Telemedicine

Telemedicine

Photo by Shutterstock

Telemedicine

Country
Sector
Most major industry classification systems use sources of revenue as their basis for classifying companies into specific sectors, subsectors and industries. In order to group like companies based on their sustainability-related risks and opportunities, SASB created the Sustainable Industry Classification System® (SICS®) and the classification of sectors, subsectors and industries in the SDG Investor Platform is based on SICS.
Health Care
Sub Sector
Most major industry classification systems use sources of revenue as their basis for classifying companies into specific sectors, subsectors and industries. In order to group like companies based on their sustainability-related risks and opportunities, SASB created the Sustainable Industry Classification System® (SICS®) and the classification of sectors, subsectors and industries in the SDG Investor Platform is based on SICS.
Health Care Retail
Indicative Return
Describes the rate of growth an investment is expected to generate within the IOA. The indicative return is identified for the IOA by establishing its Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Return of Investment (ROI) or Gross Profit Margin (GPM).
> 25% (in IRR)
Investment Timeframe
Describes the time period in which the IOA will pay-back the invested resources. The estimate is based on asset expected lifetime as the IOA will start generating accumulated positive cash-flows.
Medium Term (5–10 years)
Market Size
Describes the value of potential addressable market of the IOA. The market size is identified for the IOA by establishing the value in USD, identifying the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) or providing a numeric unit critical to the IOA.
In 2019, 3,004,602 people were excluded from health insurance and health services
Direct Impact
Describes the primary SDG(s) the IOA addresses.
No Poverty (SDG 1) Good health and well-being (SDG 3)
Indirect Impact
Describes the secondary SDG(s) the IOA addresses.
Gender Equality (SDG 5) Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8) Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10)

Business Model Description

Invest in the extension and implementation of telemedicine services such as online and / or telephone consultations, self-diagnosis, follow-ups, as well as services and technological solutions that allow the storage and access of medical information of patients with medical personnel throug mixed financing including private investment, subsidies from foundations and the co-payment system of the users.

Expected Impact

Increase access to health services and reduce inequality in rural and female population.

How is this information gathered?

Investment opportunities with potential to contribute to sustainable development are based on country-level SDG Investor Maps.

Disclaimer

UNDP, the Private Finance for the SDGs, and their affiliates (collectively “UNDP”) do not seek or solicit investment for programmes, projects, or opportunities described on this site (collectively “Programmes”) or any other Programmes, and nothing on this page should constitute a solicitation for investment. The actors listed on this site are not partners of UNDP, and their inclusion should not be construed as an endorsement or recommendation by UNDP for any relationship or investment.

The descriptions on this page are provided for informational purposes only. Only companies and enterprises that appear under the case study tab have been validated and vetted through UNDP programmes such as the Growth Stage Impact Ventures (GSIV), Business Call to Action (BCtA), or through other UN agencies. Even then, under no circumstances should their appearance on this website be construed as an endorsement for any relationship or investment. UNDP assumes no liability for investment losses directly or indirectly resulting from recommendations made, implied, or inferred by its research. Likewise, UNDP assumes no claim to investment gains directly or indirectly resulting from trading profits, investment management, or advisory fees obtained by following investment recommendations made, implied, or inferred by its research.

Investment involves risk, and all investments should be made with the supervision of a professional investment manager or advisor. The materials on the website are not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any investment, security, or commodity, nor shall any security be offered or sold to any person, in any jurisdiction in which such offer would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.

Read More

Country & Regions

Explore the country and target locations of the investment opportunity.
Country
Region
  • Paraguay: Amambay
Learn more

Sector Classification

Situate the investment opportunity within sustainability focused sector, subsector and industry classifications.
Sector

Health Care

Development need
Difficulties of access to health care persist for the rural population, especially the rural poor. Additionally, there is a shortage of human resources, since in preventive health the gap amounts to 3,800 health professionals. Only 25.9% of the population has health insurance (I).

Policy priority
The Institutional Strategic Plan of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare has been carried out for 2023. Among the objectives are: The protection and guarantee of universal access and coverage, strengthen the quality of health care, guarantee the care of the prevalent diseases and promote the rational use of medicines and other health technologies (II).

Gender inequalities and marginalization issues
Women often lack regarding fertility, contraceptive and reproductive health measures and rural areas have lower access to health (III).

The opportunity to rebuild the sector with business models that are more inclusive, help accelerate poverty reduction and close inequality gaps, is necessary. To do this, telemedicine and affordable health insurance were identified as opportunities (I).

