The healthcare industry is set to transform itself into a patient-centric model where the Internet will allow people to source affordable services, particularly from countries like Thailand.

This was one of the findings from recent research from IBM Global Business Services outlined in its report "Patient-Centric: The 21st Century Prescription for Healthcare".

The report noted that the pervasiveness of the Internet had spawned the growth of medical tourists who are able to source for the best medical treatments abroad. Patients are discovering world-class facilities that offer advanced surgical procedures and top quality care at a fraction of the cost. As a result, healthcare facilities in some countries will need to rationalize costs to stay competitive and to continue to attract local citizens.

Christopher Yeow, IBM Asia-Pacific and Great China Group Healthcare and Life Sciences Lead, said that by 2015, individualized care would increasingly be delivered at more convenient locations, by more affordable and effective healthcare teams.

In developed and developing countries alike, healthcare consumers will seek out more convenient, effective and efficient healthcare means, settings and providers. Payers including governments and third-party health insurers will direct citizens and customers to these alternative options.

The shift in consumer attitudes toward venues of healthcare delivery will be accompanied by a corresponding shift in how, where and who provides preventive, acute and chronic care services.

"There will be a shift from episodic and acute care to more patient-centered, value-based, longitudinal care by healthcare teams and there will be better management of chronic conditions, especially as more acute diseases evolve into chronic diseases through advancements in detection and treatment," Yeow said.

Medical tourism was beginning to subject healthcare delivery to global competitive pressures. He pointed to the example of a cost of heart bypass, which is US$33,000 in the United States, US$13,125 in Mexico, US$14,500 in Costa Rica, US$7,800 in India, US$9,200 in Thailand and US$12,500 in Singapore.

Healthcare systems must also address major issues and questions to reach a sustainable system. Factors such as new treatments and increasing demand for services and value are converging to increase the pressures, and without major changes many countries will not be able to continue on their current path in the next decade.

New levels of accountability, tough decisions and collaborative hard work are needed on the part of all stakeholders to transform healthcare systems into a national asset.

The ecosystem, which consists of healthcare providers, medical professionals, consumers, pharmaceutical companies, medical devices companies, has to work together.

Mr Yeow noted five drivers that were changing healthcare: globalization, consumerism, aging and overweight populations, diseases that are more expensive to treat, as well as new medical technologies and treatments.

"In order to compete long term in a global economy, hospitals have to make sure they have something of value so that they can maintain a competitive edge, such as a combination of healthcare and tourism and advanced treatment and technologies," he said. Consumers have greater choice and they can compare and shop around for services, he added.

Counterbalancing the drivers for change are key inhibitors that threaten to maintain the healthcare status quo. These include financial constraints, societal expectations and norms, lack of aligned incentives, inability to balance short and long term perspectives, as well as inability to access and share information.

According to the IBM study, a patient-centric model puts the needs of the patient first and requires greater patient responsibility and accountability. Individuals have the right to expect improved care as long as they educate themselves and change their behaviors to better mange their health, access medical records and information, and contribute an appropriate share to the total cost of care.

Open technical and interoperability standards are necessary for extensive use of the Internet, while there needs to be highly-secure storage for patient data.

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