Leaving The Status Quo Behind

 For the past six months, I have had the pleasure of moderating the IFC Health Webisode Series on key issues impacting the health services sector. Below are 10 takeaways from my conversations with the wonderful and inspiring entrepreneurs and thought leaders who joined our webisodes:

1.     It is no longer business as usual for the public and private health sectors. COVID has helped confirm that most health systems have elements of dysfunctionality. We need to respond by continuing to innovate. This goes far beyond new technologies, as exciting as they are.

2.     We can no longer promote silos in the health system and we should instead aim to integrate. This approach is more likely to solve the biggest challenges in healthcare.

3.     When conceptualizing systemic change, it is crucial to put the patient at the center of considerations and build the system around them. Don't cut-and-paste models from other countries—instead, understand why models were successful elsewhere and tailor them so that they can succeed in your geography. 

4.     Digital health must be a core pillar of any healthcare system, not an add-on. However, digital health, while part of the future, does not alone solve the myriad of issues we face. 

5.     To address the acute and growing shortage of healthcare professionals, we must develop a comprehensive understanding of how roles and tasks in the sector are shifting. To fill skills gaps, health and education sectors need to work together, and the private sector may be a route for education and training solutions. 

6.     We need to figure out how to overcome data hoarding. Data analytics allows us to better understand disease profiles and populations needs, plan and coordinate responses, purchase correctly, and measure outcomes. Smarter use of data can help the overall system work better. 

7.     The public and private sectors should overcome their historical distrust of each other and develop meaningful, long-term collaborations. The public sector should be seen as the custodian of the healthcare system, one that is willing to work with the private sector. For its part, the private sector should be flexible and support innovations that lead to better health outcomes.

8.     There are many brilliant entrepreneurs out there with innovative solutions to the many problems we face. Think about how we can better harness their ideas and let them contribute to building the healthcare, medical technology, and pharma systems of the future.

9.     Governments, professional bodies, and other relevant institutions should reflect on how policy and regulation can be updated to bring about the long-term reforms that are needed in areas such as digital health and medical education .

10.  In organizing and managing healthcare systems, think about process and people management first, not last, and use common sense when overlaying the technology parts.

How does all this fit with IFC’s work? Put plainly, we are putting our money where our mouth is. Over the past three years especially, we have significantly upped investments in digital healthcare, medical technologies, pharmaceuticals, and vaccine manufacturing. We have broadened our investment strategy to foster more integrated healthcare delivery models. On public-private sector collaboration, we are increasingly assuming the roles of matchmaker and bridge-builder, tapping our close connections with both to forge partnerships that lead to more accessible and affordable healthcare. For instance, we have challenged ourselves to identify new funding models for health services in Africa. This work continues and so do the conversations. We must never assume we know the answer, but rather take a step back from time to time and look at the big picture, which can point us in the right direction moving forward.

Watch or listen to any of the five webisodes here and I look forward to your comments and suggestions: https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/industry_ext_content/ifc_external_corporate_site/health/events/webisodes/ifc+health+webisode+series

Finally, stay tuned for the last in the series, which we will post in mid-March on www.ifc.org/health and www.linkedin.org/showcase/ifc-health