Healthcare Affordability Challenge

Healthcare affordability remains a challenging issue in Emerging Markets in Southeast Asia as a significant number of patients struggle to obtain financial support for their treatments and care. Inadequate insurance coverage, coupled with financial illiteracy and lower bank account ownership, means that patients have limited access to novel therapies and financing options and are often burdened with high out-of-pocket payments, impacting their overall quality of life. Therefore, innovative, efficient and patient-centric support systems need to be put in place to help improve levels of affordability and accessibility. 

Income statements are currently the typical metric used to determine if patients qualify for healthcare financial assistance in Southeast Asian countries. This approach can contribute to a gap in equity, as many patients do not have bank accounts or salaries. We are thus looking for alternative methods that will support us in assessing patients’ digital footprints, including online purchases, digital wallet, credit standing, telecommunication data, etc. This additional data set would help determine the patient’s affordability level and resulting qualifications for financial assistance, ultimately improving patient accessibility to Pfizer’s medicines.

• Experience and understanding of the financial and healthcare ecosystems within Emerging Markets Asia
• Solution fit to the proposed need, considering the expected outcomes 
• Cost-effectiveness 
• Patient impact 
• Innovative solution 
• Ease of pilot implementation 
• Scalability 
• Time to market and market risk 
• Differentiation of solution within the competitive landscape 
• Capability of participant to execute the solution 
• Extent to which a Pfizer partnership can advance the solution