22 May 2014 | Analysis | By BioSpectrum Bureau
The digital wave has swept the world. The healthcare industry too, not remaining unaffected has plugged in and is dancing the digital tune.
As demand for better quality healthcare in the APAC region increases, the industry has reacted in an equally strong and aggressive way to deliver digital solutions for almost all of man's healthcare needs.
The global healthcare spending as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will average 10.5 percent globally in 2014.
*Deloitte
Fuelled by increasing populations and affluence, the Asian region has in specific recorded a rapidly growing demand for better provision and quality of healthcare.
A testimony of the tremendous growth of this industry is that the overall health expenditure has increased two and half-times between 1998 and 2010, reaching over $68 billion.
In 2013, the total healthcare spending in APAC was estimated at about $1.34 trillion. Reports added that this was expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 10.5 percent over the next five years to reach $2.21 trillion in 2018.
By 2015, APAC's healthcare industry would represent 34.6 percent of the global healthcare market. In fact, analysts have said that this region will witness more than 150 percent growth in healthcare expenditure, which would become $2.93 trillion in 2020.
At the heart of this growth story lies the digital health symphony, which is an intersection of technology, health and wellness.