Hospital records and prescription management technology
Business Model Description
Scale-up ERP and SaaS solutions that digitize and manage medical records and prescriptions for patients, sold as subscriptions to public and private hospital networks
Expected Impact
Reduce costly misdiagnoses and inaccuracies, making healthcare more affordable and reliable for Brazilians
How is this information gathered?
Investment opportunities with potential to contribute to sustainable development are based on country-level SDG Investor Maps.
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Country & Regions
- Brazil: Rondônia
- Brazil: Maranhão
- Brazil: Alagoas
- Brazil: Amapá
Sector Classification
Health Care
Development need
Healthcare deficiencies are cited as Brazil's largest development need by nearly half of the population. Some of the main challenges mentioned are a lack of resources, both human and technical, and lack of productivity, leading to extensive delays in healthcare delivery (2) Brazil has scored 76.9 on SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) (1)
Policy priority
The new administration is addressing the healthcare system's main challenges, by vowing to increase efficiency in the system by digitizing medical records and removing restrictions for health professionals to serve both the public and private health care systems; proposing legislation to simplify the transfer process for foreign doctors who wish to work in Brazil (5)
Gender inequalities and marginalization issues
Health-related issues, such as non-communicable diseases, lack of access to family planning services, and maternal health complications, greatly impede women’s ability to engage in the workforce. (6)
Investment opportunities introduction
High potential revenues by providing affordable healthcare to the uninsured population with high targeted returns ranging between 15 and 20%.(16)
Key bottlenecks introduction
Lack of resources and productivity leading to extensive delays
Health Care Providers
Development need
Brazil's new administration has cut healthcare expenditure by over US$ 2 billion in 2019, down to US$ 31 billion (4) putting a strain on the system which is characterized by poor quality factors. Patients in the public health system are twice as likely to die from infections than patients in the private health system (10) (13)
Policy priority
Public sector has repeatedly stressed the objective of making the public healthcare system more efficient and allow professionals to by allowing public and give flexibility to professionals to work in both public and private health care provision
Gender inequalities and marginalization issues
Maternal mortality rates in Brazil are five to ten times higher than countries of comparable economic status. Two of the greatest challenges are the high prevalence of cesarean section (c-section) and unsafe abortions. (6)
Investment opportunities introduction
Since 2015, nearly 3M people have lost private health plan coverage, driven by the economic crisis (8), putting additional pressure on the public healthcare system, but also increasing the opportunity for non-plan coverage models (e.g., pay-as-you-go)
Health Care Delivery
Pipeline Opportunity
Hospital records and prescription management technology
Scale-up ERP and SaaS solutions that digitize and manage medical records and prescriptions for patients, sold as subscriptions to public and private hospital networks
Business Case
Market Size and Environment
5% - 10%
42,000 hospitals and clinics in Brazil require digitalisation of records and prescriptions
The health technology market in Brazil is expected to grow ~6% CAGR 2016-2020 (9)
There are over 42K hospitals and clinics in Brazil that need to have their records and prescriptions digitized (7) (17)
Indicative Return
20% - 25%
Benchmark investors consulted in this vertical have target returns of 18-25% (13)
Investment Timeframe
Short Term (0–5 years)
Technology platforms are already available and installation and onboarding periods are short, which is expected to lead to cash generation in the short term, based on conducted research
Ticket Size
USD 500,000 - USD 1 million
Market Risks & Scale Obstacles
Business - Business Model Unproven
Capital - CapEx Intensive
Impact Case
Sustainable Development Need
Brazilian hospitals are 86.3% less time-efficient (defined as average internment time for patients) than American ones at clinical treatments (10)
Under 15% of the Brazilian population has electronic medical records and 70% of medical prescriptions in Brazil have potential for errors, putting thousands of patients at high risk (8)
Gender & Marginalisation
Maternal mortality rates in Brazil are five to ten times higher than countries of comparable economic status. Two of the greatest challenges are the high prevalence of cesarean section (c-section) and unsafe abortions. (6)
Expected Development Outcome
Increase efficiency of hospital management by e.g., reducing costly misdiagnoses (25-40% of laboratory exams undertaken in Brazil in 2017 were not necessary, costing the public healthcare system over US$ 2 billion) (17)
Revenue increase: One player in the subsector, BoaConsulta, helped clinics increase revenues by 34% on average (13)
Reduce risk of prescription inaccuracies by digitizing them and using zero-error software systems
