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Table of Content

Embracing Innovative Technologies in Healthcare

Adoption of New Technologies in Asia Pacific

Big Data and Telemedicine

Conclusion

Reviewer

References

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Innovative technologies have driven medical advances for centuries. Medical practitioners and researchers have always embraced the cutting edge technologies of their day and

developed new ones. The existence of microscopic organisms was discovered in the 17th century by two Fellows of The Royal Society, Robert Hooke and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek. They embraced the latest in lens technology to build simple microscopes that magnified objects up to about 250-fold, and became the first to observe and describe microscopic protozoa and bacteria {1}. Building on that foundation, microscopy was to become the backbone of our understanding of the roles of microbes in the causation of infectious diseases and the recycling of chemical elements in the biosphere in the 19th century. An advancement that in turn heralded a new age in healthcare in the 20th century; the age of vaccinations, sanitation and disease vector control {2,3}.

In the 21st century, digital technology is driving change and improvements in healthcare. It plays a key role in every aspect of healthcare today. Advances in computing power lie behind practically every recent development in medical science from gene sequencing and splicing to diagnostic imaging technology to the way a patient’s records are created and stored. Super computers and machine learning algorithms enable the faster development of drugs. Telemedicine allows doctors to monitor patients’ vitals from afar and enables patients to consult with them. It enables remote rural clinics to seek advice from medical specialists. Combined with the latest robotic surgery devices, it can even allow a surgeon to operate on a patient in a different hospital hundreds or even thousands of miles away.

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Technology that enables telepresence has enabled complex surgical procedures to be conducted in places that lack expert surgeons, such as in small hospitals, developing countries, and also for mission critical operations on the field. At the same time, robotics provides invaluable assistance, allowing less invasive procedures to be performed, thus reducing complications and delivery times. A faster 5G internet connection permitting telepresence will be another aspect that will further advance telesurgery {4}.

Another technology that will have a major impact on health care is 3D printing. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb has hailed 3D printing a transformative technology that could disrupt medical practice. The technology is already being used to customize orthopaedic implants and accessories, prosthetics, hearing aids, dental implants, wearables, such as flexible sensors, and there is already one 3D printed drug on the market. In the future, doctors may be able to bioprint skin cells to help heal burn wounds and 3D print replacement organs {5}.

While developing surgical robots might require the resources of international medtech (medical technology) conglomerates, many of today’s advances and innovative uses of technology are being driven by individual entrepreneur and start-up developing apps and small devices or using existing technology to improve service delivery and offer new, previously unimagined services to the public.

Asia’s medtech sector is booming. A 2018 report by Galen Growth Asia, a healthcare innovation ecosystem builder, showed that aggregate funding for Asia’s healthcare sector in the first half of 2018, surpassed funding levels for the whole of 2017 by more than US$550 million. Recording spending of US$3.3 billion across 107 deals ranked Asia as the second largest health tech ecosystem globally by deal value {6,7}.

The Asia Pacific countries we have looked at in compiling this report are using and developing technology in different ways which are commensurate with the different challenges they face, and their different resource levels. Collaborations between academia, industry and government are increasingly creating conducive environments where health innovations can sprout and flourish. Although the proportion of government support versus organic growth also varies from country to country.


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Singapore

Singapore’s thriving entrepreneurial, start-up environment is a case in point. Singapore’s government has recognized the value of innovative thought leadership and entrepreneurial

experimentation and has set about providing the infrastructure and support needed to foster them with a variety of accelerator and incubator spaces.

NUS Enterprise, the entrepreneurial arm of National University of Singapore, for example, engages with those with an entrepreneurial spirit and the drive to discover innovative solutions to the world’s challenges. NUS Enterprise offers entrepreneurial education, a holistic range of entrepreneurship support, as well as exposure to active industry partnerships which gives innovators access to grants and mentoring opportunities. A key focus of such collaborations has been in the area of public health, particularly in problems facing Singapore’s aging population, which drives the demand for innovative health solutions{1}. For example, Modern Aging Singapore, a community, accelerator, and education

platform, is a co-creation of ACCESS Health International and NUS Enterprise. The Modern Aging accelerator program identifies, develops and scales start-up companies that serve the needs of the aging populations, with the help of industry experts, mentors and a comprehensive business education program.