Key bottlenecks introduction
Inadequate infrastructure, such as insufficient healthcare facilitie directly impacts the ability to deliver effective health services, especially in remote or underserved areas. Additionally, a lack of trained healthcare professionals exacerbates these challenges (IV).

Sub Sector

Health Care Retail

Development need
Difficulties of access to health care persist for the rural population, especially the rural poor. Additionally, there is a shortage of human resources, since in preventive health the gap amounts to 3,800 health professionals. Only 25.9% of the population has health insurance (I).

Policy priority
The Institutional Strategic Plan of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare has been carried out for 2023. Among the objectives are: The protection and guarantee of universal access and coverage, strengthen the quality of health care, guarantee the care of the prevalent diseases and promote the rational use of medicines and other health technologies (II).

Gender inequalities and marginalization issues
Women often lack regarding fertility, contraceptive and reproductive health measures and rural areas have lower access to health (III).

The opportunity to rebuild the sector with business models that are more inclusive, help accelerate poverty reduction and close inequality gaps, is necessary. To do this, telemedicine and affordable health insurance were identified as opportunities (I).

Key bottlenecks introduction
Inadequate infrastructure, such as insufficient healthcare facilitie directly impacts the ability to deliver effective health services, especially in remote or underserved areas. Additionally, a lack of trained healthcare professionals exacerbates these challenges (IV).

Pipeline Opportunity

Discover the investment opportunity and its corresponding business model.
Investment Opportunity Area

Telemedicine

Health services in telemedicine
Business Model

Invest in the extension and implementation of telemedicine services such as online and / or telephone consultations, self-diagnosis, follow-ups, as well as services and technological solutions that allow the storage and access of medical information of patients with medical personnel throug mixed financing including private investment, subsidies from foundations and the co-payment system of the users.

Business Case

Learn about the investment opportunity’s business metrics and market risks.

Market Size and Environment

Critical IOA Unit
Describes a complementary market sizing measure exemplifying the opportunities with the IOA.

In 2019, 3,004,602 people were excluded from health insurance and health services

> According to statistical data for 2019, of the 7,152,703 inhabitants, 4,148,101 people had health insurance and / or accessed a health service (sick or injured who consulted), so 3,004,602 people were out of said groups (1).

> MediGet (a company that operates in Paraguay) offers a subscription for physicians of 15 USD (PYG 99,900) per month to access the platform and appear in the directory of specialists, regarding the cost of the consultations depends on the specialty of the doctor, it can range from 15 (PYG 99,900) to 25 USD (PYG 166,500) and the doctors receive 90% of the profits (2).

Indicative Return

IRR
Describes an expected annual rate of growth of the IOA investment.

> 25%

For an economic feasibility study of Telemedicine and its implementation in the department of Cordillera, Paraguay, in 2015, a positive NPV is obtained and results in an IRR of 43%, in a period of 10 years (3).

Investment Timeframe

Timeframe
Describes the time period in which the IOA will pay-back the invested resources. The estimate is based on asset expected lifetime as the IOA will start generating accumulated positive cash-flows.

Medium Term (5–10 years)

For an economic feasibility study of Telemedicine and its implementation in the department of Cordillera, Paraguay, in 2015, a positive NPV is obtained, with financing, in a horizon of 10 years (3).

Market Risks & Scale Obstacles

Business - Business Model Unproven

There is mistrust in virtual consultation, so face-to-face consultations are still preferred (4).

Impact Case

Read about impact metrics and social and environmental risks of the investment opportunity.

Sustainable Development Need

There are still great challenges in Paraguay to achieve SDG 3. The coverage index of essential health services in Paraguay in 2017 was 69.0 (on a scale of 0 to 100) (5).

40,000 people in Paraguay die each year and 30% die without any type of medical assistance, mainly the population in rural areas far from cities (4).

An average of 18,000 deaths are registered per year in the country, which represents about 6,000 people. (9). with more than 500 deaths annually. For this reason, active prevention and monitoring strategies for this type of disease are increasingly relevant in the country (6).

Gender & Marginalisation

There is a disparity around the distribution of health personnel, where 70% of health workers are concentrated in the area around Asunción, an area where only 30% of the population lives. This gap in health workers is due to the lack of infrastructure and incentives to work in rural areas (7).

Difficulties in access to health care persist for the rural population, especially the most vulnerable and low-income populations in rural areas (7).

Women often lack regarding fertility, contraceptive and reproductive health measures.

Expected Development Outcome

> Improve the provision and access to health services.

> Reduce the costs of access to care for diagnoses of different diseases (such as cardiovascular diseases and breast and cervical cancer), including waiting time and transportation cost.

