Global Health Asia-Pacific Issue 1 | 2023 GHT64B | Page 80

Telemedicine

Patients continue to turn to telemedicine in Asia

As pandemic-related needs subside , telemedicine has a new purpose : improving access to care in the region

COVID-19 was a key catalyst for digital healthcare adoption in Asia . As shutdowns and virus concerns kept patients at home , telemedicine app usage soared . Recent Bain analysis confirms that those high usage levels persisted in 2022 and remain well above 2020 levels .

But telemedicine adoption may have significantly more headroom in some countries . Usage in Malaysia , Thailand , and the Philippines , while fast growing , considerably lags usage in Singapore , India , and Indonesia ( see Figure 1 ).
Digital-native companies continue to lead the telemedicine market in Asia , though provider-owned apps have recently started gaining share ( see Figure 2 ). Traditional healthcare providers have the advantage of offering digital and in-person services to an existing , trusting patient base .
In mature healthcare markets , such as the US and Europe , service providers have scaled up digital health services in the existing B2B ecosystem . In emerging Asian markets , where private health insurance coverage remains low , and private provider groups are fragmented , digital natives have been able to play a more meaningful role .
To capture the opportunity , both providers and digital natives can offer a wide range of end-to-end services across digital and in-person care . Digital natives can establish themselves as a first touchpoint of care through telemedicine apps . And providers can , and should , invest aggressively in digital capabilities to deliver more holistic access to care .
This article was written by Alex Boulton , Southeast Asia Head of Healthcare & Life Sciences Practice in Singapore , and Vikram Kapur , Partner and APAC Head of Healthcare & Life Sciences at Bain & Company in Singapore .
Figure 1 : Digital health adoptionin 2022 was high in some markets , while others are poised for growth
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