NUS Enterprise also partners Bayer for the Asia Pacific

edition of Bayer’s global Grants4Apps program. Grants4Apps is a web-based crowdsourcing initiative which provides financial support to developers and start-ups for their software, hardware and technology projects which contribute to improving health outcomes or pharmaceutical processes {1}.

Singapore has also positioned itself as a regional leader in the biomedical field, leveraging on its highly educated population and world class infrastructure to become a regional hub for research and development and a hothouse for start-ups.

The Adoption of New Technologies in Asia Pacific

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Modern Aging Singapore, a community, accelerator, and education platform, is a co-creation of ACCESS Health International and NUS Enterprise.

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Australia

Australia also has a booming digital medicine start-up scene. Australia’s start-up scene has been able to build on a strong tradition of medical and scientific research and world class

universities which attract home-grown and international talent {2}. The Federal Government supports start-ups with financial assistance in the form of grants, tax incentives and entrepreneur support schemes that match start-ups with industry advisors and mentors, as well as schemes and grants to help commercialize novel technologies {3}.

Australia’s medtech industry makes a substantial contribution to the economy, supporting 14,000 jobs, across nearly 3,000 businesses and generating AU$12.7 billion in revenue per year. In recent years the sector has begun to receive increasing support from state level initiatives like New South Wales’s MedTech Knowledge Hub, a vehicle for collaboration between academia, industry and government to improve the business environment for all facets of the medical technology industry {4}.

There are also a number of Federal Government schemes designed to support start-ups and encourage entrepreneurship such as the Entrepreneurs’ Programme. This is an Australian Federal Government initiative to improve business competitiveness and productivity. The Programme leverages on experienced advisors and facilitators from industry, to ensure businesses get the advice and support they need to improve their capability and to maximize their growth potential {3}. The main focus is on providing access to tailored advice, and connection and networking opportunities to grow their business and capitalize on opportunities.This is done through four components:• Accelerating Commercialization• Business Management• Incubator Support• Innovation Connections

Another Federal Government effort to support the growing medical technologies and pharmaceuticals sector is the AU$ 22.3 millionBiomedical Translation Bridge (BTB) program. Administered through the Flinders University-led Medical Device Partnering Program (MDPP), the program offers expert advice, education and mentoring to those preparing applications and those awarded funding {5}.

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Other than financial help, the government is also facilitating international collaborations, with schemes like Landing Pads, an initiative which provides Australian market-ready start-ups and scale-ups with the opportunity to access global innovation hubs in San Francisco, Tel Aviv, Shanghai, Berlin and Singapore, and be immersed in an environment that will help them speed up the design and development of their product or service business model {3}.

Non-governmental and private sector organizations are also supporting MedTech start-ups. MedTech’s Got Talent is Australia’s largest medical device accelerator program. The program supports emerging entrepreneurs to develop and refine their skills in pitching a business concept, developing a technology roadmap and launching commercialization activities for their innovations.Participants can leverage resources such as funding, expertise and network to best position themselves for success {6}.

Hemideina, a Melbourne-based MedTech start-up, demonstrateshow Australia’s MedTech’s Got Talent competition supports startups. After winning the 2017 competition and securing AU$60,000 in seed funding and mentoring support for their revolutionary hearing implant, they went on to raise a further AU$1 million in Series A funding in early 2019, and an Australian Federal Government Accelerating Commercialization grant of AU$800,000, which allowed them to develop a prototype for animal trials {7}.

