November 11, 2019, Singapore. ACCESS Health hosted a panel discussion at SFF x SWITCH on “Digitising Primary Care: Here and Now.” The panel explored the pivotal role of technology in expanding quality and affordable healthcare access in Asia, following the publication of the ACCESS Health-Cisco Systems whitepaper on the role of digital technology in achieving Universal Health Coverage in ASEAN.
On the stage were Singapore-based startups, Edward Booty from Allied World Health Services, Wai Mun from Doctor Anywhere, and Nav Vij from Cognifyx, and Sarah Yee from the tech giant, Cisco Systems Inc. Sejal Mistry from ACCESS Health Southeast Asia moderated the panel.
Here we give 4 key takeaways from the discussion.
1. The health revolution is a digital revolution. Digital technology and digital health interventions, such as mobile health and telemedicine, are revolutionizing access to quality health care in the region, bringing about improvements that will help countries to achieve Universal Health Care.
2. Invest in primary care. Investments in the national digital infrastructure are an important foundation for digitizing primary care. Primary care is the first contact with the health system for most people in Asia and an important foundation for chronic disease management.
3. Collaboration will drive success. Multi-stakeholder coordination, and input, are critical to successfully digitising health care system. This involves early discussions before investments are made between the public and private sectors to leverage each others’ strengths
4. Technology opens up awareness and access. Technology is making open and significant progress in Singapore to improve access to mental health services while destigmatizing the need for such services.
For more information on the panelists, please click on the following links: healthfutures.sg, Cisco Systems, Cognifyx, Allied World Health Services, Doctor Anywhere.
