- Findings indicate that Singapore's healthcare leaders
are prioritizing investment in artificial intelligence (AI) and are highly
ambitious about shifting care delivery to the home over the next three years,
but staff's lack of experience with new technologies is impeding planning for
more than half
- 49% of Singapore's leaders expect implementing sustainable practices in
healthcare will be among the primary priorities of their role in three years' time
- Largest global survey of its kind features critical insights from almost 3,000
healthcare leaders across 14 countries on meeting the demands of today and their vision
for healthcare three years from now
SINGAPORE - Media OutReach - 6 May 2021 - Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology,
today announced the publication of its Future Health Index (FHI) 2021 Singapore
report: 'A Resilient Future: Healthcare leaders look beyond the crisis'. Now in its sixth year, the Future Health Index 2021
report is based on proprietary research across 14 countries, including
Singapore, representing the largest global survey of its kind to analyze
the current and future priorities of healthcare leaders worldwide.
Feedback from
healthcare leaders – including executive officers, financial officers,
technology and information officers, operating officers and more – explores the challenges they have faced since the
onset of the pandemic, and where their current and future priorities lie,
revealing a new vision for the future of healthcare.
With a focus on patient-centred healthcare enabled by smart technology, their vision
is shaped by a fresh emphasis on partnerships, sustainability and new models of
care delivery, both inside and outside the hospital.
An optimistic outlook
Although
still grappling with the pandemic, 84% of Singapore's healthcare leaders are
confident in their hospital or healthcare facility's ability to deliver quality
care in the next three years – which is higher than the confidence levels of
healthcare leaders in Australia (66%), China (58%) and the average of those in the
14 countries that Philips surveyed (75%).
The
vast majority (93%) also feel that Singapore's healthcare system has shown
resilience in how it has coped with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The
past year has undoubtedly taken a significant toll on Singapore's healthcare
system. Frontline healthcare workers have faced greater pressure than ever
before, while senior leaders have been tasked with leading their institutions
in the most trying of times," said Caroline Clarke, Market Leader and EVP,
Philips ASEAN Pacific. "Yet the Future
Health Index 2021 report highlights just how skillfully the country has
risen to the challenge. It is encouraging to see Singapore emerging with such
resilience and confidence for the future."
Bold ambitions for shifting
care from hospital to home; AI is a major focus for the future
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated radical shifts
in care delivery for both patients and providers around the world and the
report reveals that, as Singapore's healthcare leaders consider what comes next, they
are pragmatic about where and how care is delivered.
Healthcare
leaders anticipate that, three years from now, on average about a quarter (26%)
of routine care delivery will take place outside the walls of Singapore's
hospitals and healthcare facilities, up from around 20% today.
Singapore's
healthcare leaders are also highly ambitious about shifting care delivery to
home settings. While those surveyed said that just 19% of routine care being
provided outside of the hospital is currently delivered in the home, they
predict that 45% will be delivered at home three years from now – a bold
target, which is far higher than any of the other countries that Philips
surveyed (17% 14-country average) and the APAC[1] average (18%).
Singapore is
leading the way in championing AI, too; nearly three in four of Singapore's
healthcare leaders (71%) say that this is one of the digital health
technologies that they are currently investing in – again far above the average
healthcare leader across the 14 countries surveyed (36%) and in APAC (46%).
AI investment in
Singapore is currently focused primarily on administrative tasks like
automating documentation, scheduling appointments and improving workflow, above
clinical and diagnostic applications. However, this looks set to change in the
near future, as Singapore's healthcare leaders plan to invest in AI for
clinical decision support (35%), to predict outcomes (33%) and to integrate
diagnostics (28%).
Skills gaps must be addressed
to achieve digital transformation
Despite
these bold ambitions, staff inexperience and staff shortages could impede
progress if not urgently addressed.
Philips' research found that staff's
lack of experience with new technologies ranks among the top internal barriers
to future planning in Singapore, with around half of Singapore's healthcare
leaders (52%) citing it as a current impediment, whilst one in four (25%) say
that staff shortages are also holding them back.
Lack of training is also cited
as the biggest barrier to the wider adoption of digital health technologies by
nearly half of Singapore's healthcare leaders (47%), followed closely by
difficulties with data management (43%) likely relating to high volumes of data
and a lack of clarity around ownership.
"The pandemic has confirmed the
viability of remote care, and it is equally encouraging to see that Singapore
is placing such a big focus on AI for the future. However, it is vital that the
country's hospitals and healthcare facilities invest in adequate training and
address staff shortages to move beyond purely administrative applications of
these game-changing technologies and unlock their full potential," added
Caroline Clarke.
Industry poised for
unprecedented move on sustainability
Philips' Future Health Index 2021
report also finds that implementing environmental sustainability practices is
set to become a dominant trend in Singapore, and globally, within the next three
years.
While not a current concern for
many, 49% of Singapore's healthcare leaders expect to prioritize the
implementation of sustainability practices in their hospital or healthcare
facility three years from now, up from just 2% today, and in line with the trend
seen across healthcare leaders in the 14 countries surveyed (58% three years
from now, up from 4% today globally).
Since 2016, Philips has conducted
original research to help determine the readiness of countries to address
global health challenges and build efficient and effective health systems. For details on the Future Health
methodology and to access the Future Health
Index 2021 report in its entirety, visit: https://www.philips.com.sg/a-w/about/news/future-health-index/reports/2021/healthcare-leaders-look-beyond-the-crisis.html.
[1]
APAC countries surveyed for FHI 2021: Australia, China, India, Singapore
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.