US insurer Aetna has developed a customer app which is part of a wider strategy to reconfigure healthcare services around the world, particularly in Emerging Markets. We talk to Richard Di Benedetto, president of Aetna International.
Big pharma is trying and failing to engage with patients and has no idea how to build service models. Previous attempts to create websites that directly engage with consumers have flopped. The appallingly-named “patient-centricity” sessions at the FT Global Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Conference suggest pharma is still trying in vain.
As forecast here, Attendo, the largest Pan-Nordic chain is to IPO on Nasdaq Stockholm, creating a group with a market cap of at least €861m (SEK8bn) at the end of November 2015. Henrik Borelius, CEO of Attendo, told Healthcare Europa that accessing more capital will allow Attendo to strengthen its position in the Nordics. The group aims to become the largest private care home group in Europe by 2025.
Mexico boasts a large, innovative and vibrant private healthcare sector, which sits alongside a developing, but somewhat chaotic public sector. We look at the major players in the private sector, as well as at new innovators seeking to cut the cost of treatment to reach the masses.
Bupa-owned Polish provider Lux Med has bought Euro-Clinic, expanding its imaging diagnostic services to Cracow with its 23rd acquisition in eight years. However, the group has its eyes set on acute. It is currently building the largest private hospital in Poland. We talk to Anna Rulkiewicz, Lux Med's president.
Medicall Home targets the Mexican lower-middle class with a cheap, $5 monthly fee per family. Subscribers get access to 24/7 telephonic assistance and up to 70% discounts in the company's network of affiliates. We talk to Jorge Woolf, CEO of the Salud Interactiva group, about the business model, the Mexican market and expansion across Latin America, the Philippines and the US.
Private operators are throwing weary sighs at the prospect of a majority PIS government in Poland. The new statist, right-wing government has yet to announce the new Minister of Health but the PIS manifesto includes a pledge to regionalise healthcare expenditure, closing the National Health Insurance Fund. Meanwhile, operators are hoping that the new government will deal with a disastrous attempt to get more cancer tests faster.
Operators in Emerging Markets are increasingly moving into other countries, often nations halfway around the world. There is a big IPO pipeline to fund all this growth. And investors like TVM Capital and Abraaj are planning massive greenfield site developments.
Plans for a low cost medical scheme for the 15m South Africans outside of the wealthiest 20% have foundered, thanks to resistance from doctors. A government White Paper which would improve access to primary care for poor South Africans through public providers is imminent.
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