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I recently traveled for two weeks in the Asia Pacific region on Microsoft Health related business.   I was fortunate to meet with a broad diversity of folks -- from Minister's of Health, to CEO's of leading private and public hospitals, to GP's interested in how technology can help them and even to citizens with concerns about the capacity and capability of their health delivery systems.    Interacting with these passionate, dedicated and talented folks is one of the great parts of my job.

I returned with the following observations:

  • while everyone I talked with sees the potential for health information technology to improve health delivery and outcomes -- the real challenge each of them faces is what practical steps to take to realize this potential for their institution or system.    Another way to say this -- is how to spend money most effectively to get results.
  • the need and desire for a "citizen-centered" health data platform was clear in nearly every country and type of system...which was a bit of a surprise to me.   In Australia the buzz was about how at the recent 2020 summit held by the new prime minister folks had talked about a "healthbook" like service to facilitate better care and outcomes -- but patient controlled.   In Singapore, they currently have a tender around a patient-centered PHR platform pilot.   In emerging market countries -- they recognize the need for an online portal -- to help with both education and data sharing.   In China -- they have several pilots ongoing.
  • that managing chronic conditions across the hospital and physician boundary is a problem and priority in most places
  • that every country -- whether developed or emerging -- whether publicly well funded or mostly private pay -- has a difficult time figuring out how to prioritize and to incent prevention -- those behaviors that would prevent bad health events or outcomes.

So I see many similarities regarding the challenges and opportunities of health delivery systems in the U.S. and in other parts of the world.   However, I had a wonderful philosophy professor in college that taught me the true insight comes not from seeing the similarities but in understanding the differences (which apparently is true with regard to our DNA as well).    The differences are real and vary by country and system type.   A quick trip is too short a time to fully digest these differences.   The good news is there are many who believe that software can help the health delivery system do a better job in terms of outcomes, satisfaction and capacity and want to work with Microsoft to figure out how best to do it for them.