Gender & Marginalisation

>Improve access to information for women regarding fertility, contraceptive and reproductive health measures.

> Reduce the inequality gap in obtaining health, improving access to health for rural areas.

Primary SDGs addressed

No Poverty (SDG 1)
1 - No Poverty

1.3.1 Proportion of population covered by social protection floors/systems, by sex, distinguishing children, unemployed persons, older persons, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, newborns, work-injury victims and the poor and the vulnerable

1.a.2 Proportion of total government spending on essential services (education, health and social protection)

Good health and well-being (SDG 3)
3 - Good Health and Well-Being

3.1.1 Maternal mortality ratio

3.8.1 Coverage of essential health services

Secondary SDGs addressed

Gender Equality (SDG 5)
5 - Gender Equality
Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8)
8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10)
10 - Reduced Inequalities

Directly impacted stakeholders

People

General population with limited health access

Public sector

Public health system (the solutions of telemedicine will allow the public health system to cope with demand and cope with some of the worst-performing regions in the country).

Gender inequality and/or marginalization

Population in rural, remote communities and / or peri-urban and metropolitan areas, particularly those without access, or with limited access to medical care (including women and vulnerable groups).

Indirectly impacted stakeholders

Corporates

Medicine service providers and investors.

Outcome Risks

Due to its impersonal nature, the provision of health services online can reduce the responsibility between the doctor and the patient and decrease the overall quality (8).

Patients are exposed to cybersecurity problems, challenging the privacy of your information and personal data on telemedicine platforms (8).

Impact Risks

External risks: Lack of infrastructure and connectivity deployment could limit impact.

Drop off risks: lack of digital skills could limit population adoption of services.

Gender inequality and/or marginalization risk: digital training gaps could lead to lower adoption in rural areas and female population.

Impact Classification

C—Contribute to Solutions

What

Telemedicine has the potential to reduce inequalities in the accessibility of services between urban and rural communities and generate a positive result for the population of Paraguay.

Risk

Although the model is proven, external factors such as limited connectivity and digital literacy of target populations can limit the extent of impact

Impact Thesis

Increase access to health services and reduce inequality in rural and female population.

Enabling Environment

Explore policy, regulatory and financial factors relevant for the investment opportunity.

Policy Environment

The National Development Plan 2030 - has as one of the objectives of axis I (Poverty reduction and social development) of the plan is to obtain quality social services: It combines poverty reduction, social development and efficient and transparent public management (9).

The Institutional Strategic Plan of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare 2019 - establishes the objectives for the health sector in the medium term, which include increasing access and coverage and strengthen the quality of health care (10).

The National Telehealth Program - It is an example of the telemedicine effort in the public sector is in charge of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare and its objective is to provide support to the Public Health System (11).

Financial Environment

Law 60-90 establishes that when the investment is financed with a foreign banking institution, no taxes are paid on the payments made by said banking institution (investments greater than US $ 5 million) (15).

Law 60-90 establishes that for investments greater than investments greater than US $ 5 million, no taxes are paid when the profits from the project are distributed (15).

Law 5,542 / 15 On guarantees for investments and promotion of job creation and economic and social development, grants the invariability of the income tax rate in force at the signing of the contract for up to ten years (16).

Regulatory Environment

Law No. 836 of the Health Code - Where the functions are regulated of the State in relation to the integral care of the health of the people and the rights and obligations of the people in the matter (12).

Law 2001/1936 - Creation of the Ministry of Public Health and the Organic Law for health custody and defence is established (13).

National Health Council - It is a body for coordination, consultation and inter-institutional participation between the public sector and the private health sector, within the limits established in Law No. 1032/96 that creates the National System of health (14).

Marketplace Participants

Discover examples of public and private stakeholders active in this investment opportunity that were identified through secondary research and consultations.

Private Sector

Mediget (the platform charges 10% of the payment per consultation, the price of which depends on the medical professional), Dr. Click (family medicine, traumatology and orthopedics or psychology), E-Medicus (attention and primary diagnoses)

Government

Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare (Diagnostic studies include tomography, ultrasound, electrocardiography and electroencephalography)

Target Locations

See what country regions are most suitable for the investment opportunity. All references to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of the Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999)
country static map
urban

Paraguay: Amambay

Important gaps in quality, coverage, and results are observed in the Metropolitan Area of ​​Asunción, in the corridor from Asunción to Ciudad del Este, as well as in parts of Amambay, Misiones and Canindeyú

References

See what sources were used to establish the investment opportunity’s data and find resources that could be consulted to explore more.