Health Policy and Technology最新文献

{"title":"Taiwanese healthcare providers’ attitudes regarding reprocessing and reuse of single-use devices","authors":"Chiu-Hsiang Lee ,&nbsp;Mohsen Saffari ,&nbsp;Hsiu-Tzy Chiang ,&nbsp;Jung-Sheng Chen ,&nbsp;Jiun-Ting Wu ,&nbsp;Wai Chuen Poon ,&nbsp;Marc N. Potenza ,&nbsp;Chung-Ying Lin","doi":"10.1016/j.hlpt.2024.100969","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.hlpt.2024.100969","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objectives</h3><div>Reusing medical single-use devices (SUDs) has been increasing worldwide. However, there is limited understanding regarding healthcare workers’ perceptions of SUD standards and regulations. The study examined knowledge of and attitudes towards SUDs in Taiwanese healthcare providers.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Overall, 900 healthcare providers from 20 cities/counties in Taiwan participated in a nationwide cross-sectional study. A questionnaire based on recommendations from the Infection Control Society of Taiwan was developed and it demonstrated good psychometric properties (Cronbach's alpha= 0.66-90). The questionnaire assessed SUD-related knowledge, opinions, institutional/administrative policies, quality control, and institutional safety procedures. Linear regression models investigated associations of SUD-related factors with participant characteristics.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Although most participants (90 %) knew that unprocessed SUDs should not be reused and may threaten patients, approximately half supported SUD reuse and were confident that their institutions could reprocess SUDs. Almost all participants (&gt;95 %) supported standard protocols for reprocessing of SUDs. Institution type (medical center vs. regional/district hospitals) and work experience related to views on SUD reuse/reprocessing (p&lt;0.05).</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>Despite positive attitudes of Taiwanese healthcare workers toward SUD reprocessing/reuse, many did not have adequate knowledge regarding current standards/regulations in their worksite. Designing interventions to promote Taiwanese healthcare workers' awareness of the common regulations or guidelines related to SUDs reprocessing/reuse is suggested.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48672,"journal":{"name":"Health Policy and Technology","volume":"14 1","pages":"Article 100969"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143160791","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Does price negotiation in China bring high-value novel drugs to the national medical insurance beneficiaries?","authors":"Xingyue Zhu ,&nbsp;Yang Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.hlpt.2024.100963","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.hlpt.2024.100963","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><div>China has initiated the drug price negotiation since 2017 to incorporate in-patent drugs into the reimbursement list of the Basic Medical Insurance (BMI). From 2020 onwards, the annual price negotiation accepts unsolicited applications from drug companies. However, it's unknown whether the negotiations attract new drugs with higher clinical benefits to improve the allocative efficiency of the BMI.</div></div><div><h3>Method</h3><div>We collected the new oncology indications approved in China between Jan 1, 2015 and June 30, 2023, and checked their reimbursement status in the recent four negotiations (2020–2023). The clinical benefits were defined as the treatment effects on the primary outcome in the pivotal trial supporting the indication approval. The outcomes were classified as response rate, time-to-event, and overall survival. An instrument variables (IV) strategy was established to explore the association between the reimbursement status and the magnitude of clinical benefits for each outcome type.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>A total of 222 oncology indications were gathered, among which 60.4 % obtained the reimbursement eligibility through the price negotiations. The IV regressions found that, the reimbursed indications had a 20 % higher response rate and a 0.26 lower hazard ratio of incurring a specific event than the non-reimbursed; but the survival benefits didn't differ between the two groups.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>The price negotiations in China have brought new drugs with higher surrogate benefits into the BMI, yet have not attracted those with superior survival benefits. Regulatory innovations are needed to prioritize drugs validating therapeutic value in the reimbursement decision-making process to refine drug access.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48672,"journal":{"name":"Health Policy and Technology","volume":"14 1","pages":"Article 100963"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143160792","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Systematic review of transferred costs in economic evaluations from the Middle East North Africa Region","authors":"Meriem Fgaier ,&nbsp;Hana Al-Abdulkarim ,&nbsp;Hossein Motahari-Nezhad ,&nbsp;Nhlanhlayakhe Nkwanyana ,&nbsp;Prof. Márta Péntek ,&nbsp;Prof. László Gulácsi ,&nbsp;Dr Zsombor Zrubka","doi":"10.1016/j.hlpt.2025.100975","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.hlpt.2025.100975","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objectives</h3><div>The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is striving to provide their populations with quality healthcare. The challenge for MENA countries is aggravated by the scarcity of health-related cost data which strains their health systems and puts pressure on decision-makers to efficiently allocate resources. Transferring costs from another setting might be a suitable solution to ease the resulting pressure. This paper aims to identify literature utilizing regionally transferred costs and to evaluate their methodology and reporting quality.