fullerton Health. Below is the transcript of their conversation and the Q&A session that followed, both of which offer fresh insight on fintech opportunities in Asia from a diverse range of perspectives.

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  • On October 29, ACCESS Health Southeast Asia and National University of Singapore Enterprise hosted a meeting to discuss the Modern Aging program. The purpose of the event was to highlight the progress and growth in the aging sector over the last five years and present upcoming avenues for advancement. The night’s proceedings were capped off by a networking session between attendees that proved productive for both organizations.

    Charlene Chang, guest of honor and Group Director of the Aging Planning Office at the Ministry of Health in Singapore, started the event off with a presentation on the challenges-those in progress, and those to come-created by rapid aging, as well as prospective solutions and promising developments in Singapore and beyond. Welcome remarks from ACCESS Health Chair and President William A. Haseltine, as well as concluding remarks from Chang Liu, Regional Director for ACCESS Health Singapore and Greater China, are also featured in the transcript below.

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  • On October 29, ACCESS Health and MetLife Foundation launched the Fintech for Health Innovation Platform aimed at promoting cross sectoral innovation that helps people pay for and access the care they need, when they need it. Focused on six markets across Asia, the platform will conduct research on best practices blending finance and healthcare innovations; facilitate connections between organizations that promote innovation in healthcare access and affordability; and test and scale projects that help people pay for and afford the care they need, using digital financial services and a financial inclusion approach.

    After MetLife Regional Director Krishna Thacker and ACCESS Health Chair and President William A. Haseltine shared their opening remarks, Adrienne Mendenhall, Director of Business Development at ACCESS Health in Singapore, introduced the Fintech for Health Innovation Platform to an audience of innovative thinkers in the health, technology, and financial industries. All three appear in the transcript below.

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  • Over the course of one weekend in October 2019, the biannual China International Medical Equipment Fair and the International Component Manufacturing and Design Show hosted more than four thousand exhibitors and sixty forums at the Qingdao Cosmopolitan Exhibition. Health professionals, financiers, and medical device manufacturers and buyers from around the world visited exhibits showcasing over five hundred products and attended high level conferences featuring some of the industry’s biggest movers and shakers working today.

    One such event was the Global Hospital Lean Operation Forum and Second HIA Big Data Summit, which was organized by Reed Sinopharm Exhibitions and ViewHigh with support from the Chinese Society of Pharmaceutical Accounting. Addressing an audience that included government leaders, hospital managers, and information technology specialists, ACCESS Health Chair and President William A. Haseltine delivered a presentation on the opportunities emerging on a global scale for complex institutions that want to deliver value based care to large populations. The transcript of his talk is below.

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  • The annual U.S.-China Health Summit is dedicated to the advancement of global health by promoting the exchange of knowledge, ideas, and experiences of healthcare leaders from the United States, China, and other countries through high level strategic dialogues, leadership development programs, and applied research.

    Each year the summit takes place in either China or the United States. Sometimes, as was the case in 2019, a summit is held in both countries over two different time periods. ACCESS Health Chair and President William A. Haseltine presented on both occasions-first at Harvard Medical School in September 2019, then in Wuhan, China in November 2019. With each audience he shared leadership lessons and healthcare delivery solutions from his most recent book, World Class: A Story of Adversity, Transformation, and Success at NYU Langone Health. Below is the transcript of his presentation in Wuhan.

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  • The annual U.S.-China Health Summit is dedicated to the advancement of global health by promoting the exchange of knowledge, ideas, and experiences of healthcare leaders from the United States, China, and other countries through high level strategic dialogues, leadership development programs, and applied research.

    For the 9th U.S.-China Health Summit that took place at Harvard Medical School in September 2019, ACCESS Health Chair and President William A. Haseltine gave a presentation on using leadership and technology to integrate distributed healthcare systems. In addition to sharing some of the best healthcare practices he has found around the world, Haseltine explained why the solutions offered his most recent book, World Class: A Story of Adversity, Transformation, and Success at NYU Langone Health, can be applied not just in China, but in any country struggling to provide affordable and high quality care to all.

