Brian Deaver, CEO at AMCE, says the partnership will make a meaningful impact on the patients served by AMCE. “We are delighted to join forces with Converge and 麻豆原创 to deliver transformational healthcare systems that meet the unique needs of the great people of Nigeria, West Africa, and beyond. This collaboration represents a crucial step in our journey to strengthen healthcare delivery with greater precision and better data-driven decision-making in the region as well as job-creation in and around Abuja.”

AMCE is aimed at making a decisive impact on non-communicable disease (NCD) care in West Africa by providing world-class clinical services complemented by an education and research programme. The organisation will deliver end-to-end Cancer, Cardiovascular, and Haematological care while driving improved clinical management through research聽and聽training.

The collaboration between AMCE, Converge, and 麻豆原创 marks a significant milestone in addressing critical healthcare challenges in Nigeria and the wider West African region.

, CEO at Converge, says the joint effort underscores a shared vision: empowering millions of lives by聽making quality healthcare accessible, efficient, and patient-centred. “Through the integration of , ISH Plus, and a suite of ancillary modules focused on enhanced quality and safety, this partnership enables a modernised, interoperable healthcare system.鈥�

He adds that the solutions are set to empower hospitals, clinics and government healthcare agencies to deliver faster, more accurate and more efficient care by addressing bottlenecks in critical areas such as patient administration, care delivery and workforce management. 鈥淎frica has a high demand on healthcare delivery with a shortage of skills. To deliver the value and scale the continent requires, we apply modern tools and techniques to support and augment the human engagement of nurses and physicians.”

Healthcare systems in the region face several challenges, including fragmented healthcare delivery, limited access to patient data, and operational efficiencies that lead to delays and poor patient outcomes.

By leveraging world-class technology and aligning with international聽standards, this partnership is set to enhance patient experiences, improve operational efficiency for healthcare providers, and provide sustainable, scalable healthcare delivery.

, Regional Sales Director for West Africa at 麻豆原创, says: “There is growing demand for enhanced delivery of critical healthcare services to meet the needs of Africa’s growing population. By leveraging technology and taking an innovation-led approach to healthcare delivery, organisations can make a real, lasting impact on the lives of African citizens. We look forward to working with our partners at Converge to support the vital work done by the African Medical Centre of Excellence in driving better health outcomes throughout the region.”

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This dynamic is already unfolding in the global healthcare sector, says , Partner Head at – and Africa isn’t far behind.

“The emergence of patient-centric healthcare holds immense promise for better patient experiences, greater accessibility, and improved healthcare outcomes,鈥� says Pillay. 鈥淪upported by rapid advances in a range of complementary technologies and driven by a growing need to expand healthcare access, the adoption of patient-centric healthcare models represents the next step in the evolution of healthcare provision.”

Flipping the healthcare model

Until now, healthcare service models have required that patients navigate through often-complex systems to receive diagnoses, treatment and medical advice. Patient-centric healthcare reimagines this dynamic, building systems around the needs and preferences of the patient and prioritising the quality of their experience.

found that 79% of healthcare CEOs believed the sector needed to take a more patient-centric approach in order to better respond to patient needs and preferences. However, only 31% rated their organisation’s ability to do so as ‘excellent’.

“A patient-centric healthcare approach prioritises elements such as patient experience and multi-dimensional team engagement, leading to a more holistic patient engagement, explains , CEO at . 鈥淭his approach also makes healthcare more accessible and affordable as the patient can receive expert services in the comfort of their homes. Home-based patient-centric healthcare also benefits the whole ecosystem as the hospital bed becomes available to patients who require more intensive care, while the overall cost of healthcare delivery can be driven downward.鈥�

He adds that, to achieve this, healthcare providers must consider what might be viewed as non-conventional investments in technology to drive innovation across patient-centric operations. 鈥淭he healthcare system, for valid reasons, is slow to innovate, but we cannot stagnate. The future of healthcare must be different, if we want better patient outcomes and more affordable and accessible healthcare services.”

Healthcare access reaches patients’ homes

Global healthcare providers are increasingly shifting to home-based care models that provide primary, acute and palliative care at the patient’s home.