Gender & Marginalisation
Increased efficiency in hospital management and decreased errors in medical prescriptions, improving women's access to healthcare provision
Primary SDGs addressed
3.d.1 International Health Regulations (IHR) capacity and health emergency preparedness
National legislation, policy and financing 100%, coordination and National Focal Point communications %90, surveillance %90 (2017), Health Service Provision %40, Risk Communication %80, Points of entry %60, National Health Emergency Framework %73 (2019) (18)
100%
Secondary SDGs addressed
Directly impacted stakeholders
People
Indirectly impacted stakeholders
People
Outcome Risks
Potential for new technological requirements to put those less technologically savvy out of work
Impact Risks
Unexpected impact risk: loss of employment for people unfamiliar with new medical technologies
Execution risk: adoption of software solutions can require additional time and training
Impact Classification
What
The outcome is likely to be positive, important and intended because increased efficiency in hospitals and health clinics could reduce many costly misdiagnoses and prescription inaccuracies
Who
Health professionals and patients are underserved due to lack of productivity tools in health facilities
Risk
Software solutions are readily available but adoption timeframes may require additional training
Impact Thesis
Reduce costly misdiagnoses and inaccuracies, making healthcare more affordable and reliable for Brazilians
Enabling Environment
Policy Environment
(Plenary Session of Chamber of Deputies 2018): broad political support to digitize records and prescriptions, driven by interest in optimizing healthcare delivery by saving time and space in hospitals, reducing the margin for human error in prescribing and following-up with patients (15)
Financial Environment
(Plenary Session of Chamber of Deputies 2018): broad political support to digitize records and prescriptions, driven by interest in optimizing healthcare delivery by saving time and space in hospitals, reducing the margin for human error in prescribing and following-up with patients (15)
Regulatory Environment
(Brazilian Medical Council Bill (10107/18)): passed in 2018 to digitize patient records for more than 42K public health clinics across the country (7)
Marketplace Participants
Private Sector
VOX Capital, Performa Investimentos, Riverwood Capital, iClinic, BoaConsulta, Pixeon and Arquivar
Non-Profit
The National Association of Private Hospitals (Anahp)
Target Locations
Brazil: Rondônia
Brazil: Maranhão
Brazil: Alagoas
Brazil: Amapá
References
- (1) Bertelsmann Stiftung, 2019, https://dashboards.sdgindex.org/#/BRA
- (2) Pardee Center, 2017, https://pardee.du.edu/sites/default/files/BRAZILReportPardeeCenter%20%281%29.pdf
- (3) Estado de São Paulo, 2019, https://politica.estadao.com.br/noticias/geral,analise-o-que-esperar-do-governo-bolsonaro-na-area-da-saude,70002662565
- (4) Núcleo de Acompanhamento de Políticas Públicas, 2019, https://fpabramo.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/napp-saude-100-dias.pdf
- (5) Poder 360, 2019, https://www.poder360.com.br/governo/cfm-pede-que-bolsonaro-crie-carreira-de-medico-de-estado/
- (6) Sarah B. Barnes & Elizabeth Wang. "Healthy Women, Healthy Economies: A Look at Brazil" https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/publication/healthy_women_healthy_economies_a_look_at_brazil.pdf
- (7) Instituto Nacional de Teconologia da Informação, 2018, https://www.iti.gov.br/noticias/indice-de-noticias/2456-digitalizacao-de-prontuarios-medicos-tem-regulamentacao-aprovada-na-camara-dos-deputados
- (8)TechCrunch, 2018, https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/09/brazils-healthtech-sector-is-new-hot-spot/
- (9) Dr. Hempel Network, 2018, https://www.dr-hempel-network.com/health-policies-in-india/digital-healthcare-market-in-brazil/
- (10) Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, 2014, https://www.iess.org.br/cms/rep/joscarlosserufofilho_si2cylwt.pdf
- (11) Rondônia Dinâmica, 2018, https://www.rondoniadinamica.com/arquivo/saude-publica-rondonia-tem-tres-entre-os-15-piores-hospitais-do-brasil,19232.shtml
- (12) Extra de Rondônia, 2018, https://www.extraderondonia.com.br/2018/02/02/rondonia-tem-tres-entre-15-piores-hospitais-do-brasil/
- (13) Dalberg interviews, 2019
- (14) Exame, 2016, https://exame.abril.com.br/brasil/os-melhores-e-os-piores-estados-em-indicadores-de-saude/
- (15) Câmara de Deputados, 2018, https://www2.camara.leg.br/camaranoticias/noticias/SAUDE/566497-CAMARA-REGULAMENTA-DIGITALIZACAO-DE-PRONTUARIOS-MEDICOS.html
- (16) Convergência Digital, 2019, http://convergenciadigital.uol.com.br/cgi/cgilua.exe/sys/start.htm?UserActiveTemplate=site&at%5Fxt=4dd6d9f5efa3d25a%252525252C0&infoid=49865&sid=3&sms%5Fss=twitter
- (17) BNDES, 2018, https://web.bndes.gov.br/bib/jspui/bitstream/1408/16040/3/PRLiv214078_Visao_2035_compl_P.pdf
- (18) United Nations Global SDG Database. “SDG Indicators.” https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/indicators/database/.
- (19) “IClinic - Crunchbase Company Profile & Funding.” Crunchbase. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/iclinic.
- (20) “BoaConsulta - Crunchbase Company Profile & Funding.” Crunchbase. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/boaconsulta-com.