Singapore: IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics has launched a new branch focused on supporting improved health outcomes across Asia. Based in Singapore, the team will forge relationships in the public and private sector and apply analytics-driven approaches, based on Real-World evidence, for disease modeling and insights, providing regional markets with much-needed tools to make better and more cost-effective healthcare policy decisions.

In Asia, IMS Institute activities will focus on three areas:
• Mobilizing and advancing health services and systems research: The Institute will bring together leading policy advisors, educators, researchers and medical care providers to initiate research aSave as draftctivities and apply evidence-based approaches to address key healthcare issues.

• Developing new insights on disease burden in Asia: The Institute will connect clinical, economic and patient-reported outcomes data to provide all stakeholders with deeper insights for improving the care of patients and their treatment journey experience.
• Advancing decision analytics in clinical practice and public policymaking: The Institute will support efforts by academia, clinicians, health administrators and policymakers to use real-world, data-driven decision analytics for more informed decision making and improved healthcare costs and outcomes.

"Like their peers around the globe, stakeholders across Asia are under increasing pressure to transform the focus of healthcare systems from volume to value," said Murray Aitken, executive director, IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, which also has branches in China and India. "With growing recognition of the importance of real-world health data and analytics, our Asia branch will establish collaborative platforms that will bring stakeholders together to inform clinical and public policy decision making, addressing the 'triple aim' of population health, patient satisfaction and sustainable service costs."

"The shift from product-centric to patient-centric healthcare requires collaborative innovation between government, health professionals and businesses. Effective solutions to key healthcare challenges will have to incorporate data-driven insights, new technologies, and appropriate business models," said Ho Weng Si, director, Biomedical Sciences, Economic Development Board (EDB) Singapore, who is presenting at the event. "EDB welcomes IMS Institute Asia's decision to co-innovate with partners in Singapore to accelerate healthcare transformation in Asia."
The IMS Institute in Asia is collaborating with universities, research institutions, economic development agencies and governments, including Duke-NUS Medical School, National Cancer Centre Singapore, National University Hospital and InvitroCue Limited. Working with the public and private sectors and with the support of IMS Health, the IMS Institute Asia branch will conduct health services and systems research, decision analytical modeling, and studies to advance patient-centric care and value-based healthcare.

"Timely, high-quality and relevant information and insights are critical to informed strategies, productive dialogues and effective decision making in healthcare," said Xavier Xuanhao Chan, director, IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics in Asia. "We are excited to collaborate with other innovators and thought leaders in the region to address some of our most important challenges and opportunities."

As part of the launch, the IMS Institute in Asia released its first report, Advancing Value-Based Healthcare in Asia: Using Decision Modelling to Inform Clinical and Public Policy Decision Making. The study explores potential healthcare system benefits derived from an analytics-driven approach for addressing the growing pressures of rising healthcare costs and uneven quality across the region. Using management of diabetes and stroke as examples, it highlights health informatics and decision modeling as key tools for simulating and comparing potential healthcare strategies before establishing policies or committing resources.