colombia hospitals database – Global Health Intelligence – Healthcare Market Insights for Emerging Markets

Colombia: Debt to hospitals and clinics in the country reached USD7.3 trillion, the highest of the last 18 years

GHI Analysis — Mon, 17 Jul 2017 20:47:40 +0000

A report by the Colombian Association of Hospitals and Clinics (ACHC) revealed that the debt to hospitals and clinics for the provision of health services in the country reached USD7.3trillion, the largest amount of portfolio owed in the last 18 years.

The study notes that EPSs from the contributory scheme remain the largest debtors of hospitals with USD2.9bn, or 40% of total debt. Second is the EPS of the subsidized regime, with 32.5% of the debt, followed by the State (including territorial entities and the Fosyga) with USD742,706mn. The remaining money is owed by companies of prepaid medicine, insurers Soat, magisterio, IPS, companies and individuals.

The ACHC pointed out that in the face of this “critical” situation, the government must guarantee the payment of debts of entities in liquidation such as Saludcoop and Caprecom and those of the newly sold Cafesalud EPS, which represent 67% of non-performing loans, to avoid detriment to the country’s health sector.

Why Medical Tourism Is Surging in Colombia

GHI Analysis — Tue, 04 Jul 2017 20:19:05 +0000

Colombia is considered the prime medical tourism destination for the Caribbean and Ecuador, and the number of patients arriving from different regions including the United states and Canada besides Panama and Peru is growing every year. Colombia has now joined the ranks of Mexico, Cuba and other LatAm markets that are bringing in record numbers of medical tourists.

As per the Colombian Immigration Agency records, the number of international passengers travelling for healthcare services, has grown by 22.9% every year (6,281 tourists in 2012 to 14,339 tourists in 2016).

The cities such as Bogotá, Medellin, Cali, Barranquilla, Cartagena, and Bucaramanga attract the largest number of international patients who are looking for quality care in healthcare services in the fields of ophthalmology, cardiology, dentistry, neurology, and oncology etc.

A report by Procolombia states that healthcare services in the country are approximately 40% cheaper than in the United States. Besides that, the geographical position of the country is an advantage with its access to a whole continent and highly trained human resources, additionally, international organizations such as Joint Commission International have certified five hospitals for their patient care standards. As per the ranking provided by América Economía, Colombia has 22 hospitals that are listed among the best hospitals in Latin America.

Explore More

To uncover sales opportunities within the Colombian market for capital equipment, medical devices, PACS, RIS and more, contact Global Health Intelligence to learn more about our hospitals database, which tracks more than 130 data points for more than 15,000 hospitals in Latin America. You can also see which are the best-equipped hospitals in Colombia with our newly released ranking.

Latin America’s Best-Equipped Hospitals

GHI Analysis — Mon, 03 Jul 2017 16:02:28 +0000

It is important for rankings to be based on facts and not subjective measures. When done properly, rankings are insightful, giving a sense of perspective through comparison. Healthcare systems across Latin America are notorious for lacking up-to-date and trustworthy information, thus skewing the perception.

To fill this gap, Global Health Intelligence (GHI) decided to delve into its database (which covers 86% of all hospitals in Latin America and now includes Bolivia, Uruguay and Paraguay) to analyze which hospitals have the highest equipment counts in 4 specific categories:

• Patient care (number of beds)
• Diagnostic imaging equipment
• Cardiovascular equipment
• Maternity unit equipment

These four categories are critical pillars when evaluating patient care. The number of beds within an institution is often an indicator of the size of the hospital and may be correlated to the level of care. Diagnostic imaging equipment is essential to properly diagnose any number of life-threatening and chronic conditions. Cardiovascular equipment is just as important given the prevalence of heart disease in Latin America. A majority of births take place in hospitals and birthing is one of the main activities of most hospitals, which denotes significant importance to maternity units and infant care. While additional categories could have been included, GHI decided to focus on these 4 areas of care in order make the ranking more manageable.

Why Multiple Categories and Countries?

Rankings are often all-encompassing with no specific focus, such as the “The 50 best hospitals.” Given the complexities of healthcare systems in place and the context in which they operate, GHI opted to acknowledge these characteristics by creating a ranking per leading category. This also enables smaller yet more specialized hospitals to form part of the ranking.

