Emerging trends in healthcare and their implications for Vietnam

Depleting resources

In the face of a shortage of skilled labour, technology has become a potential solution to healthcare’s resource problems. For example, remote monitoring, telemedicine, and mobile devices will help doctors/medical staff to save physical consultation time and communication time with patients, make decisions faster with the support of improved analytics, etc. With the ability to bring innovation, improved efficiency, and unique solutions, the private sector has become an appealing potential health partner for governments. One form is the public-private partnership, with which the government can reform healthcare and mitigate their depleting resource issues at the same time.

The empowered consumers

Consumers (patients) are becoming more informed and involved in the care process. Informed consumers demand increased accountability, integrity, and transparency from their health providers and overall health system. This is leading a shift away from fragmented care to integrated models: requiring organisations, communities, and social care providers to coordinate their services, and with patients becoming active partners in their health across the continuum of care.

Chronic diseases and conditions

Lifestyle changes are driving up incidences of chronic diseases (diabetes, heart-related, cancers, etc.), increasing demand for chronic care. This is more costly and demands new models and considerations for delivery of care.  Advancements in precise, early detection and diagnosis of disease will serve to minimise treatment costs. For this reason, the sector is placing greater emphasis on preventive health solutions. This opens the door for non-healthcare/non-traditional healthcare industries to bring innovative solutions to chronic disease prevention and management challenges.

The distrustful consumer

Consumers are demonstrating a lack of trust in traditional health systems, due to several long-lasting and unsettled issues (e.g., overloading, long-time queuing, administrative issues, mistrust of medicine/inputs/quality of care, etc.); they are increasingly willing to entrust their health services to non-health sectors. New and ubiquitous technology is giving them the tools to do this with greater ease. With the entrance of non- traditional healthcare players (e.g., retail clinics*, wellness centres), traditional players (i.e., hospitals and clinics) will have to decide against whom to compete and with whom to partner.

^{*A retail clinic is a walk-in clinic located at retail outlets such as grocery stores, department stores, malls, and supermarkets that treat uncomplicated minor illnesses and provide preventative healthcare services. This model is popular in the U.S}.

mHealth^*

Mobile helps to make healthcare more accessible, via virtual channels in addition to traditional physical visits; faster, by saving travel and queuing time; and cheaper, partly by enabling patients to obtain information about their health conditions more easily and to have more control over the care process.

^{*mHealth is defined as the provision of healthcare or health-related information using mobile devices (typically mobile phones, but also other specialised medical mobile devices, like wireless monitors). Mobile applications and services can include, among other things, remote patient monitors, video conferencing, online consultations, personal healthcare devices, wireless access to patient records and prescriptions.}