Another highlight in the start-up scene is the HCF Catalystaccelerator program. The Australia’s not-for-profit health fund has run the HCF Catalyst accelerator program which helps promising MedTech start-ups turn their health tech ideas into high impact business with an intense 12-week accelerator program which features mentorship from prominent health and technology industry leaders {8}.

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In Thailand the medtech industry is set to be a key part of Thailand 4.0 strategy, the government’s ambitious 20-year plan to drive the country’s economic and technical development. The

policy is designed to promote and support innovation, creativity, research and development of higher technologies and green technologies {9}.

As well as building the infrastructure of railways, airports and smart cities to support the new industries, the government is also investing heavily in its university system to boost research activity and train the thousands of engineers and scientists that will be needed for the planned expansions in targeted industries such as the biotech, biochemical, medtech and robotics {10}.

The True Digital Park is an example of the Thai government’s efforts to create a start-up ecosystem. It is a 200,000 sqm digital innovation park which is designed to host some of Thailand’s biggest start-up players. The park brings together in a single location, all the elements necessary for building individual start-ups and creating a start-up community {11}.

In 2017, the National Digital Economy Committee announced that it will launch a US$147 million Digital Economy Fund, which listed “supporting the development of tech companies” as one of its four functions {12}.

Several government grants dedicate additional funds to startups, and major state-owned banks and agencies including Krung Thai Bank and SME Bank, and the Stock Exchange of Thailand are pledging support to start-ups as well {13,14}.

Thai companies and research universities are also creating new innovations. The National Science and Technology Department Agency (NSTDA), for example, has partnered with many organizations, such as Chulalongkorn Hospital and Siriraj Hospital, to research and develop medical devices and technology {15}.

All these activities position Thailand well to be a medical hub of Asia. This goal is set to be boosted through policies aimed at promoting ‘Thailand, a hub of wellness and medical services’ over a ten-year time frame from 2016-2025, to turn Thailand into a medical hub in four major areas: wellness, medical services, academics and products {15,16}.

Thailand


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Malaysia

In Malaysia, the government’s Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) has driven digital transformation and adoption across the public and private sectors in Malaysia since its

establishment in 1996 {17}.

MDEC oversees numerous programs, including MSC Malaysia, a platform that nurtures the growth of local tech companies while attracting both foreign and domestic direct investments and education and training programs like eUsahawan and eRezeki to train the workforce needed to grow the digital economy {17}.

Malaysia’s medtech and telehealth start-ups sector is thriving with companies offering wearable monitoring tech, information apps, apps for booking GP home visits and more.

Geob International has developed the HypoBand, a “cold sweatdevice” for diabetes management. To be worn as a wrist watch, the device works by pairing with an android smartphonevia bluetooth. The detection of cold sweat will trigger SMS or alarms by the smartphone or even a panic button to alert carers or emergency contacts {18,19}.

Malaysia is also home to PurelyB, Asia’s leading health and wellness online community portal which provides holisticwellness content on nutrition, fitness and mindfulness. PurelyB’s mission is to transform people’s health and quality of life through online guided solutions developed by health experts globally {18,19}.

DoctorOnCall is Malaysia’s first online medical video consultation platform. The service provides patients with access to GPs via chat, phone or video call, e-prescriptions and medication

delivery. By allowing the doctors concentrated in Malaysia’s cities to service rural populations via its open platform, it is improving healthcare coverage and physician productivity {18,19}.

DoctorOnCall is Malaysia’s first online medical video consultation platform.

Philippines

T he Philippines is fostering a conducive environment for tech innovation with its expanding technical expertise, digitally savvy population and a growing start-up ecosystem. In

recent years the Philippines has been moving up the business process outsourcing chain into the software engineering sector {20}. With more than 80% of its over 105 million population speaking English fluently and more than half the population under 30 years old, the Philippines leads the Asia Pacific region in social media use. Its 34 million social networkers spend an average of four hours a day online. In 2015, researchers found that internet usage in the Philippines was highest in the Asia Pacific region with people spending 6.2 hours per day online and 2.8 hours on mobile devices {20}.