“Home-based care represents a golden opportunity to improve the quality of care while also lowering healthcare costs,” says Joubert. “The world is not as it was twelve months ago. Rapid advances in a range of enabling technologies such as AI, connectivity and device mobility have already set new thresholds of digital possibilities. What was science fiction two years ago, will be mainstream in the next twenty-four months.鈥�

Joubert adds that, in his view, connected intelligence and microservices is the way of the future. 鈥淭o try and do everything yourself would put you at a disadvantage. Instead, we hand-pick our partners and then combine the expertise of each partner to ensure rapid, relevant, affordable healthcare solutions with tangible value.”

Pillay adds: “Healthcare providers are increasingly adopting powerful new technologies ranging from advanced analytics to cloud capabilities, as well as a range of tools to improve planning, human capital management, financial processes and CRM-based technologies to enable the delivery of personalised healthcare. Over the next few years, the focus is likely to shift slightly to include emerging technologies that enable home-based care and diagnosis, such as AI and machine vision.”

Technology building blocks for improved healthcare

noted the growing impact of several technologies on healthcare systems and services, including Generative AI to boost productivity and content development, applied AI to improve classification, prediction and control within health processes, and digital trust technologies that ensures that trust is maintained throughout patient experiences.

However, to achieve this, healthcare providers will need to lay the technological foundation that will enable the integration of new healthcare innovations.

“The digital transformation of the healthcare industry at a global level is being enabled across a range of patient-centric technologies, spanning from improved healthcare data and analytics to smart healthcare operations and greater empowerment of healthcare workers,” says Pillay. “The outcomes of this transformation can be felt across patient engagement, patient diagnosis and the broader patient experience, as well as providers’ ability to convert health data into health insights to drive improved patient outcomes. And considering the acute skills shortage throughout the continent’s health sector, the use of technology to drive better employee experiences and improve talent retention is immensely valuable.”

Growing evidence for patient-centric model

According to Joubert, the evidence for a more patient-centric healthcare model is clear. 鈥淲e survey more than fifty thousand patients every month and their feedback confirms that patients want more curated information, more medical worker engagement and rapid responses to questions. It is not only about the patient though. Healthcare is a collective effort and as much as our focus is on patient outcomes, this means we need to take the nursing community on the journey with us. Informed and knowledgeable collaboration is critical.鈥�

Joubert points to the rapid recent advances in AI as an opportunity for the healthcare sector, with Generative AI becoming 鈥榤ainstream鈥� just more than a year ago. 鈥淎t the moment there are multiple schools of thought. Some argue that we are entering a 鈥榯rough of disillusionment鈥�, where we will realise AI is not the answer to every problem. Others argue that we are only now at very advent of the exponential AI explosion that will erupt over the next twelve to twenty-four months. I believe both views hold merit. AI is certainly not the answer to every problem. As in the case of IoT over the last couple of years, we will get smarter in how we apply the technology and, most importantly, how we do so in an ethical manner.鈥�

He adds that the healthcare sector must embrace digital capabilities or risk becoming irrelevant in the next five years. 鈥淭he healthcare industry, by virtue of erring on the side of caution and being highly regulated, typically steers away from disruption or transformation. But unless the healthcare providers embrace digital capabilities and explore the best applications of technology to improve healthcare outcomes, they won鈥檛 survive the years ahead.鈥�

materially differ. Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties may be found in our filings

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According to World Economic Forum data, , with telehealth and mental health leading the pack.

, Partner Head at , says new technology capabilities can transform healthcare operations and improve the overall patient experience while driving higher-quality patient outcomes. “Leading healthcare providers are enhancing their data strategies and leveraging advanced technologies to deliver quality, personalised healthcare to patients, whether at healthcare facilities or at home.”

End of an era

The global healthcare sector is in a state of flux amid growing digitalisation, new scientific advancements, heightened expectations for positive patient experiences and skills constraints.

