Healthcare perspectives from The Economist Intelligence Unit

Color

#DB444B

Hero Carousel

Spotlight

Bringing healthcare to hard-hit areas in Bangladesh

YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQDMOSbJtqrtNzif5rS22OQ

Slideshare

http://www.slideshare.net/economistintelligenceunit

Pinterest

https://www.pinterest.com/theeiu/

NICE way to keep costs down

Efforts to reconcile healthcare quality with cost control within the National Health Service (NHS) in the future will depend in part on the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). Established in 1999, NICE’s role is to provide independent national guidance about health promotion and disease prevention for England and Wales, The agency’s remit covers public health, clinical guidelines and technology appraisals.

Regional differences

In order to chart the likely impact of a public spending squeeze in the rest of the United Kingdom, it is necessary to bear in mind some regional variations. Fiscal policy is set from Westminster, meaning that the tighter funding environment will have an impact on all of the countries within the UK, but Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have taken different paths from England in setting health policy that will affect their room for manoeuvre in a financial crisis.

The use of market data

One particular type of data that life sciences companies have grown increasingly interested in is market data: 27% have moved towards basing decisions about product development more on the likelihood of market adoption and 30% expect to do so in the next three years. Overall, nearly six in ten fi rms believe that using data to model market trends would be of significant use in shaping innovation strategy.

Going slow on the information superhighway

One of the hottest topics in healthcare is integrated care. More than 20% of Americans, for example, suffer from more than one chronic condition, such as diabetes, arthritis or heart disease. Potentially, they will have several doctors. But they do not have access to all their medical records, and may lack the knowledge to be able to convey details of their treatments to every medical professional who treats them.

Patient-centered care in the National Health Service

In 1997, an Economist Intelligence Unit publication, Healthcare Europe, predicted: "No political party will deliberately kill off the National Health Service. This masterpiece of 1940s social equalisation has long been one of the UK's few untouchables." So far, the prediction stands.

Patient rights

Optimism in India, gloom in Germany

The Economist Intelligence Unit survey shows some substantial differences in attitude between healthcare professionals in the US, UK and Germany and their counterparts in India. The 138 Indian respondents to the survey report all manner of improvements in the standards of their country's healthcare services. In sharp contrast to their colleagues in the US, UK and Germany, nearly 60% of Indian respondents say that since 2006, patient satisfaction with levels of care has improved, as has citizens' overall wellness.

Lonza: Focus on quality

Lonza, a Swiss chemicals and biotechnology firm whose products feed into the pharmaceutical, healthcare and life sciences industries, built its first Asian plant in China 15 years ago. Since then, the firm’s production and R&D network in the region has grown consistently, says Michael Brown, vice president operations at Lonza Biologics in Singapore. Over the last ten years, Lonza has invested about CHF1bn (US$1.1bn) in Asia. Some 1,400 of its 11,000-strong global workforce are based in the region today.

AstraZeneca: Emphasis on innovation

AstraZeneca, a global biopharmaceutical company, saw Asia Pacific sales rise more than 7% in 2011 to reach US$6bn. Mark Mallon, the firm’s regional vice president of Asia Pacific and president of China, says Asia is “a fundamentally attractive, high growth region” for the pharmaceutical industry. Over the next few years, he expects the sector to experience strong double-digit growth in emerging markets such as China, Vietnam and India, and low single-digit growth in the more mature markets such as Australia, Japan and Taiwan.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals: The benefits of longstanding presence

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, an Indian pharmaceutical company with operations in specialty, generics and out-licensing, has seen sales increase from Rs6.04bn (US$138m at 2005 exchange rates) in 2004/05 to Rs29.5bn in 2010/11 (US$645.2m at 2010 exchange rates), or at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 31%. India and South-east Asia together contribute around 25-30% of its overall profits, and about 50% of its branded business income.

Enjoy in-depth insights and expert analysis - subscribe to our Perspectives newsletter, delivered every week