The Philippines is also set to become a hub for tech start-ups. NGOs like PhilDev, a non-profit, innovation organization, are playing an important role in harnessing the nation’s IT talent and encouraging entrepreneurship by nurturing young talent with significant investments in STEAM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, and Mathematics), and initiating start-ups and mentorship programs in collaboration with government organizations, academia and private industry {21}.

In digital health, academic and start-up teams are developing solutions to bridge the gaps in healthcare delivery. The University of the Philippines (Manila) National Telehealth Center (UPM-NTHC) pioneered open-source telemedicine and mHealth projects that connected remote patients with specialists in the Philippine General Hospital (PGH). This community-based approach in delivering eHealth solutions has gained much traction as it addresses issues such as the lack of healthcare workers in underserved areas {22,23}.

The Philippine government has worked with the private sector in further developing its eHealth projects. Recent mHealth programs include the SMS Telereferrals used by the Department of Health (DOH) in its “Doctor-to-the-Barrio” (DTTB) program, and health education programs giving mobile phone users streminders on vaccination, dengue prevention, tuberculosis and health seminars. The Real time Monitoring of Vital Maternal and Child Health Indicators through the Community Health Information Tracking System (rCHITS) project uses SMS for field workers to report maternal and child health services rendered, create appointments, and remind patients of their appointments {23}.

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The Philippines government is legislating to support a start-up ecosystem. The ‘Innovative Startup Act’ (ISA), creates a Philippine Start-up Development Program that provides benefits and incentives for start-ups and start-up enablers {24}.

Among these benefits is access to start-up development programs (capacity building, exchange programs, training), linking start-ups to potential investors, mentors, collaborators, and customers both locally and abroad, and removing restrictions that hinder the establishment and growth of start-ups {25}.

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will be primarily responsible for the program. These three government agencies will maintain a Start-up Grant Fund to provide funding for selected start-ups and start-up enablers {25}.

Other specific ways the law wants to help start-ups is through the creation of Philippine Start-up Ecozones and the provision of special visas for foreigners who want to help or collaborate with Philippine start-ups {25}.

The three government agencies are working together to promote and assist Philippine start-ups through several joint initiatives.One of them is the Digital Start-ups PH Program which brings together industry stakeholders and enables them to create innovative solutions. An initiative by the DICT – ICT Industry Development Bureau (IIDB), the program aims to boost the ICT ecosystem and promote local ICT start-up businesses. Another initiative by the DTI- Export Marketing Bureau (EMB) provides government support to scale up local start-ups by joining the Outbound Business Matching Missions (OBMMs) and international pitching competitions. The Technology Transfer Support for Nurturing Tech Start-Ups initiative of the DOST–Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) contributes to the country’s economic and industrial development {26}.

Some of the Philippines medtech start-ups are already well on the way to becoming established and successful enterprises. One of them is Lifetrack Medical Systems. The start-up develops a system to widen the reach of radiologists to remote areas and assists healthcare practitioners in switching to digital radiology. Its cloud-based system allows radiologists to view clearer imagesand easily create reports for faster and more efficient diagnosis. It also provides a platform for global interaction and learning {27}.


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Another success story is mCLinica. The company utilizes healthcare market data from various stakeholders: pharmacies, physicians and patients to generate better insights, allowing greater patient engagement and ultimately improve health outcomes. mCLinica provides companies with the market insight to develop programs to improve patients’ health, boost sales, and widen consumer base. Its proprietary analytics and visualization engines generate real time data and actionable insights for public and private healthcare institutions {27}.