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  • In October 2019, William A. Haseltine presented a workshop on medical management and leadership at the annual Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators Conference in Adelaide, Australia. He also delivered a keynote speech.

    Haseltine’s interest in improving human health has taken him from the halls of Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, where he served as faculty, to the frontiers of the biotech industry, where he founded more than a dozen companies. Decades of scientific discovery, public health crisis, and technological evolution inform his perspective on global health systems and their impact on society.

    In the following text are lessons Haseltine learned after he decided to devote his “third career” to building a philanthropic organization that could spread the benefits of modern medicine around the world.

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  • The Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series brings experts from the United States and other nations to the School of Public Health to share their views on the major challenges and opportunities in their fields and disciplines. The result is an ongoing dialogue between public health students and leaders about the issues they face.

    In this lecture, guest speaker William A. Haseltine, himself a former Harvard professor, reflects on his prolific relationship with the school and its faculty while presenting his book World Class: A Story of Adversity, Transformation, and Success at NYU Langone Health. Before Haseltine was the Chair and President of ACCESS Health International, he was a scientist and an entrepreneur who collaborated with some of Harvard’s premier researchers. By tying in his own evolution as a public health professional with the systemwide transformation of NYU Langone Health, Haseltine provides insight on the specific tools and broader structural challenges that have made the field what it is today.

    Drawing primarily on the lessons learned in World Class, Haseltine shares with his audience some vital observations on the formative medical, technological, and organizational shifts shaping health systems around the world. From data driven integration to value based outpatient care, Haseltine’s analysis of the current state of public health affairs should prove valuable to anyone interested in changing them for the better.

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  • This report, produced in partnership with Cisco Systems, focuses on the use of digital technology to improve access to care, focusing specifically on the Southeast Asian region.

    The ASEAN region is one of the most dynamic and fast-growing economic regions worldwide, bringing to its citizens new levels of wealth, opportunity, and quality of life. Rapid economic growth in the ten ASEAN countries has also brought challenges to the region. Among them, a rising demand for healthcare and increasing healthcare costs have led to significant concern and an urgent need for action across ASEAN. In response to growing healthcare needs, all ten countries in ASEAN have committed to the achievement of universal health coverage. The challenge facing these countries now is how they deliver an increasing amount of care with a limited pool of resources.

    In this paper, we offer countries a potential solution to the policy conundrum – enabling the digitization of health
    systems to aid in achieving universal health coverage. Effectively harnessed, digital technology can overcome many of
    the trade-offs that come from using traditional health solutions. While digital technology encompasses thousands of
    initiatives, we will focus on three main technologies with high potential and demonstrated impact – telemedicine, health
    information systems, and tracking and notifications – and show how they bring high quality and affordable access to
    health for all people. This paper recommends a 10 point action plan to achieve universal health
    coverage through the implementation of digital technologies.

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Interviews

  • Dr. Allen Power is an Eden Alternative certified geriatrician who advocates for person centered methods of care and communication that create wellbeing for those living with dementia. He has authored the books Dementia Beyond Disease and Dementia Beyond Drugs. His pioneering efforts have taught many care partners how to interpret the unmet needs of someone living with dementia that are often expressed by behaviors. In this interview he provides examples of how to meet such needs as an alternative to chemical and physical restraints and segregation from the community.

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  • Health systems are seeking methods to provide care in the home setting in an effort to lower costs and improve health outcomes. This is especially effective when such care keeps patients out of the hospital. In this interview, Dr. Bruce Leff describes the  Hospital at Home program that provides hospital level care in the home.

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  • In this interview Jackie and Lon Pinkowitz and Karen Love discuss the mission and activities of the Dementia Action Alliance. The Alliance challenges the stigma of dementia by hosting conversational meetings for those living with dementia and community members. The Alliance maintains a strong advocacy voice for person centered support of those living with dementia and their caregivers.

