Is complementing in-person care with virtual care (hybrid care) a key part of the answer to South Africa’s NHI aspirations, asks Deon Bührs, Managing Director of Genie Health SA, who suggests that technology is the ‘unreasonable man’ in complementing decent universal healthcare and that self-empowerment is the only solution to sustainable wellness.
“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
George Bernard Shaw
There is a school of thought that a young democracy can benefit from a well-considered blend of socialism and capitalism, particularly when it comes to healthcare and education. I would second that, to a degree. That South Africa requires a more equitable health system goes without saying though, as the apparent disparity and divisions between the haves and have nots is ever widening.
The status of our public healthcare system and the spiralling costs of the private offering need to find parity. A sad situation indeed, because at one stage, South Africa had one of the best public health sectors in the world, where groundbreaking heart transplants, for example, were done.
To the question of universal healthcare then. If it means that universal healthcare is a fundamental human right that everyone should aspire to, then it’s a yes, the NHI is essential. It should not be a matter of political affiliation, and let’s be clear, there is already healthcare for all in South Africa, through the public health system, free at the point of care for those who cannot afford care. But it is the quality of this care, and the effective management of these services that lie in stark contrast to that of the private healthcare system.
Signed in literally at the 11th hour before the country went to general elections, the National Health Insurance (NHI) bill is a polarising topic for many. The massive cost of providing a functioning NHI as per the bill, has been estimated conservatively at more than R200 billion a year, while some estimate closer to R1 trillion. With an already strained tax base, we must adopt new thinking as to how to deliver healthcare in a cost sensitive and effective way.
To my mind, one of the most effective ways of ensuring there is universal care that works, is recognising and supporting the role the patient plays in empowering their own health, recovery and wellness journey. They appear, however, to have been forgotten in the conversation that is the NHI bill to date.
For me, in its current guise, the NHI will unfortunately not bridge the quality divide. In fact, if we are not careful and if we do not find common ground, and hold government and the private sector to account, our entire healthcare system could well be in danger of failing – completely.
The unreasonable man test – laying the groundwork for new ways of healthcare delivery
Although expediently signed into law with little regard to comments or concerns raised from many sectors including health and business, the NHI does lay the groundwork for new ways of delivering healthcare and sets the scene for changing the mindset from the current sick-care system mentality to one of a patient-empowered HEALTHcare system.
Change must happen, but the extent of that change often depends on what Irish playwright and political activist, George Bernard Shaw, once stated as: “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
At present, Prof Nicholas Crisp who has been tasked with helming the delivery of the NHI, could be seen as Shaw’s “unreasonable man” in his efforts to equalise and deliver universal healthcare. Ensuring that the lever of technology is utilised in an effective way is critical though, to ensure that we don’t try and replicate previous perceived successes, and not move forwards.
With a challenged healthcare system, both public and private, we are called to not give up hope, but to lean into the solution, and at the same time, avoid a defensive posture of that which only served the few. I believe that these circumstances force us to innovate, and to seriously consider new ways of providing healthcare for all. It should be seen as an exciting time of just where we can push the future of healthcare.
For instance, we already know that a traditional healthcare delivery system, with its associated costs and accessibility challenges for those living in remote parts of our country just won’t cut it. But unlocking technology as the new delivery channel of healthcare complimented by affordable and fast internet, could well be the solution to cracking the code of healthcare for all.
Through technology we can drive the patient-centric approach to health and open the door for patients to more easily access the multi-disciplinary team of healthcare professionals they need.
The best of both worlds – prevention, and when required, recovery
An example of doing things differently, is a new approach to musculoskeletal health that has been facilitated by digital transformation, and which is finding growing adoption in South Africa. With objective improvements in patient outcomes, satisfaction scores and recovery times, virtual care teams can support patients through their recovery programmes, ensuring improved compliance and ownership of their health journey. And empowering patients to embrace exercise and activity over surgery and pharmaceuticals where appropriate, has a dramatic impact on the overall healthcare spend.
Imagine patients having the choice to access a multi-disciplinary team of experts anywhere in the country – from the comfort and convenience of their own home or workplace, all at the tips of their fingers. No need to be transported to a clinic or hospital every time they need healthcare services. This is entirely possible, with platforms like Genie Health, that provide a hybrid approach in complimenting in-person care with virtual care.
NHI needs a strong front loader like these hybrid platforms that provide the full range of allied healthcare services, to reduce the burden of care and cost on an already strained system, by reducing unnecessary hospital admissions, surgeries, medication and travel costs and allowing for the existing framework to be brought up to date and even surpass expectations.
With ICASA reporting over 75% of the population having Internet access in South Africa and more than 90% smartphone penetration, pressure on Mobile Network Operators to provide zero rated data for healthcare applications (as they have done in education and other areas) mounts.
If measures like this can be implemented, they will have a tremendous impact on reducing the burden on the existing healthcare system through a self-health-empowered approach, with the backing of a full clinical team on the ready to assist the patient.
The ultimate question is how do we make healthcare more affordable and accessible to all South Africans, which is the core aim of the NHI?
The answer – we need to renew our focus on the key stakeholder, our patients – and empower them to drive their own health, by using technology as the backbone for sustainable wellness. It could well be, that with a renewed mindset and health-empowered citizens, the NHI is the true gamechanger for progress in HEALTHcare that we all need.