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Electronic Health Records

As with every other aspect of healthcare socioeconomics, demographic and geographic factors influence the types of medical technologies which are being adopted by

healthcare systems in different countries. Singapore and Taiwan equip their hospitals with technology, but due to their more centralized healthcare systems and older populations, they are also embracing other technologies. Big data, promise both improvements in individual care and tremendous opportunities for research and planning. For example, Singapore’s National Electronic Health Records (NEHR) initiative, launched in 2011, is now used by all public healthcare institutes and some private ones {1}.

Source: Refer to {1} of this section

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The NEHR system allows doctors and other healthcare professionals to access a patient’s medical history, including hospital discharge summaries, allergies and laboratory and radiology results. It is intended to help doctors take care of patients better, and avoid duplication of medicines. The Ministry of Health (MOH) has been discussing plans to make participation in the NEHR a licensing requirement under a new Healthcare Services Act, so clinics and hospitals will have to provide patient information to the system {1}.

Taiwan’s National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme, which covers around 99% of the population, has long been utilizing Electronic Health Records (EHR) {2}. Centrally managed data not only improves patient care, it is also an invaluable research asset. Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) exemplifies a population-level data source for generating real-world evidence to support clinical decisions and healthcare policy-making {3}.

The Taiwan government is also looking at ways to give patients access to their records via personal health record (PHR) systems to empower them to better manage their own health {4}. Leading the way in EHR, Taiwan is trialling blockchain technology. The Taipei Medical University Hospital has rolled out a blockchain-powered platform to improve medical record-keeping. The “Healthcare Blockchain Platform” was developed in order to support the government’s Hierarchical Medical System policy, improve patient referral services, and integrate individual healthcare networks to enable patients to access their medical records in an easier way {5}.

The Philippines’ first foray into big data is being rolled out by the company MediXServe. It provides a unified blockchain-based electronic medical record (EMR) system to make the medical histories of patients trackable. The company provides a permanent, trackable, and streamlined framework for storing patient medical histories. The provision of the data is in a centralized manner. The company can also provide an offline version in areas with limited internet connection {6}.

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Major hospitals have also implemented their own health IT programs. The Medical City (TMC), a tertiary healthcare facility in the Philippines collaborated with software provider Exist to develop a patient record system integrating clinical data from various systems, Master Patient Index, Clinical Data Repository, and an EMR Platform. The TMC also has an award-winning teleophthalmology program for screening patients at risk for diabetic retinopathy {7,8}. The Mary Johnston Hospital and OffSiteCare Resources (OSCR) also rolled out a cloud-based EHR solution called HarmoniMD, that is easy and intuitive to use in hospitals with limited IT support {9}.

Telemedicine playing an increasing role in healthcare

The countries with more aged populations are exploring telemedicine solutions which could enable more aging in place, whether in patients’ own homes or care facilities, to

reduce the pressure on their general hospitals, save money and improve patients’ quality of life. Remote monitoring and reporting devices and apps designed to improve adherence to medication, diets and exercise regimens are already in use or being trialled in many countries. As are apps which give patients access to information and advice, or allow them to book home visits and hospital appointments.

The private sector has also seen a boom in digital and telemedicine services from teleconsultations to services that connect patients with home care, nursing and hospital transport providers. In 2018 Singapore launched the Licensing Experimentation and Adaptation Programme (LEAP), a regulatory sandbox initiative for the safe development and trialling of new and innovative telemedicine and mobile medicine healthcare models. This has seen several new start-up services being piloted under the LEAP sandbox scheme including telemedicine consultation services which, for the first time in Singapore, will also be allowed to provide medical leave certificates and limited prescriptions. Mobile Medicine, also known as house call services, are also being piloted. They are intended to provide greater accessibility for patients who are unable to attend a hospital or a clinic, by bringing medical practitioners to their bedside. The Singapore government expects such private sector services to expand in both instance and scope as the country’s population continues to age {10}.


Homage’s technology-enabled and asset-light model has reinvented home- and community-based caregiving and enabled it to scale the social and personal aspects of caregiving.

