Columbia Asia Highlights Healthcare Trends of 2019

Launches mobile app to enhance patients� experience

 

JAKARTA,
INDONESIA - Media OutReach -
2 April 2019 – Columbia Asia Hospital, one of the largest and fastest-growing
healthcare companies in Asia, has outlined key trends impacting the healthcare industry
in these times of digital living and convenience. Being a leading healthcare
provider in the region with patients base of over three million across four
markets, puts Columbia Asia Hospital in a good position to observe patients’
behavior and implement solutions catering to their evolving needs.   

Dr.
Kelvin Loh, Group Chief Executive Officer, Columbia Asia commented about existing healthcare trends,
“The key trends observed by us clearly highlight that modern patients are
demanding for personalized, quick and seamless healthcare delivery. This makes dealing
with the healthcare system much more convenient for them, something that hasn’t
been typical of healthcare delivery systems in the past. Our studies have also shown that technology
advancements in healthcare have the potential of closing the communication and
information gap between patients and providers. As a company that is continuously
looking for better ways to enhance services to our patients, we will try to
bring in newer systems and processes that will be in line with demands of the
times.”

Key healthcare trends 2019 — Columbia Asia
Hospital:

 

• Patients are
  looking for the best consultation with efficient services: Patients
  today are expecting a lot in terms of the service that they receive. These
  expectations range from well-maintained hospitals, helpful doctors, nurses and
  staff, shorter waiting time for appointments, quick access to health records et
  al.

• The future of
  healthcare lies in efficiency: For primary and secondary care, patients
  prefer to rely on neighborhood / small-sized hospitals that provide easier
  access to quality healthcare services. In addition, smaller hospitals provide focused treatment
  options and shorter in-patient stays enabling them to keep costs low for
  patients. Leveraging digital technologies on a smaller scale further permits cost
  effective delivery of specialist care.

• Tapping into
  the realm of mobile healthcare: More and more healthcare organizations are
  relying on patient interface through mobile apps. Apps often feature the
  ability to schedule appointments, access patient’s medical history and test
  results, send reminders and provide option of cashless payment for acquired
  services.

• Social media
  space is the new word-of-mouth. Consumers today have the option of checking
  reviews before making most purchase decisions — hospital choices are also
  increasingly getting dependent on reviews found in the online space. Other
  factors such as presence on social media platforms and its responsiveness have
  an influence on patients’ hospital preference.  
  

In line with the highlighted trends,
Columbia Asia has launched its official mobile app aimed to enhance their
service offerings to patients. Keeping up with emerging healthcare trends that
are shaping the industry globally further drives the needs for hospital
operators to continuously make patients’ experience at hospitals hassle-free
and less time consuming.

The patient-centric application allows for services
such as booking and managing of appointments, payment, hospital-related queries,
along with retrieving of corporate information and promotions to be more
seamless and efficient. (Payment function
will be ready in Malaysia and Indonesia soon)

“The launch of our official mobile app is yet
another initiative in our digital transformation journey, as more and more
people, particularly the millennials are opting for healthcare providers that
offer treatment with added convenience. Aside from better serving the needs of
our patients, the mobile application gives us a cost-effective solution to
reduce time in operational manpower,” added Dr Loh.

During the trial period of the mobile app
deployment, Columbia Asia witnessed encouraging results including 16 percent
cut down in out-patient journey time and an overall improved staff efficiency of
8 to 9 percent, subsequently adding to increased time for staff-patient
engagement.

Available on both iOS and
Android platforms, Columbia Asia is looking at the enhancement of several services
in the future such as exclusive medical package offerings and more. Pilot program
has also been launched with an app for physicians as part of its efforts to
improve connectivity to the IT platform to aid in better patient engagement.

Download Links

Apple App Store: http://bit.ly/cah_ios

Google Play Store: http://bit.ly/cah_android

About Columbia Asia

Columbia Asia is an international private healthcare company founded by
an American entrepreneur, Mr. Daniel Baty in 1996. From the outset, Columbia
Asia envisioned to provide quality, affordable healthcare services easily
accessed by people wherever they live – driven by our vision statement, a
passion for making people better. It is owned by an investment fund, International
Columbia US, LLC (ICU). In 2016, Mitsui & Co., a Japanese conglomerate with
deep operating experience in Asia joined as a shareholder in ICU.

Today, Columbia Asia is one of the largest and fastest growing hospital
groups in Asia. It currently has 12 hospitals in Malaysia, 11 in India, 2 in
Vietnam and 3 in Indonesia.

With no more than 200 beds per hospital, it leverages modern technology
to provide efficient specialist care and to reduce length of hospital stays
which results in more cost-effective care. The hospitals of Columbia Asia
provide a wide array of specialist services such as General Surgery,
Pediatrics, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Orthopedics, Internal Medicine,
Oncology, Cardiology, Neurosurgery, Bariatric surgery and more.  These are appropriately supported by
ancillary services that include an Intensive Care Unit, Neonatal Care Unit,
Physiotherapy, Laboratory, Pharmacy and Imaging. At Columbia Asia, strict clinical governance, ethics and excellence are
demanded.