Hospital Readiness for Advanced Therapies: Are LATAM Facilities Prepared?

Mariana Romero Roy

Technological advances, whether it’s digitization, the increasing use of AI or advanced diagnostics and treatments, have the power to completely reshape the face of healthcare in Latin America in the coming years. Electronic medical records make the process of treating patients more efficient and accurate, while telemedicine can make healthcare more accessible for a greater number of people.

As AI systems begin to mature, the potential for healthcare is even greater. Diagnoses can be made extremely accurately and with astounding speed. AI-assisted imaging can help doctors detect issues that may have been missed in the past. They can even help doctors develop new drugs or treatments at an advanced pace.

Then, of course, there’s the myriad of advanced therapies that can treat and cure more diseases than ever before, thanks to developments such as robotic-assisted surgery, oncology care, advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) that involve cellular and genetic approaches to treatment, and more.

Keeping Up with the Tech

There’s certainly no shortage of innovation to be excited about in the Latin American healthcare market, but as with most things in life, there are caveats. The rapid change of pace is making it challenging for some regions and hospitals to keep up. The result is the inability for some hospitals to update their infrastructure fast enough to accommodate the changes. Others, often the private centers, are doing so more successfully, but that creates more inequality in the Latin American healthcare market between the haves and the have-nots.

Are We Ready for AI?

When it comes to artificial intelligence, the numbers indicate that it’s already growing at an astounding rate and will continue to develop rapidly in the years ahead:

• $19.27b – Estimated AI healthcare market size in 2023
• $188b – Projected value of the AI healthcare market by 2030
• 38% – Projected growth in the regional AI healthcare market between 2019 and 2027
• 5% – Estimated contribution of AI to Latin America’s GDP by 2030
• $349M – Forecasted revenue of Latin America’s AI healthcare market by 2030
• 2% – Estimated compound annual growth rate (2024–2030)

While developments are being seen throughout the region, Armando Guio Español, an affiliate with Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center and an architect of the AI Strategies of several Latin American countries, says that infrastructure updates to allow the widespread collection and organization of digital medical records are the key to unlocking more widespread use of AI in Latin America.

More progress is being made in this area day by day. “What I’ve seen is many doctors and researchers in Latin America are very interested in making use of AI, but they need better quality data,” he says. “As countries improve their digital records and data models, we will begin to see some great advances in AI in Latin American health care markets.”

Indeed, some of this advancement is already taking place across Latin America, and the region is even becoming known as a bit of a “testing ground” for these new technologies. With its diverse population of people of different ancestry, lower costs for entering the market, and increasingly AI-friendly regulations, companies are taking notice and bringing their new technologies to the market.

Brazil in particular has paved the way for AI innovation with the passage of a recent law and friendly policies from the Brazilian health authority, ANVISA. The Center for Artificial Intelligence has been pushing advancements in Brazil since 2020, which has led to the early integration of AI technology into imaging technologies such as X-rays, CT scans and MRI scans. Other uses of AI in Brazil include telemedicine, medication discovery and clinical trials.

These policies have already encouraged innovative healthcare companies like Noul to enter the Latin American marketplace. Advancements are occurring in other parts of Latin America, as well. The AI company Eden has secured significant funding in the region to bring their advancements to medical imaging and diagnostic processes. The technology is already being used by many radiologists in Mexico, and Eden plans to expand into other Latin American markets in the years ahead.

The Increasing Role of Digitization

In the digital health market, Latin America also has shown significant growth and proven that it has the infrastructure to support rapid developments in this area. In many instances, Latin America is leading the charge in digital health innovation and outpacing the rest of the world in funding and investments:

• Estimated growth of the global digital health market in 2024: 5.5%
• Estimated growth of the Latin American digital health market in 2024: 37.6%
• Estimated value of the Latin American digital health market by the end of 2024: $35b
• Percentage of health tech startups devoted to diagnosis, treatment and prevention: 52%
• Percentage of health tech startups located in Brazil or Mexico: 78%

As you can see, Latin America is exploding with health tech and innovation potential, with the estimated growth of the region far outpacing the world as a whole. While most of the innovation is coming from Brazil and Mexico, they are far from the only players in health tech. For example, Chile, Argentina and Colombia also provide 8%, 6% and 6% to the overall total, respectively.

Advanced Therapies in Latin America

When it comes to advanced therapies such as robot-assisted surgery, oncology care or advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) such as cell and gene therapies, many hospitals throughout the region face implementation challenges due to infrastructure concerns, inconsistent regulations around the treatments and lack of public awareness. Here again, countries such as Brazil are taking the lead here in improving regulations and infrastructure for ATMPs, whereas countries like Chile, Mexico and Argentina are still developing their regulations.

However, researchers are quick to point out that even the advanced therapy market is evolving slowly and steadily in Latin American, and the region is becoming increasingly relevant on the global stage in these areas. In particular, Brazil has a structured approval process for ATMPs in place that has led to over 100 advanced therapy clinical trials that are currently completed or ongoing in the country.

Key Takeaways for Medical Companies

As you can see, Latin America has made great progress in recent years in the adoption of innovative healthcare technologies like AI, digital health, and advanced treatments. While there are certainly infrastructure challenges to implementation, many regions and facilities have shown themselves willing to take the steps to make these advances. This is good news for equipment providers and device manufacturers looking to support these growing markets.

As some of the statistics here have shown, one issue with facility infrastructure that is evident throughout the region is inequality. Simply put, most of the growth and innovation is occurring in Brazil and Mexico, but other countries are beginning to make strides. Device and equipment companies may be able to help rid the region of some of this disparity by identifying these areas of need and helping them upgrade their facilities and equipment. GHI’s suite of tools and services are perfect for identifying these needs and crafting your sales strategy accordingly.

Next Steps

Contact GHI to learn more about innovation and emerging technologies and their potential impact on the healthcare industry in Latin America. Our team of researchers can provide the analysis you need to gain valuable insights to support strategic decision-making in your industry.