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  • In this interview Gerke de Boer and Annie Herder describe Cornelia Hoeve, which is an old farm house that is now home to twelve people living with dementia. The philosophy of Cornelia Hoeve is centered on stimulation, wellbeing, personal freedom, and the unique qualities of each patient. Cornelie Hoeve is designed to make life pleasant for residents. Residents can walk in the garden, help with daily households chores, and live with a great deal of independence. For example, they can decide when to wake up and where they would like to eat their meals. Staff have strong relationships with the residents, making farm life easier overall.

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  • With a growing population of older individuals, the need for palliative care has never been more pronounced. The Center to Advance Palliative Care successfully led the call to provide palliative care in hospital settings. Today, the Center is focused on making palliative care available in the home and community. In this interview, the Director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care Diane E. Meier, expresses the need to implement systems of care that better serve those living with chronic disease and their families. The Center to Advance Palliative care trains clinicians to provide around the clock access and coordinated care with a focus on the priorities of the patient.

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  • The Patient Centered Medical Home is a model of primary care that is comprehensive, patient centered, coordinated, and accessible. Patient Centered Medical Home staff works as a coordinated team that integrates health information to produce better health outcomes at a lower cost than traditional care. Medical Home practices prioritize continued efficiency and quality improvement. In this interview Michael Barr and Erin Giovannetti of the National Committee for Quality Assurance describe the Patient Centered Medical Home recognition program.

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  • As part of its studies of good practice in elder care, ACCESS Health visited the Netherlands to learn about the Dutch healthcare system and to speak with representatives at a few internationally recognized elder care groups. The attached document includes those interviews.

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  • Irene Leung is Chief Executive Officer of the Senior Citizen Home Safety Association in Hong Kong. The Senior Citizen Home Safety Association is the largest home safety alarm provider in Hong Kong. The alarm system includes an indoor stationary unit and a mobile unit. One button connects the users with a call center. Staff in the call center are well trained and speak several languages and dialects. Ms. Leung describes the safety alarm system and its importance for elderly people in Hong Kong.

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  • The following interviews are part of a greater research effort by ACCESS Health to identify best practices in elder care across a number of countries, including Sweden, the Netherlands, mainland China, and Hong Kong.

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  • In this interview Eloy van Hal explains how people with dementia live in De Hogeweyk, the Netherlands. De Hogeweyk is a village which is specifically designed for people with dementia. The residents live in small groups together, walk freely through the village and take part in regular community activities. A hairdresser, a supermarket, a restaurant, a theater, and parks give the village a typical community atmosphere. The village and the residents are frequently visited by visitors from the outside. De Hogeweyk receives a lot of attention from outside the Netherlands and its ideas are adapted in several countries. Eloy van Hal describes the challenges and benefits of living in a dementia village compared to a standard nursing home.

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Reports

  • This report is a summary of the lecture by Jeanna Thorslund at the Welfare Technology Conference, held in Stockholm, Sweden, in January 2015. Welfare technology is technology that can be used in the welfare sectors, such as in healthcare and in social care. Ms. Thorslund’s lecture addressed the legal aspects associated with developing and implementing welfare technology.

    This report is part of the Elder Care Case Studies project.

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  • This report provides background material and resources for the upcoming seminar “How Can Swedish Actors Meet the Global Demand Within Elderly Care?” on August 19, 2015. This report offers a point of reference for the discussion. Many countries demand Swedish elder care products. This report identifies market demand in China, India, and Singapore, where ACCESS Health International runs programs in elder care.

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  • The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) asked ACCESS Health International to identify and invite innovators from India to be a part of the Global Lab for Health. The Global Lab assembles teams and tools to identify high value innovations that radically reduce cost and improve access to healthcare, with a focus on innovations that may be transferrable to the United States. A goal of the Global Lab is to drive the adoption of these innovations at scale. ACCESS Health identified promising innovators in India and helped to connect them with potential adopters in the US and around the globe.

