IHH Healthcare recently hosted the second edition of its flagship regional leadership conference FutureHealth.Now in Singapore. Under the theme ‘Redefining the Care Stack’, the conference brought together more than 300 leaders from government, healthcare, technology, finance and investment – including Dr Indu Bhushan, Economist and former CEO of India’s National Health Authority – to discuss how stronger partnerships across the healthcare ecosystem can better address evolving patient and healthcare ecosystem needs.
Against a backdrop of geopolitical uncertainty, supply chain disruptions and rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and precision medicine, FutureHealth.Now provided a platform for industry leaders to explore how innovation, technology and new models of care can help tackle rising healthcare costs, workforce pressures and growing demand for services across the region.
At his opening address, Ashok Pandit, Group Chief Corporate Officer, IHH Healthcare, described the 'care stack' as the combination of people, technology, financing and policy that must work together to support high-quality care in an increasingly complex healthcare environment.
Among the conference’s key discussions was a session on balancing cost and outcomes in healthcare, featuring Dr Bhushan alongside Lawrence Lam, Chief Executive Officer, Prudential Hong Kong, and Professor Joseph Sung, Dean, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University Singapore, moderated by Dr Kamal Amzan, Chief Executive Officer, IHH Healthcare Malaysia.
Dr Bhushan, best known for spearheading Ayushman Bharat, India’s national health assurance scheme covering more than 500 million people through cashless, paperless access to public and private hospitals, noted that beyond financing, one of the biggest barriers to accessible and affordable healthcare is a lack of knowledge and information about available services – a challenge that is especially pronounced given India’s diversity across states and populations.
Throughout the day, deailed conversations took place focusing on How health systems can improve outcomes while remaining affordable; How artificial intelligence is moving from experimentation to real-world implementation; How cancer care and precision medicine are emerging as key priorities for the future of healthcare.
Reflecting the conference’s focus on preventive and personalised healthcare, IHH Healthcare Singapore unveiled Healthspan, an initiative that supports individuals to live healthier and more fulfilling lives. Healthspan represents a shift from traditional episodic care to a proactive, continuous health management model centred on early detection, personalised interventions and long-term wellbeing.