GHI applied the same plurality by setting up the rankings per country in order to reflect local market dynamics accurately. For example, Brazil has over 200 million people and over 7,000 hospitals. It would be an unjust comparison to include Brazilian hospitals alongside those of Peru, for instance, a market that’s 10 times smaller.

Rankings for the Best Equipped Hospitals

The best-equipped hospitals in Argentina
The best-equipped hospitals in Brazil
The best-equipped hospitals in Chile
The best-equipped hospitals in Colombia
The best-equipped hospitals in Dominican Republic
The best-equipped hospitals in Mexico
The best-equipped hospitals in Peru
The best-equipped hospitals in Puerto Rico

Dive Deeper

This GHI ranking will give you an initial sense of which Latin American hospitals are best-equipped. But that’s just a surface view. It takes a deeper dive into the data to understand which market segments have the best potential to drive your revenues.

You can get this deep dive by subscribing to our database , which quickly lets you use data visualization tools to see which hospitals have the biggest needs and what those needs are. Parsing that is what will uncover opportunities for your sales team and allow you to grow your revenues in different markets. Check out this video to understand how the database can help drive new and existing revenue streams. Then contact GHI directly for an even deeper sense of how our database can be the perfect tool for your sales team.

Colombia: J&J chooses Colombia as its Latin America hub

GHI Analysis — Mon, 22 May 2017 20:08:23 +0000

Johnson & Johnson (J&J), top 10 pharma and medical devices giant has chosen Colombia as its hub for Latin America. The company has plans to invest USD20-30 million in this country.

After evaluating multiple countries including Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica and Peru, J&J decided on Bogota, Colombia. The company plans to open a service center in the second half of 2017 and is expected to create more than 200 direct jobs including finance and human resource.

J&J believes Colombia has the required human talent due to high educational and professional levels in the local market. Bogota is an important strategic center because of its geographical location and one of the cities with high growth. Colombia’s annual growth is higher than Latin America’s average growth making it very attractive for investors. The country also has stable economic and political environment and relations with other countries.

J&J currently employs more than 1,700 local people and has a manufacturing unit in Cali. The company plans to invest in innovation and growth and seeks return on investment in five years.

Uruguay: Doctors migrating to Uruguay for practice

GHI Analysis — Mon, 10 Apr 2017 22:44:09 +0000

According to the report by the Medical Union of Uruguay, the country has become a recipient for foreign medical professionals. Doctors are migrating from countries like Cuba.

The report requested the government to consider the policies for allowing better distribution of professionals in locations deprived of specialists. Two migratory waves were observed in Uruguay; one during the dictatorship and the other during the economic crisis in 2002. However, the situation seems to have reversed with very few doctors migrating to other countries in search of better working conditions.

According to the Medical Union there is zero unemployment in the sector, yet 7% and 10% of Uruguayan doctors work abroad. The majority travel to Spain (51.7%) followed by Chile (24.4%). With the reversal of situation, doctors from other nations are moving to Uruguay for work, especially from Venezuela, Cuba and Pakistan.

Global market for smart medical devices to be worth USD66.1 billion by 2024

GHI Analysis — Mon, 13 Mar 2017 17:24:37 +0000

The global smart medical devices market was estimated at USD33.7 billion in 2015 and is anticipated to grow at 7.8% to reach USD66.1 billion by 2024. Amongst the smart devices, diagnostic and monitoring devices segment is projected highest growth (CAGR-7.8%) which comprises of blood glucose monitors, heart rate monitors, cardiac event, EEG/ECG monitors, pulse oximeters, blood pressure monitors, fetal monitors, breathalyzer, blood analyte analyzers, and medical tricorder. The US is expected to drive the market leading to North America acquiring a share of ~41% by 2024. Primary driver for market growth is the growing geriatric population who are prone to a wide range of diseases requiring efficient disease management. The World Health Organization (WHO) anticipates the current 566 million global geriatric population to grow to 2 billion by the end of 2050. Other factors driving the market are patient awareness to management their conditions in smarter ways and increasing development investments. Improving GDPs, rising standard of living, and growing per capita income of emerging markets including Middle East and Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America are expected to drive the demand for smart wearable healthcare technology. However, the high cost of devices and the perception of smart medical devices as luxury is hindering the market growth. There is also growing privacy concerns of the healthcare industry regarding patient’s data which is also expected to restrain the growth of the overall market.