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To meet that need, there will be a demand for more companies like Homage, an award-winning personal care company that combines trained care professionals with home smart services technology to provide on-demand home and community-based caregiving to seniors allowing them to age and recover at home {11}.

Homage’s technology-enabled and asset-light model has reinvented home- and community-based caregiving and enabled it to scale the social and personal aspects of caregiving. By professionalizing caregiving and supporting upskilling, the platform provides an opportunity for caregivers to be trained and equipped as ‘micro-entrepreneurs’, helping them earn above market wages and enjoy a flexible schedule. The company hopes to enlarge the pool of qualified caregivers in Singapore through its on-demand technology {11}.

The geographically larger countries with large, and often remote, rural populations like Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines are exploring telemedicine solutions to empower primary physicians and healthcare workers in rural settings. Giving them access to training, tele-consultations, specialist diagnostic support and more.

Vietnam has made tremendous socioeconomic advances in the last twenty years which have enabled significant increases in the healthcare budget, however there are still severe shortages in healthcare resources in remote regions. Physicians are in particularly short supply in hard-to-reach, rural areas. These systemic challenges have encouraged the use of technology-based innovations in healthcare, particularly the use of mobile and wireless technologies or telemedicine, to support the achievement


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of healthcare objectives. Currently the government’s telemedicine efforts focus on using it to provide more training for rural primary care physicians and access to specialists for advice and guidance {12}.

For example the remote province of Quang Ninh has implemented a telehealth program to ensure that citizens can access quality care despite their isolation from Vietnam’s major cities. The Quang Ninh Department of Health has developed an advanced healthcare delivery system which uses a telehealth network to integrate access to 24 hospitals and community healthcare centres. Video conferencing is used by the healthcare teams for meetings, training and mentoring. The teams also utilize video conferencing in patient care areas such as in surgeries and their follow up care {13}.

Some private sector companies are already operating successfully in the telemedicine arena. The Van Khang SOS Company is co-operating with emergency aid centres and hospitals throughout Ho Chi Minh, the nation’s commercial capital, to provide emergency aid and treatment at home. Members of the public can download the VK_SOS or VKHS app on their smartphone for free. If they are involved in an accident or have health problems and need emergency aid, they can use the app to generate a request for assistance and the company will liaise with the nearest emergency aid centre to provide services. The public can also use the app to arrange for home visits from doctors and other healthcare professionals (HCPs) for treatments, blood tests and other services. {14}.

Thailand has also adopted telemedicine solutions. Since 2012, the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) have made extensive use of video conferencing technology to improve communications between its headquarters in Bangkok and the 77 provincial public health offices. The system is used for meetings


The Van Khang SOS Company is co-operating with emergency aid centres and hospitals throughout Ho Chi Minh, the nation’s commercial capital, to provide emergency aid and treatment at home.

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and regular and ongoing medical training for all provincial health officials. It has also played key roles in coordinating the responses to emergencies {15}.

Thailand started development of its telemedicine program in eight of its provinces: Chiang Rai, Kamphaeng Phet, Kanchanaburi, Kalasin, Phetchabun, Surin, Songkhla and Surat Thani. The program was launched in the rural areas of these provinces and focuses on four main disease areas i.e. high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and skin disease. Thailand 4.0 plan also promotes the use of appropriate digital technologies for telemedicine to increase access to healthcare {16}. In the private sector, virtual hospital services are being adopted. Recently, Samitivej Hospital Group, a private hospital network in Thailand, launched a Virtual Hospital app

to provide teleconsultation, home blood test and medicine delivery services to patients. There are plans to expand the virtual hospital services to another private hospital {16,17}.

The government in Malaysia is trying to address the shortage of experienced primary care physicians in its more rural states with a telemedicine solution called ‘Teleprimary Care’, a tool for teleconsultation and distance learning for healthcare professionals that allows doctors and nurses in rural areas to consult with specialists and send test results to specialist centres for interpretation. The system is also used to provide ongoing medical training for the doctors staffing the rural medical centres {18}.

