The Philippines’ healthcare sector is quite sizable. In 2020, the total value of the sector reaches USD 18 billion. The sector is driven by government and out-of-pocket spending. The highest contributor in the country is the National Capital Region, contributing USD 8,399 USD per capita GDP.
An in-depth analysis by Philippines healthcare consulting experts can help you understand the market better and create an effective market entry strategy.
Philippines Healthcare Consulting: Market Overview
- The healthcare system in the Philippines consists of public and private sectors.
- Public hospitals focus on preventive and primary care. Public hospitals are also taking the lead in educating the public on health issues.
- Private hospitals concentrate their efforts on specialized care for cancer, cardiovascular diseases, pulmonology, and orthopedics.
- The healthcare system in the country continues to grow as many private equities acquire smaller hospitals, pursue investments, and upgrade hospital infrastructure.
- Large hospital groups provide capital to modernize equipment and upgrade facilities. They also drive hospital development throughout the country.
- Most hospitals in the Philippines are located in the Calabarzon region with 228 hospitals, followed by Central Luzon’s seven provinces with 196 hospitals, and the National Capital Region with 186 hospitals.
- The healthcare sector offers opportunities for health IT and medical devices. Private hospitals are proactively looking for diagnostic and imaging equipment to diagnose patients accurately. Others are also focusing their efforts on specialized fields like cancer treatment.
Opportunities
Health IT
The Philippine Department of Health and the Philippine national health insurance agency, PhilHealth, released Joint Administrative Order 2021-002, which aims to
- establish the national health data standards
- define the implementation of the governance for IT-enabled health services
- develop the market
PhilHealth has also developed an IT roadmap, laying down plans for implementing standards for the agency’s policies for planning, investment, and implementation.
Private hospitals and distributors are eager to acquire IT-enabled health services to provide patients with more efficient service.
Medical devices
The medical device industry in the Philippines relies heavily on imports. Currently, imported medical devices account for 99.2% of the total devices in the industry. Local medical device production is limited to medical disposables and hospital furniture.
Public hospitals concentrate their efforts on preventive healthcare while private hospitals focus on curative services. Increasing cases of malnutrition, hypertension, obesity, heart and lung problems, diabetes, respiratory diseases, and kidney disease put a heavy strain on the country’s healthcare system.
The Philippines’ healthcare sector presents opportunities. The most lucrative opportunities are in the health IT and medical devices segments. Our Philippines healthcare consulting experts can provide you with further insights into the country’s healthcare market.