Blurring the line between physical and virtual, technology has revolutionized the way we receive services. Over the last decade, many economies have used technology to improve access to a range of quality and affordable facilities. With the COVID-19 pandemic upending lives and economies globally, the spotlight is once again on digital services. 

 

Digital health, which was already gaining momentum in several parts of the world, has seen accelerated adoption because of the pandemic. 

 

This marriage between technology and healthcare will continue to gain traction even after the pandemic—resulting in an integrated health care delivery system—akin to what fintech has become in the financial sector. 

 

Digital health can help address issues of accessibility, timely care, remote care, and out-of-hospital services, while preventinghuman error in medication and optimizing resource management through information and data management.

 

 

For emerging economies like Sri Lanka, digital health solutions present tremendous growth and efficiency opportunities. For example, in more rural areas where there is a lack of healthcare facilities or professionals or there is an emergency in the middle of the night when the local doctor is not available, a telemedicine services can allow specialists in faraway urban centers to serve patients virtually, and immediately. Digital health is also ideal for patients who have chronic diseases—with doctors already familiar with their medical history—or elderly patients who find it challenging to go to a clinic or hospital to replenish their prescriptions. 

 

There is more to digital health than meets the eye and is more disruptive than just the service provisions. It can drive the whole nine yards of transformation through use of AI based information management and block-chain driven data management. Possibilities are endless: AI based wearables and internet of things are redefining the monitoring landscape and digital imaging among others, are leading to creation of a new health ecosystem. 

 

Sri Lanka is a suitable pilot country as it already has a basic health system in place—alongsidea relatively well-connecteddigital ecosystem. In addition, the country has the fastest ageing population in South Asia: the population over 60 is expected to double in the next 25 years. Moreover, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are responsible for at least 82 percent of deaths in the country. 

 

All these factors make Sri Lanka an ideal candidate to pilot digital health platform.

 

IFC’s global digital health initiative, which is designed to support advancing healthcare systems and enhancing access to affordable and quality health care through digital technology, is working with the Sri Lankan private sector. 

 

The Global Digital Health Platform (DigiHealth) is an end-to-end programme supporting healthcare organizations digital health strategy and transformation plan development, implementation rollout and financing needs. The platform will also help health-care providers in their digital transformation strategy to elevate patient experience, improve clinician and staff satisfaction, drive operational efficiency, advance better patient outcomes, and create new businesses.

 

The Sri Lankan model will be developed in partnership with Hemas Holdings, one of the largest private sector health-care providers in the country. This will help Hemas scale up, boost efficiency, and accelerate its vision for digital transformation across its portfolio of health companies. 

 

Given favorable conditions, Sri Lanka will be an ideal sounding board for the program to move forward and develop a transformative and replicable model for new healthcare ecosystem globally. This transition to digital health has the potential to allow both public and private sector to revolutionize the contactless healthcare in urban areas, while vastly improving the issue of accessibility and quality of care in rural areas—and among the poor in all developing countries.

 

 

Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, basic early-stage digital health systems across the globe, as estimated by Grand View Research, were set to grow from US$ 95 billion in 2018 to US$ 509 billion by 2025. 

 

Also, there is a growing interest among investors with telehealth companies raising a record amount of funding in 2020—with five startups each raising over US$100 million.         As the pandemic boosts long-term growth in the digital health industry, it can potentially change the entire health-care delivery ecosystem. In alignment, IFC is working with leading private sector players to complement and support the process of creating a new health ecosystem across countries and regions. 

 

Building on this momentum, DigiHealth will gradually venture beyond Sri Lanka. The replicable platform will be leveraged across Asia. As the largest multilateral investor in healthcare in developing countries, IFC has invested US$ 6 billion globally in over 200 projects in the past two decades. 

 

In India, IFC played an important role in catalyzing the development of the nascent sector for private health-care providers. During COVID-19, a US$ 12.5 million equity investment helped 1mg (now Tata 1mg), the nation’s largest integrated online health platform, grow. 

 

The company is a lifeline for its customers—especially those living in smaller towns and rural areas—who rely on timely deliveries for treatment of chronic conditions. In another example, TechEmerge, a programme created by IFC, connects innovators from around the world with Indian health-care providers to serve a growing market.

 

The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly underlined the need for digital and technological innovations to ensure people have access to medical care, especially those living in remote areas. With a growing appetite for digital health, we are confident that the new healthcare ecosystem in developing economies can serve the public better—helping nations emerge resilient in the face of recurring outbreaks and other future shocks.

(Hector Gomez Ang is IFC’s Regional Director for South Asia)