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Literature search was performed in June 2022 to identify health economic evaluations which reported transferred costs from other jurisdictions between January 2000 and May 2022. Studies selection and data extraction were performed in duplicates. The Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards 2022 and the Fukuda transparency categorization were used to evaluate the quality of the extracted costs.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>104 costs were examined from 13 studies. Cost transferability is a recent practice in the region with a slight lead of Gulf Council countries. The majority of donor costs were of poor quality and the selection of donor and destination countries was often poorly justified.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>The applied methodology was heterogenous and authors have not referred to available international transferability guidelines. We propose a preliminary checklist for structured evaluation of cost-transfer methods to improve reporting tranparency and advance evidence-based health policy making in MENA.</div></div><div><h3>Plain summary</h3><div>The Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) is under significant challenge to implement health technology assessment practice following the scarcity of locally collected economic data. This systematic review explores the transferability of health-related costs as a potential solution to the scarcity of local cost data in the region. 13 studies which reported using 104 transferred costs from MENA countries were included in the final analysis. We concluded that cost transferability practice is recently adopted within MENA, and Golf region is slightly leading with 7 studies transferring over half of the included costs to Golf countries settings. No standard methodologies and references were reported by authors when transferring these costs and both reporting and selection criteria between donor and destination costs and countries were mostly of poor quality and often not justified. We propose a preliminary checklist for structured evaluation of cost transfer methods to improve reporting transparency and advance evidence-based health policy making in MENA.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48672,"journal":{"name":"Health Policy and Technology","volume":"14 1","pages":"Article 100975"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143160790","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Resilience in public health: What is and what should never be","authors":"Alessandro Jatobá","doi":"10.1016/j.hlpt.2025.100974","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.hlpt.2025.100974","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48672,"journal":{"name":"Health Policy and Technology","volume":"14 1","pages":"Article 100974"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143160788","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Outcomes of price transparency policies for healthcare services in the United States: A systematic review","authors":"John C. Lin ,&nbsp;Julia S. Gillette ,&nbsp;Angela S. Zhu ,&nbsp;Dustin D. French ,&nbsp;Margaret Weir ,&nbsp;David J. Meyers ,&nbsp;Paul B. Greenberg","doi":"10.1016/j.hlpt.2025.100973","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.hlpt.2025.100973","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>This systematic review evaluates the role of price transparency policies for healthcare services in influencing price availability, price awareness, and health costs in the US.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>We searched five databases for English-language studies evaluating price transparency policies in the US; literature reviews, perspectives, case reports, non-healthcare studies, and non-US studies were excluded. Two investigators independently conducted data extraction and quality assessment. We examined study risk of bias and quality using Cochrane and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute tools, qualitatively summarized study findings, and quantitatively analyzed included studies.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Eighty-seven studies were included. Hospital price transparency mandates faced early issues with low compliance. Government price transparency programs were associated with reduced price growth for some services, but many lacked comprehensive pricing data by payer and provider. These findings were limited by the low quality of included studies.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>Existing price transparency policies appear subject to substantial limitations, although emerging evidence suggests that they hold promise for changing price growth and healthcare utilization. Policymakers should consider modifying price transparency policies to become more robust, accurate, and user-friendly.