Africa’s healthcare system is under immense pressure from the heavy burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as hypertension, COPD and diabetes. Challenges like repeat hospital admissions, delayed treatments, and managing co-morbidities are just some examples of strained resources and high costs.
But there’s a solution on the horizon, remote patient monitoring (RPM) technology. By adopting RPM through health insurance services, we can not only improve patient outcomes but also cut costs and create stronger customer loyalty. We asked industry experts for their take on how RPM can revolutionise healthcare in Africa and seamlessly integrate into insurers' offerings.
Lilian Odhek, International Market Advisor for East Africa at the UK Department for Business & Trade, painted a sobering picture of the health insurance market in East Africa and wider Sub-Saharan Africa.
“The health insurance space has been known for loss making, due to high disease burdens and fraud cases in some markets. For instance, in some East African insurance companies, less than half made profits despite consistent growth in premiums. The profit is just not coming in because of the high disease demand.”
Lilian noted that appetite for technological solutions is high, and if driven by demand, often adopted. “Technologies that reduce costs coming out of insurers or people’s pockets would be embraced. So, a technology like RPM would be welcome.”
Dr John Adesioye, CEO of Nigerian-based Utopian Consulting, gave his insights into the health insurance landscape in Nigeria.
“Nigeria has been pushing for enrolment in health insurance for many years now, but there is still relatively low uptake, and the different offerings from the various insurance providers make it a segmented market. Even though we know it’s a huge market, the National Health Insurance Scheme only has about 5% coverage of the population, with different other insurance providers plugging the remaining insured gaps.
“Although 5% uptake is low, in Nigeria’s population, this could still have a big impact, equaling around 10 million people – with many having chronic conditions. However, we need insurance companies to actually realise the benefits of using remote patient monitoring first.”
Dr Noel O’Kelly, Co-Founder & Medical Director at Clinitouch, emphasised the significant benefits remote patient monitoring can bring, especially for managing chronic conditions like COPD and heart failure.
“We have a tsunami of non-communicable diseases. One of the big issues with conditions such as COPD and heart failure is the exacerbations that lead to hospitalisations. Each deterioration not only brings the patient down but also increases the likelihood of future admissions. By optimising medical care with the right medications, the right interventions and the right data, the outcomes are tremendously better.”
Lilian commented, “Roughly 50% of hospitalisations and 30% of deaths are caused by non-communicable diseases, and these diseases are a big cost driver for health insurers. A technology like Clinitouch could move treatment from reactive to preventive, and this would help to cut costs and also increase profits for this health insurance, so it makes business sense for insurers to embrace some of these technologies. It also opens a new avenue to identify fraud detection, because the data would speak for itself.”
Bruce Adams, Commercial Director at Clinitouch, added “We are currently working with a partner and medical insurer scheme across Pretoria, Johannesburg and the surrounding areas and have seen first-hand the impact this technology can make. Reductions in referrals for hypertension and ischemic heart disease have led to hugely reduced costs in the early results.”
Jim Swift, Health Economist from Clinitouch, commented, “We’ve seen a high prevalence of hypertension across Africa, and its management is pretty poor. Early management with Clinitouch can save costs by reducing the need for frequent face-to-face consultations as antihypertensive doses are escalated.”
“If we look at heart failure, much of which is caused by poor control of hypertension, remote patient monitoring enables us to identify when a patient is decompensating quickly and early and get them to a community clinic or hospital for immediate stabilisation.”
Heyn van Rooyen, Sector Director for Africa at the UK Department for Business and Trade, commented, “A program like this could be extremely helpful to health insurers, because you have the data. If you don’t have the data, you will never be able to control the cost of your customers with chronic conditions. We have seen in South African pilots that once you start becoming aware of the patients’ condition, costs can come down significantly through reduced hospital admissions.”
John supported Heyn’s comment, adding “You have the data for your patients to be able to care for them over a longer period. For example, a hypertensive patient may have a couple of small events over three weeks. With Clinitouch, you are aware of these events due to frequent questionnaires and vital sign monitoring. If you just have face-to-face appointments, you may not find out until a month later. This ongoing monitoring could be the difference in just a tweak in their medications or the patient having to have a life-saving cardiac catheterization procedure in hospital.”
While the above experts give their take from a data and healthcare perspective, Bruce explains that it also makes commercial sense, commenting “Our health economist team have recently modelled clinical scenarios that help provide an idea of the estimated savings insurers could achieve when using Clinitouch.
“For instance, a Nigerian insurance company with 1,000 customers with heart failure could achieve estimated gross annual savings of over $80,000 by implementing Clinitouch. Likewise, a South African insurance company with 1,000 policyholders suffering from COPD could see estimated gross annual savings of more than $400,000."