The government in Malaysia is trying to address the shortage of experienced primary care physicians in its more rural states with a telemedicine solution called ‘Teleprimary Care’, a tool for teleconsultation and distance learning for healthcare professionals


Asia has experienced significant technological advances in healthcare – such as in wearable monitoring systems and telemedicine – and wider use of technology for seniors

in integrated and active aging settings. Nevertheless, more can be done to stimulate the development of new technologies that embrace innovation in medication and support the shift from costly acute care to preventive, health outcome-based care for seniors. In recent years, breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotic developments have been integrated into care support for seniors. However, challenges such as the lack of speed to invest effort in technology and seniors’ perceived difficulty in using technology have resulted in the low uptake of assistive technologies. Encouraging technology usage and acceptance are especially essential for those with non-communicable diseases as it can potentially relieve the burden of aging populations on the healthcare systems in many countries.

Multi-disciplinary scientific research and innovation are central to developing new and better technologies to address the unmet patient needs in caring for the elderly, such as the affordability of medication and the problem of combating cardiovascular diseases (CVD).

Academia, entrepreneurs and industry players are the key drivers of such innovations. Industry collaboration in both traditional forms, including licensing partnerships and strategic research alliances with companies and academia, along with new forms such as models of open innovation involving entrepreneurs, start-ups and researchers will all play a role in the development of groundbreaking medications and disruptive technologies. In recent years, corporates have become active in supporting the entrepreneurial communities by providing infrastructure and support needed through collaborations with its partners for case competitions and mentorship programs.

The region’s governments and healthcare systems have an equally crucial role to play in fostering innovation through the development of new regulatory frameworks that can keep pace with innovation and provide a more efficient pathway for the adoption and utilization of new technologies in the market. The regional governments and policy makers will also need to collaborate to streamline and standardize the process for the approval of novel therapeutic and technological solutions for unmet medical needs and place the seniors at the center of their focus of care model.

Conclusion

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Last but not least, technology will play an increasing role in the future of healthcare as more powerful cloud services, big data and other technological advances move medical research and healthcare in a new direction. The forthcoming 5G revolution will lead a transformation of healthcare with its instantaneous data sharing ability, driving telemedicine adoption and unleashing innovations in areas such as video and image application and the new generation of virtual reality gadgets. We will be seeing more pervasive use of IoT devices from 3D printing of implants and accessories for patients to wearable sensors which will allow for the collection of more datasets which will be uploaded into the cloud for real-time analysis. Coupled with advances in AI and machine learning capabilities, we will be ushered into a new era of personalized care delivery as well as an improved diagnostics and prediction of health events in the near future.

Conclusion

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We are grateful to NUS Enterprise for their support and review of this document.

Mr. Kelvin Tan Cheng KianDirector, Corporate Partnerships, NUS EnterpriseDirector, Business Development, NUS Smart Systems InstituteNational University of Singapore

Kelvin leads the corporate partnerships role inNUS Enterprise and also heads up the BusinessDevelopment in Smart Systems Institute (SSI).SSI has advanced data analytics and AI researchpartnerships with TsingHua University, ZheJiangUniversity, Southampton University and KeioUniversity.

He is identified with co-developing corporate accelerator programswith Singapore Airlines, Bayer Grants4Apps, Loreal Start-up Runway, Mercedes Startup Autobahn, Huawei i5Lab and Symphony Creative Systems of NYK Japan.

Currently, he is the NUS Enterprise lead for a 4-year ModernAging Spore program which was funded by Ministry of Healthand has inspired start-ups in developing innovative services andproducts for seniors. In research, he is involved with assistivetechnologies like companion robots which could be applicablein the community and home settings.

He holds a Master in Gerontology (SUSS, Spore), MBA (OklahomaCity University) and BEng in Electronic and Communications(University of Manchester, UK).

Reviewer

References:

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