</div></div><div><h3>Public Interest Summary</h3><div>In a recent review of 87 scientific studies, we investigated the efficacy of US policies in making healthcare prices clear and accessible to the public. Although hospitals often struggled with providing accurate and easy-to-use price information, government programs that shared this information helped slow down the rise in prices and encouraged people to use more affordable healthcare, especially for medical imaging. As healthcare prices keep rising, our findings suggest that better-designed government programs could help make prices clearer for everyone, potentially saving money and helping patients make informed decisions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48672,"journal":{"name":"Health Policy and Technology","volume":"14 1","pages":"Article 100973"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143160827","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How long has the patient been like this?","authors":"Marianna Evangelia Kapsetaki","doi":"10.1016/j.hlpt.2025.100983","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.hlpt.2025.100983","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48672,"journal":{"name":"Health Policy and Technology","volume":"14 2","pages":"Article 100983"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143350723","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Transforming healthcare system: Outcomes of Healthier-SG from a large tertiary-care hospital in Singapore","authors":"Yong Yang ,&nbsp;Indumathi Venkatachalam ,&nbsp;Chi Ting Low ,&nbsp;Mabel Zhi Qi Foo ,&nbsp;May Kyawt Aung ,&nbsp;Shawn Wee Jin See ,&nbsp;Myat Oo Aung ,&nbsp;Darius Yak Weng Chan ,&nbsp;Shalvi Arora ,&nbsp;Jean Xiang Ying Sim ,&nbsp;Yuke Tien Fong ,&nbsp;Vui Kian Ho ,&nbsp;Yee Sien Ng ,&nbsp;Lian Leng Low ,&nbsp;Srinath Sridharan ,&nbsp;Moi Lin Ling ,&nbsp;Chai Rick Soh","doi":"10.1016/j.hlpt.2024.100968","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.hlpt.2024.100968","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><div>Healthier-SG is a major transformation of the healthcare system which focuses on proactively preventing individuals from falling ill. We aimed to determine if the introduction of Healthier-SG was associated with changes in outcomes of admitted patients.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Retrospective cohort study of patients aged ≥21 who were admitted 18 months prior to (January 2022 to June 2023) and 6 months post (Jul to Dec 2023) implementation of Healthier-SG. Relevant patient information was also extracted.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>109,451 inpatients were included overtime with 30,692 (28.0 %) patients admitted post Healthier-SG. For medical conditions that could be managed in the community, admissions for dementia (0.2 % vs. 0.1 % <em>P</em> = 0.003) and peripheral vascular disease (0.4 % vs. 0.3 % <em>P</em> = 0.011) decreased significantly after Healthier-SG, but no differences for most other conditions (all <em>p</em> &gt; 0.05). The patient's hospital length of stay [HLOS, geometric means (GM), prior to 3.8 vs. post Healthier-SG 3.5 days] and in-hospital mortality (3.7 % vs. 2.9 %, all <em>P</em> &lt; 0.001) were significantly decreased post Healthier-SG. The bed-days for patients enrolled with SingHealth cluster (GM, 4.92 vs. 4.77 days, <em>p</em> = 0.022) over 2023 were also decreased after Healthier-SG. Multivariate regression analysis showed implementation of Healthier-SG was associated with statistically significant changes in HLOS [incidence rate ratio (IRR) 0.9, <em>p</em> &lt; 0.001) and in-hospital mortality [Odds ratio (OR) 0.8, <em>p</em> &lt; 0.001], with adjustment for other relevant parameters.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>The Healthier-SG implementation was associated with significantly reduced HLOS and decreased in-hospital mortality during the early phase of Healthier-SG, even though the expected shift away of the chronic disease conditions from acute hospitals was not seen yet.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48672,"journal":{"name":"Health Policy and Technology","volume":"14 1","pages":"Article 100968"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143160789","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Professional perspectives towards implementing artificial intelligence in next generation sequencing–based newborn screening: A Q methodology study","authors":"Sara Soriano Longarón ,&nbsp;Lennart Johansson ,&nbsp;Imke Christiaans ,&nbsp;Erwin Birnie ,&nbsp;Marielle van Gijn ,&nbsp;Adelita V. Ranchor ,&nbsp;Mirjam Plantinga","doi":"10.1016/j.hlpt.2025.100982","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.hlpt.2025.100982","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>The use of next generation sequencing (NGS) to expand current newborn screening (NBS) is being explored. NGS would enable early detection of more early onset diseases. However, to interpret a large amount of data within a short turn-around time, it is necessary to use artificial intelligence (AI). Use of AI in NGS-based NBS raises ethical and societal issues that require investigation of how healthcare professionals view the use of AI in this context and which requirements need to be met to realize responsible development and deployment of AI in NGS-based NBS.</div></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><div>To explore professionals’ perspectives on the requirements that are important for responsible development and deployment of AI in NGS-based NBS.