If you’re an insurance company and want to get an idea of the savings you could make by implementing Clinitouch, fill out our free assessment form here (we’ll send your estimated savings back to you within 72 hours).
Heyn notes the importance of patient education and engagement in implementing these solutions, commenting “While the market is ready to adopt technology with an estimated 23 million South Africans smartphone users, patient training is essential to ensure compliance and data accuracy. Both Clinitouch and insurance companies need to drive this. While insurers can shy away from new solutions due to cost, presenting solid data to them could be a great way to leverage remote patient monitoring.”
Noel supports engaging wider stakeholders, including clinicians, adding, “The engagement of the clinicians monitoring the patients is essential. One clinician can be the shop window for this kind of technology, so it’s crucial for them to realise the benefits too.”
John, who is a doctor also running his own clinics, commented “Although digital health technology is brilliant, face to face interaction is hugely important in helping patients to understand the technology in the first instance. Familiarity and word of mouth are a big thing in Nigeria, so if the patient hasn’t heard of it and has a view that ‘telemedicine’ doesn’t work, it can be difficult to change their mind. Education is a big factor in helping them to understand how remote patient monitoring could help their needs.”
Noel commented, “I'm not suggesting that this type of technology is a silver bullet, because it's not, but it can mitigate some of the healthcare challenges we are seeing, by managing people’s conditions more effectively and efficiently.”
The integration of remote patient monitoring into Africa’s health insurance market holds immense potential. By reducing hospitalisations, effectively managing non-communicable diseases, and providing significant cost savings, Clinitouch is poised to transform the healthcare landscape.
The impact of this technology is already evident in Africa, marking a significant advancement in healthcare delivery. We are collaborating with multiple partners across the continent, including an Accra-based insurance company that is revolutionising healthcare access in Ghana by offering remote patient monitoring to at-risk patients through its network of clinics.
In Namibia, our partner is working with a Medical Aid fund to include Clinitouch as a value-added service in their insurance packages for conditions like COPD and Type 2 diabetes.
We are looking to collaborate with more innovative insurers who want to be among the first to bring Clinitouch to their countries, with help from us and our on-the-ground implementation partners. If this sounds like you, drop us an email on clinitouch@spirit-health.com or get in touch with us here.
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Please do get in touch with us on clinitouch@spirit-health.com if you're interested in finding out more.
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Africa’s healthcare system is under immense pressure from the heavy burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as hypertension, COPD and diabetes. Challenges like repeat hospital admissions, delayed treatments, and managing co-morbidities are just some examples of strained resources and high costs.
But there’s a solution on the horizon, remote patient monitoring (RPM) technology. By adopting RPM through health insurance services, we can not only improve patient outcomes but also cut costs and create stronger customer loyalty. We asked industry experts for their take on how RPM can revolutionise healthcare in Africa and seamlessly integrate into insurers' offerings.
Lilian Odhek, International Market Advisor for East Africa at the UK Department for Business & Trade, painted a sobering picture of the health insurance market in East Africa and wider Sub-Saharan Africa.
“The health insurance space has been known for loss making, due to high disease burdens and fraud cases in some markets. For instance, in some East African insurance companies, less than half made profits despite consistent growth in premiums. The profit is just not coming in because of the high disease demand.”
Lilian noted that appetite for technological solutions is high, and if driven by demand, often adopted. “Technologies that reduce costs coming out of insurers or people’s pockets would be embraced. So, a technology like RPM would be welcome.”
Dr John Adesioye, CEO of Nigerian-based Utopian Consulting, gave his insights into the health insurance landscape in Nigeria.
“Nigeria has been pushing for enrolment in health insurance for many years now, but there is still relatively low uptake, and the different offerings from the various insurance providers make it a segmented market. Even though we know it’s a huge market, the National Health Insurance Scheme only has about 5% coverage of the population, with different other insurance providers plugging the remaining insured gaps.
“Although 5% uptake is low, in Nigeria’s population, this could still have a big impact, equaling around 10 million people – with many having chronic conditions. However, we need insurance companies to actually realise the benefits of using remote patient monitoring first.”
Dr Noel O’Kelly, Co-Founder & Medical Director at Clinitouch, emphasised the significant benefits remote patient monitoring can bring, especially for managing chronic conditions like COPD and heart failure.
“We have a tsunami of non-communicable diseases. One of the big issues with conditions such as COPD and heart failure is the exacerbations that lead to hospitalisations. Each deterioration not only brings the patient down but also increases the likelihood of future admissions. By optimising medical care with the right medications, the right interventions and the right data, the outcomes are tremendously better.”