    This report outlines our work with the Global Lab and the innovations we found. The report discusses the challenges and opportunities associated with transferring innovations across healthcare systems and markets, as well as opportunities to find tune the engagement process with health innovators.

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  • The Joint Center For Housing Studies at the Harvard Graduate School of Design hosted a symposium to discuss opportunities in architecture, planning, and policy to enhance older adults’ well being through affordable, accessible, well connected housing, as well as through models of long term care that support aging in place. This report summarizes the presentations from the Harvard symposium.

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  • This report is based on a presentation on the economics of welfare technology by Dr. ?…ke Dahlberg, at a 2015 conference in Stockholm, Sweden. In his presentation, Dr. Dahlberg shares the findings of his cost benefit analyses of welfare technologies in Scandinavia.

    This report is part of the Elder Care Case Studies project.

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  • This is the English language summary of the first report issued by the Swedish organization Forum for Welfare/Forum för Välfärd. The report focuses on targeted prevention of diabetes and heart diseases, vertically integrated care, and technical solutions near the patient. Forum for Welfare runs three pilot studies to test the applicability of new theories of prevention, integration, and technology.

     

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  • The pursuit of integrated care for the elderly is a pressing issue, not only for Sweden but for a majority of the Western world. In particular, the design of payment systems for the providers of healthcare and social care plays an important role in affecting the conditions for integration between different areas of care. Based on a review of international research on integrated care for the elderly, this is an English language summary of the Swedish language report that presents six initiatives that have been described as successful in increasing integration. Each initiative differs in its design and in the characteristics of its payment system.

    Read the full Swedish report here.

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  • The pursuit of integrated care for the elderly is a pressing issue, not only for Sweden but for a majority of the Western world. In particular, the design of payment systems for the providers of healthcare and social care plays an important role in affecting the conditions for integration between different areas of care. Based on a review of international research on integrated care for the elderly, this report in Swedish presents six initiatives that have been described as successful in increasing integration. Each initiative differs in its design and in the characteristics of its payment system.

    Read the English language summary here.

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Case Studies

  • In 2015, ACCESS Health Singapore partnered with Alexandra Health System piloted the Stay Young Navigator program in the north of Singapore to train active seniors to help their peers manage chronic conditions by serving as liaisons for health services, community resources, and financial assistance programs.

    This focus group study was designed to explore the experiences and perceptions of older patients with chronic conditions, those involved in caring for them, namely family members and healthcare providers, and others who would be involved in delivering the program, such as potential employers and navigators.

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  • This case study profiles the Mobile Emergency Team for the Elderly in Uppsala, Sweden. The Mobile Team is a leading example of integrated elder care in Sweden. The team coordinates its work with that of ambulance services, Uppsala University Hospital, the telephone healthcare advisory line, primary healthcare clinics, municipal nurses in home healthcare teams, and homecare organizations.

    This case study is part of the Elder Care Case Studies project.

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  • This is the first part of a case study providing an in depth look at Care Company TioHundra and Swedish integrated elder care. Integrated elder care focuses on the integration of the work across care organizations such as hospitals and homecare providers. Part One of the case study provides a company overview and an interview with Chief Operating Officer Peter Graf.

    Click here to see Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, and Part Five. This case study is part of the Elder Care Case Studies project.

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  • Telegeriatrics is the extension of telemedicine to the elderly. The elderly’s combination of limited mobility and chronic health problems often makes this group ideal beneficiaries of distance medicine. This brief case study outlines the work of specialists at the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital who have been pioneers in telegeriatrics. They have put together a comprehensive trial of their technique, and the initial outcomes are promising.

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  • Worldwide, rapidly aging populations are forcing a paradigm shift in how to treat those with chronic diseases. While many patients are placed in nursing homes or hospices for their sunset years, they express an almost universal desire to continue living at home. This trend has created demand for homecare services so the elderly can be cared for without having to abandon their homes or independent lifestyles.

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