And in some developing countries policy mandates, like the one in India that will force the use of electronic records at hospitals and clinics, is bound to make for better outcomes.

The rise of connectivity in the healthcare space will also require that reports like the FHI could need to change what is measured to keep up with the shifting face of healthcare.


“Telehealth may reduce the need for people to physically visit doctors and allow more care to be delivered outside hospitals,” point out the researchers, “making healthcare professional density and hospital bed numbers less relevant as indicators of healthcare access.”

The inaugural Future Health Index in 2016 looked at the perceived readiness of more than a dozen countries to take an integrated approach to healthcare – and found that starting from scratch can have its benefits.

"What you typically see in emerging markets is that people have basically nothing and that is a big disadvantage," Frans van Houten, CEO of Royal Philips, told HCB News at the time. "But that also means they have no legacy, and legacy is often in the way of adopting new technologies."

In the western world, according to the health index, patients have a greater interest than doctors in adopting forward-thinking technologies and integrated systems. "The resistance to adopt is a reflection of the more siloed approach in which care is being delivered and being reinforced by a reimbursement system that maintains the status quo of how care has always been delivered," said Van Houten.

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