In his keynote, Dr. Rubin Pillay discusses the urgent need for digital transformation in healthcare, a sector facing critical challenges such as rising costs, estimated at $1.8 trillion in wasteful spending, a projected shortage of over 10 million healthcare workers by 2030, the growing burden of chronic diseases, and stark disparities in outcomes and access to care globally. He highlights that while there is significant innovation in the market, with leading healthcare systems beginning to digitize the patient journey and backend processes, the transformative impact of digital tools, data, and AI on healthcare systems is yet to be fully realized.

Dr. Pillay emphasizes the importance of focusing on digital applications that can genuinely improve patient outcomes, advocating for a value-driven approach to healthcare. This approach heavily relies on data and analytics to measure patient outcomes and cost drivers, marking a shift towards value-based healthcare. He notes the accelerating role of digital transformation, data, and AI in this transition.

To unleash the full potential of digital, data, and AI in healthcare, Dr. Pillay urges stakeholders – including patients, providers, payers, medtech and pharma companies, investors, regulators, digital start-ups, and big tech firms – to collaborate and focus on five key enablers: effective use of health data, robust tech and analytics foundations, suitable funding and incentives, hybrid healthcare delivery systems, and appropriate regulations and policies.

Dr. Pillay also sees digital health as an opportunity for the private sector to invest in businesses that significantly improve health outcomes. However, scaling up these benefits remains a challenge. He advocates for a collaborative approach between the public and private sectors, to expedite the impact of digital, data, and AI in healthcare. He proposes alliances between public and private entities to enhance health outcomes and healthcare resource efficiencies by pursuing two key strategies: establishing Insights Exchanges to share knowledge on scaling digital solutions and forming Activators for multistakeholder action groups to address priority healthcare system challenges.