According to , CEO at , African healthcare organisations have a golden opportunity to invest in technology capabilities today that will drive their success and growth for years to come. “The healthcare sector is faced with unique challenges as growing digitalisation drives greater operational efficiency while unlocking new forms of patient care. Amid a shift to more personalised healthcare engagements and the need to improve the overall patient experience, healthcare providers will increasingly seek innovative technologies and solutions to facilitate the delivery of high-quality health outcomes.”

One of the forces driving change in the African healthcare sector is that support for the widely-used 麻豆原创 i.s.h. and聽聽healthcare technology platforms will end in four years. 麻豆原创 technologies support more than 7 000 healthcare providers across 88 countries.

Best-practices drive operational efficiency

“Healthcare providers need to ensure that all systems and patient records are retained, are reliable and are providing actionable, real-time intelligence that support better quality and predictable outcomes,” explains Joubert. “This also creates an opportunity that healthcare providers simply should not miss. By looking beyond their immediate business-as-usual needs and investing in platforms that enable rapid innovation, healthcare providers could completely transform the quality of care, the patient experience, and their business models. The sustainable healthcare enterprise of the future needs to rethink their value proposition, underpinned with platforms that support differentiation, not just at process level, but also in the way that hospitals generate revenue.”

To support the digital transformation efforts of healthcare providers, Converge Solutions has developed a fully-integrated end-to-end technology platform covering the entire healthcare value chain. Built to integrate seamlessly with 麻豆原创 S/4HANA and leveraging the scalability and flexibility of the cloud, Maisha is designed to make it easier for providers to deliver high-quality, affordable and repeatable healthcare outcomes.

“Hospitals are under pressure to substantially reduce their operational costs while making better use of their resources to deliver benefits to shareholders, patients and internal stakeholders,” says Joubert. “By adopting best practices and leveraging the power of the cloud, providers can streamline their operations and achieve significant cost savings. The scalability of the cloud also allows providers to develop new capabilities at their own pace, enabling extended or diversified revenue streams into domains such as home-based care, while improving the quality of health outcomes for patients.”

Digital capabilities protect against disruption

One of the risks associated with the growing digitalisation in the sector is that healthcare providers are prime targets for cyberattacks. One report found that healthcare organisations experienced more than 1 400 attacks every week in 2022, increase. And in part due to the wealth of personal information stored in patient records, the sector also has the highest data breach cost of any industry at .

“Modern healthcare technology platforms such as Maisha integrate best-practice cybersecurity standards to protect sensitive patient data and critical healthcare systems from compromise and attack,” explains Joubert. “Inventory management and finance data will typically reside in , while all POPIA-sensitive data will be stored in Maisha in a secure data centre within the specific country, accessible only through multi-factor authentication and ensuring data sovereignty at all times.鈥�

Pillay says the introduction of also gives healthcare providers a clear path to migrating their core ERP and business processes to the cloud. “Healthcare providers can leverage an extensive set of industry best-practices, automation tools, AI-powered business processes and managed cloud infrastructure to accelerate their digital transformation efforts and achieve a future-fit state more quickly. By prioritising the development of new tech-enabled capabilities, healthcare providers can build future-fit business models that deliver benefits throughout the healthcare value chain while maintaining cost-efficiency and profitability throughout.鈥�

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鈥淗ealthcare providers are under increasing pressure to deliver improved patient experiences and streamline their operations with mounting financial constraints,鈥� says Johann Joubert, CEO at Converge Solutions. 鈥淭he answer to affordable, improved patient care is not always more staff, controls or administrative processes, but greater adoption of technology that aids automates and simplifies, allowing more effective use of available resources. Modern healthcare organisations simply cannot function optimally without applying technology as a key enabler of their operations. In light of this, we co-developed an innovative, modern 麻豆原创 IS-H and Cerner i.s.h.med offering to create a fit-for-purpose solution for the African healthcare market.鈥�

Converge Solutions is an 麻豆原创 partner organisation that develops innovative solutions for African organisations in the healthcare and financial services industries. The healthcare solution was developed partly through a co-innovation exercise held in collaboration with the 麻豆原创 Co-Innovation Lab, a global network of 麻豆原创 product and innovation labs found in 16 locations worldwide, including Johannesburg. The 麻豆原创 Co-Innovation Lab creates a platform for local 麻豆原创 partners and customers to minimise the risk associated with large-scale innovation projects built on 麻豆原创 technologies and solutions.