Lilian commented, “Roughly 50% of hospitalisations and 30% of deaths are caused by non-communicable diseases, and these diseases are a big cost driver for health insurers. A technology like Clinitouch could move treatment from reactive to preventive, and this would help to cut costs and also increase profits for this health insurance, so it makes business sense for insurers to embrace some of these technologies. It also opens a new avenue to identify fraud detection, because the data would speak for itself.”
Bruce Adams, Commercial Director at Clinitouch, added “We are currently working with a partner and medical insurer scheme across Pretoria, Johannesburg and the surrounding areas and have seen first-hand the impact this technology can make. Reductions in referrals for hypertension and ischemic heart disease have led to hugely reduced costs in the early results.”
Jim Swift, Health Economist from Clinitouch, commented, “We’ve seen a high prevalence of hypertension across Africa, and its management is pretty poor. Early management with Clinitouch can save costs by reducing the need for frequent face-to-face consultations as antihypertensive doses are escalated.”
“If we look at heart failure, much of which is caused by poor control of hypertension, remote patient monitoring enables us to identify when a patient is decompensating quickly and early and get them to a community clinic or hospital for immediate stabilisation.”
Heyn van Rooyen, Sector Director for Africa at the UK Department for Business and Trade, commented, “A program like this could be extremely helpful to health insurers, because you have the data. If you don’t have the data, you will never be able to control the cost of your customers with chronic conditions. We have seen in South African pilots that once you start becoming aware of the patients’ condition, costs can come down significantly through reduced hospital admissions.”
John supported Heyn’s comment, adding “You have the data for your patients to be able to care for them over a longer period. For example, a hypertensive patient may have a couple of small events over three weeks. With Clinitouch, you are aware of these events due to frequent questionnaires and vital sign monitoring. If you just have face-to-face appointments, you may not find out until a month later. This ongoing monitoring could be the difference in just a tweak in their medications or the patient having to have a life-saving cardiac catheterization procedure in hospital.”
While the above experts give their take from a data and healthcare perspective, Bruce explains that it also makes commercial sense, commenting “Our health economist team have recently modelled clinical scenarios that help provide an idea of the estimated savings insurers could achieve when using Clinitouch.
“For instance, a Nigerian insurance company with 1,000 customers with heart failure could achieve estimated gross annual savings of over $80,000 by implementing Clinitouch. Likewise, a South African insurance company with 1,000 policyholders suffering from COPD could see estimated gross annual savings of more than $400,000."
If you’re an insurance company and want to get an idea of the savings you could make by implementing Clinitouch, fill out our free assessment form here (we’ll send your estimated savings back to you within 72 hours).
Heyn notes the importance of patient education and engagement in implementing these solutions, commenting “While the market is ready to adopt technology with an estimated 23 million South Africans smartphone users, patient training is essential to ensure compliance and data accuracy. Both Clinitouch and insurance companies need to drive this. While insurers can shy away from new solutions due to cost, presenting solid data to them could be a great way to leverage remote patient monitoring.”
Noel supports engaging wider stakeholders, including clinicians, adding, “The engagement of the clinicians monitoring the patients is essential. One clinician can be the shop window for this kind of technology, so it’s crucial for them to realise the benefits too.”
John, who is a doctor also running his own clinics, commented “Although digital health technology is brilliant, face to face interaction is hugely important in helping patients to understand the technology in the first instance. Familiarity and word of mouth are a big thing in Nigeria, so if the patient hasn’t heard of it and has a view that ‘telemedicine’ doesn’t work, it can be difficult to change their mind. Education is a big factor in helping them to understand how remote patient monitoring could help their needs.”
Noel commented, “I'm not suggesting that this type of technology is a silver bullet, because it's not, but it can mitigate some of the healthcare challenges we are seeing, by managing people’s conditions more effectively and efficiently.”
The integration of remote patient monitoring into Africa’s health insurance market holds immense potential. By reducing hospitalisations, effectively managing non-communicable diseases, and providing significant cost savings, Clinitouch is poised to transform the healthcare landscape.
The impact of this technology is already evident in Africa, marking a significant advancement in healthcare delivery. We are collaborating with multiple partners across the continent, including an Accra-based insurance company that is revolutionising healthcare access in Ghana by offering remote patient monitoring to at-risk patients through its network of clinics.
In Namibia, our partner is working with a Medical Aid fund to include Clinitouch as a value-added service in their insurance packages for conditions like COPD and Type 2 diabetes.
We are looking to collaborate with more innovative insurers who want to be among the first to bring Clinitouch to their countries, with help from us and our on-the-ground implementation partners. If this sounds like you, drop us an email on clinitouch@spirit-health.com or get in touch with us here.
Please do get in touch with us on clinitouch@spirit-health.com if you're interested in finding out more.
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