Siemens Healthineers, Bupa Chile team up to bring latest medical technology and services to Chile

GHI Analysis — Tue, 28 Feb 2017 05:09:13 +0000

Bupa Chile has entered into a cooperation agreement worth EUR 8 millions with Siemens Healthineers in order to make advances in diagnostics in its business units, specifically in IntegraMédica medical centers, Clínica Bupa Santiago and its regional clinics. Over a contractual period of three years, Siemens Healthineers will provide advanced imaging systems and extensive services to IntegraMédica, Clínica Bupa Antofagasta, Clínica San Jose de Arica and Clínica Bupa Santiago, who will become the biggest Bupa Clinic worldwide for the group. In its capacity as a healthcare group, Bupa Chile provides integrated healthcare services to over 2 million people in Chile and Perú. Bupa Chile belongs to Bupa (British United Provident Association), a globally operating British healthcare company with 32 million customers in 190 countries. Under the terms of the agreement, Siemens Healthineers will supply six 1.5 Tesla MRI, three CT scanners, one angiography system, 12 ultrasound units and several X-ray systems. Furthermore, experts from Siemens Healthineers will train Bupa’s medical personnel to use the imaging systems in the best way and to reduce doses as much as possible whenever radiation is used. Siemens Healthineers has also developed customized training plans for this purpose.

Trump’s uncertain stand over affordable care act to impact medical device majors

GHI Analysis — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 01:35:54 +0000

The US President Donald Trump has affirmed to replace the affordable care act (also known as Obamacare) without informing precisely what will replace it. Until the new administration clearly spells out its policy goals, it remains unclear whether the number of Americans without insurance will decline. The decision has led many medical device juggernauts to seriously think over their business policies. GE Healthcare is one such medical device player that has admitted that it will impact their business. Trump administration’s decision has the potential to delay or alter plans of GE’s customers to purchase costly hospital equipment such as mammography systems. If implemented, the sales of GE Healthcare in the US will bear a huge impact, but the good news for GE Healthcare stakeholders is that GE’s healthcare business enjoys a global presence and its forecast was fairly upbeat for non-U.S. businesses. The issue matters for GE healthcare, which is the third-largest business in terms of sales. The changes in the American healthcare policy might be the biggest issue for investors in the healthcare sector to follow this year. GE gives credence to the notion that investors will be better off if those changes come sooner rather than later.

Global smart medical devices market to reach USD 66.1 billion by 2024

GHI Analysis — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 01:33:44 +0000

The global smart medical devices market is expected to be worth USD 66.1 billion by 2024. The market was valued worth USD 33.7 billion in 2015 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.8% over the forecast period of 2016-2024. Leading players operating in the global smart medical devices market such as Apple, F.Hoffmann-La Roche and Abbott Laboratories had grabbed a huge share of 43% in 2015. High brand recognition, growing presence across geographies and strong product portfolio are expected to keep these companies in the lead in near future. Among all the segments, the diagnostic and monitoring devices segment is expected to exhibit the highest growth rate. Geographically, North America is poised to lead the global market. The major driving factors contributing toward the growth of the market include growing geriatric population, increasing technological advancements, increasing investments in the development of smart medical devices, improving GDPs of nations in Asia Pacific, rising standard of living and growing per capita income.

Cofepris to work on reforming access to best healthcare solutions

GHI Analysis — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 01:22:39 +0000

Cofepris, the healthcare regulatory body of Mexico, will promote a responsible policy this year, focused on working on effective access of the population to the best healthcare solutions and contributing to the prevention of health risks. According to the head of Cofepris, the institution will strengthen timely access to a market duly supplied with safe, efficient and of the highest quality at the best prices, implement strategies to protect the population against health risks, promote the economic activity of the sector and combat illegal products and services that do not comply with health regulations. The Federal Commission will continue to authorize health records of drugs and medical devices, in terms of providing a timely access to a properly stocked market for health supplies. It is worth noting that around four thousand registrations were issued in 2016. On international agenda matters, Cofepris’ reaccess to the Pharmaceutical Inspection Cooperation Program will allow the use of mechanisms for the recognition of certificates of good manufacturing practice, with a view to gaining full member access.