According to Rudi de Louw, Head of the 麻豆原创 Co-Innovation Lab at 麻豆原创 Africa, the healthcare solution developed by Converge fills a very clear gap in the local healthcare industry鈥檚 digital transformation efforts. 鈥淲orking with Johann and his team, we identified a clear opportunity to offer a fit-for-purpose solution for the African healthcare market, with an initial focus on South African organisations. Thanks to the scalability of the solution through 麻豆原创鈥檚 infrastructure, and the Converge team鈥檚 expert knowledge of the African healthcare industry, it comes as no surprise to see Converge鈥檚 enhanced versions of the solution already being adopted by healthcare organisations in other African markets.鈥�

The most recent client that implemented Converge鈥檚 麻豆原创 solution, is Fresenius Medical Care, as a key building block in enabling their World Class Patient Experience vision. The solution is centrally deployed in a private cloud environment, and used across Fresenius鈥� 67 clinics in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Swaziland.

Joubert says healthcare is an inherently complex industry, and private healthcare in particular. 鈥淚n the South African private healthcare context, doctors are not employed by the hospital and outpatient services are independent legal entities, with the hospital acting in many ways, as a real estate business that rents space to different healthcare professionals in addition to the hospital鈥檚 own services. During the course of their stay, one patient may interact with multiple external healthcare professionals and/or entities, who deliver independent yet interrelated services to the patient.鈥�

He adds that patients also have a range of benefit structures from different medical aid schemes, with different pricing mechanism, which adds layers of complexity. 鈥淭he key is to deploy a solution that simplifies all of this complexity, allowing a single view of the patient, with high levels of automation and sophistication, freeing up healthcare professionals to spend more time with the patient. There are a range of offerings in the market that are very simple to deploy and simple to use, but without the sophistication to address all of these elements effectively, forcing hospitals to throw people towards a system deficiency. Our solution doesn鈥檛 ignore these complexities, it simplifies them, with an appropriate level of control, flexibility and ease of use.鈥�

According to government data, South Africa has 80 medical schemes with more than 8 million beneficiaries. Submitting medical aid claims and checking the eligibility of patient benefits for certain procedures or care can be a time-consuming administrative burden without the appropriate solutions in place. 鈥淲e integrate to Medikredit, a switching company for medical aid claims that has enabled real-time eligibility checking, amongst other rich functionality. Healthcare organisations using our solution can quickly check that patient benefits are still intact and that the medical aid will cover the costs. Once the service is billed, the claim can be submitted to the medical aid scheme immediately and with minimal rejections since the eligibility of the claim was performed beforehand. This integrated approach ensures a dramatically lower claim rejection rate.鈥�

Joubert adds that a large part of the co-innovation project focused on reducing the operational complexity inherent within healthcare organisations. 鈥淲e made use of best practices, but also ensured the system is localised to serve the specific operational needs of African private sector hospitals. This was achieved through more than a decade of working side by side with healthcare entities to understand their pains and architect solutions, along with an active inclusion of industry thought leaders through the system enhancement process. We also extended the standard 麻豆原创 solution by integrating our own solutions to augment what is already offered, including Patient Myth (a digital patient survey and intervention platform), Impi (a clinical incident management platform), Virtual Forms (a form digitalisation platform) and Triton (an advanced acuity based nursing planning and optimisation solution).鈥�

鈥淲e have partnered and/or integrated with a number of other leading entities including, but not limited to, Cerner, Elsevier and Medikredit,鈥� says Joubert. 鈥淲e are constantly evaluating and integrating other products and partners into our ecosystem to ensure that healthcare providers can source all IT related products and services from one point of accountability. Our solutions offer simplification and predictability, extending to timeline, budget, appropriate levels of sophistication and standardised levels of care, to cover all permutations of healthcare in Africa.鈥�

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