Sep 07, 2022

Singapore’s healthcare sector emerging from the pandemic with renewed focus on data, AI, predictive technology, and sustainability, according to Philips Future Health Index 2022 report

• Singapore is well above the global average (91% vs 65%) in terms of healthcare leaders’ recognition in the value of health data, but data silos are hindering full utilization
• Leading adoption rate of 92% for predictive analytics, with majority of healthcare leaders seeing its biggest benefits in clinical settings
• Investments in AI expected to double 3 years from now, with greatest growth in clinical decision making (from 12% to 37%)
• Healthcare leaders are fast-tracking sustainability with 24% regarding sustainability as a top priority today as compared to 2% in 2021
• Improving staff satisfaction and retention is a top priority for healthcare leaders today and 3 years from now

SINGAPORE - Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, today unveiled the findings of its Singapore Future Health Index (FHI) 2022 report: ‘Healthcare hits reset: Priorities shift as healthcare leaders navigate a changed world’. Now in its seventh year, the Future Health Index 2022 report is based on proprietary research from almost 3,000 respondents conducted across 15 countries, including Singapore, and explores how healthcare leaders are harnessing the power of data and digital technology as they look to address their key challenges coming out of the pandemic.

After a relentless two years, our 2022 report shows that Singapore’s healthcare sector is embarking on a great reset – with data, predictive analytics and sustainability all top priorities in line with the changing expectations of patients. Big data and AI present enormous opportunities for Singapore’s leaders to improve the quality, cost and speed of care, but a number of limiting factors – including data silos and staff shortages – need to be urgently addressed,”

Ivy Lai,

Country Manager, Philips Singapore

Go to the report

Driving the full value of data utilization, overcoming data silos and other barriers

91% of leaders in Singapore agree that the value of data to their facility is worth the time and resources invested, a number significantly higher than in other countries such as the United States (82%) or China (53%), and one-and-a-half times larger than the global (65%) and European averages (60%).

Currently, 37% of leaders in Singapore report that they are collecting, storing and sharing data with other parties (such as other healthcare facilities or health tech companies) in clinical settings, and more than one-quarter do so in operational settings. Additionally, about a third of leaders state that they are using data for both descriptive (35% in clinical and 31% in operational setting) and predictive analytics (32% in both settings).

Along with their confidence in the value of data, healthcare leaders in Singapore are positive about their ability to make the best use of it. Most (91%) leaders say that they have access to necessary technology and can extract actionable insights from data. And, while half of the leaders trust they have all the expertise needed internally to fully utilize data, another 46% believe they have at least some of this expertise.

Despite high confidence in data and technology, data silos and security concerns remain a significant barrier to full data visualization in Singapore. More than three quarters (77%) of Singapore’s healthcare leaders cite data silos as the primary challenge hindering their ability to use data effectively, whilst managing high volumes of data and having enough time and resources to make the best use of it also rank highly (24% and 20% respectively).

Training could be part of the solution in Singapore. 77% of the country’s healthcare leaders say their staff are overwhelmed by the volume of data available, whilst 22% agree that the availability of data specialists would support them in using data more effectively and 36% believe that greater staff expertise would help their facility to do more with data.

Key would also be collaborating with other ecosystem players. For example, healthcare leaders in Singapore believe that joining forces with health technology companies could provide healthcare facilities with counsel on contingency planning (32%), support technology integration (28%), and provide guidance on regulatory issues (27%) and data analysis (27%).

AI and Predictive analytics poised to supercharge care in Singapore

Despite the obstacles to data utilization, healthcare leaders in Singapore are committed to using artificial intelligence (AI) and predictive analytics to extract the most value out of the information they have. 38% of Singaporean healthcare leaders are currently already investing heavily in AI, while more than three quarters (74%) predict it will become a top investment area within the next three years.

While the highest AI investment is currently for operational settings (16%), three years from now it is expected to grow within the area of clinical decision support (from 12% to 37%), which includes uses related to diagnosis or treatment recommendations, early warning scores, automatic disease detection and clinical decision guidelines. This is followed closely by investing in AI to integrate diagnostics (34%) and predict outcomes (32%).

Even as Singaporean healthcare leaders see AI as a key investment for the near future, many are already utilizing predictive analytics in some capacity. Almost half (45%) of their hospitals or healthcare facilities have already adopted the technology, with a similar figure (47%) currently in the process of doing so. This puts Singapore far ahead of other countries, with the percentage of those already working with predictive analytics (92%) almost twice as high as the European average (47%), as well as significantly higher than the global average (56%), the United States (66%) and China (79%). 

As with AI adoption, predictive analytics are more likely to be used today in operational settings (87%), supporting tasks such as financial forecasting (26%), capacity planning (22%) and maintenance prediction (22%). However, when asked about the areas where their facilities could most benefit from predictive technologies, leaders are significantly more likely to indicate clinical uses (92%).

A significant shift towards sustainability

Singapore’s healthcare leaders are stepping up focus on social responsibility and are looking to digital solutions to support these goals. The need to make healthcare more accessible and affordable is already a focus for both government and healthcare leaders. Initiatives to make the country’s healthcare system greener are predicted to become more prominent in the near future. Today, there is a noticeable shift in the leaders’ attitudes towards environmental sustainability. Almost one-quarter (24%) of Singaporean healthcare leaders put sustainability practices at the top of their agenda, placing the country on par with the European (25%) and global average (24%), and ahead of the United States (19%), as compared to 2% in the 2021.

Being a socially responsible healthcare provider is currently seen as a key priority by one-quarter (25%) of healthcare leaders in Singapore too, almost double the number seen in 2021 (13%). As healthcare access and affordability have been on the Singapore government’s agenda for many years, it is not surprising that 43% of Singaporean leaders have health equality initiatives already in place, with an additional 49% in the process of doing so. This puts Singapore far ahead of other countries when it comes to the adoption of health equality initiatives. 

Staff satisfaction and retention, a top priority now and in 3 years’ time

To achieve all these ambitions, there is a renewed focus on staff welfare as the country emerges from the pandemic. As staff shortages and burnout continue to drive the industry agenda, almost one-third (32%) of healthcare leaders in Singapore are placing employee satisfaction and retention at the top of their priority list, a figure comparable to the Asian (33%) and European (32%) averages. In 2022, 15% of Singaporean healthcare leaders consider staff retention a top priority vs. 9% in 2021, while the focus on improving staff satisfaction (18%) in 2022 is slightly higher than it was in 2021 (15%).

Singaporean healthcare leaders know that they cannot quickly, or easily, resolve the staffing challenges they face currently. While in 2021 most leaders predicted that staff satisfaction and retention would no longer need to be prioritized in the years to come, today they are convinced these staffing issues will be of great importance in the foreseeable future and addressing them will need to remain at the top of their agenda.

 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 Index methodology and to access the Future Health Index 2022 report in its entirety, visit our site.

About Royal Philips

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and well-being, and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum – from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips generated 2021 sales of EUR 17.2 billion and employs approximately 78,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found on our news center.

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