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Q methodology was used to examine the perspectives of professionals, involving two steps: 1) an online focus group discussion to provide input for the development of 40 statements regarding requirements for responsible use of AI in NGS-based NBS and 2) an online sorting by the participants (<em>N</em> = 30) of the list of statements, according to their importance.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The Q methodology approach identified two participant perspectives. The first emphasized the importance for professionals that they retain control over the task for which the AI is used. The second prioritized the importance of parental acceptance and of high uptake of the screening offer.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>The findings indicate an overall optimistic attitude and suggest that for responsible development and implementation of AI in an NGS-based NBS, it is important to consider requirements covering ethical, legal and societal aspects.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48672,"journal":{"name":"Health Policy and Technology","volume":"14 2","pages":"Article 100982"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143153102","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Computerized clinical decision support systems for prescribing in primary care: Characteristics and implementation impact. Scoping review and evidence and gap maps","authors":"Héctor Acosta-García ,&nbsp;Juan Ruano-Ruiz ,&nbsp;Francisco José Gómez-García ,&nbsp;Susana Sánchez-Fidalgo ,&nbsp;Bernardo Santos-Ramos ,&nbsp;Teresa Molina-López","doi":"10.1016/j.hlpt.2025.100976","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.hlpt.2025.100976","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study aimed to conduct a scoping review and evidence and gap maps to characterize Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) in primary care, evaluate their implementation and maintenance levels, and identify evidence gaps. Methods: A literature search covering January 2010 to May 2023 was conducted across various databases. Inclusion criteria encompassed studies involving real patients with detailed descriptions of CDSS, including both comparative and descriptive designs within primary care settings. Two independent reviewers screened the references, while four researchers independently extracted data, which included demographics, main findings, and system descriptions. The results were presented using interactive evidence and gap maps. Results: Among 1,447 initial citations, 75 studies met the selection criteria. The identified types of CDSS included adherence to guidelines/local protocols (45 %), antibiotic prescription (16 %), suitability (15 %), and others. Only one system was classified as \"intelligent,\" while 39 % received a complexity rating of 4 on a scale from 1 to 5. Assessment of various outcomes across the studies revealed health outcomes (20 %), economy/resource use (13 %), potentially inappropriate prescription (61 %), adherence to local guidelines/protocols (12 %), and acceptance/use (40 %). Two maps were created: The first one displayed the type of CDSS linked to the type of results measured. The second one showed the type of CDSS and their most relevant characteristics. Data were represented in a dynamic bubble diagram. Conclusion: Current evidence regarding CDSS in primary care is limited and heterogeneous. The identified systems exhibit relative complexity but are not classified as intelligent, primarily focusing on improving prescribing practices through clinical guidelines or prescription aid tools. The outcomes most frequently assessed included potentially inappropriate prescriptions and acceptance/use. The evidence and gap maps provide a user-friendly format for visualizing existing evidence and identifying research gaps in the implementation of CDSS within primary care.</div><div><strong>Systematic Review registration</strong>: This study is registered in Open Science Framework. <span><span>https://bit.ly/2RqKrWp</span><svg><path></path></svg></span></div><div><strong>Results data: EGMs</strong>: The complete EGMs can be accessed at the following link: <span><span>https://proyectos.imibic.org/evidence-map/</span><svg><path></path></svg></span></div></div>","PeriodicalId":48672,"journal":{"name":"Health Policy and Technology","volume":"14 2","pages":"Article 100976"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143373100","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Navigating ASEAN region Artificial Intelligence (AI) governance readiness in healthcare","authors":"Hein Minn Tun ,&nbsp;Lin Naing ,&nbsp;Owais Ahmed Malik ,&nbsp;Hanif Abdul Rahman","doi":"10.1016/j.hlpt.2025.100981","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.hlpt.2025.100981","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported 40 % of jobs will be influenced by Artificial Intelligence (AI), globally. Integration of AI into healthcare holds immense promise to revolutionize patient care, diagnosis, and treatment strategies but significant concerns regarding ethical considerations of data privacy, security, and bias in AI algorithms. ASEAN member states are increasingly interested in AI implementation in healthcare, but a clear description of each country's landscape is lacking, hindering gap identification and development potential.</div></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><div>To explore the gaps in AI-related policies and guidance in the ASEAN region, with a specific focus on the healthcare sector.</div></div><div><h3>Method</h3><div>In this study, we assessed the \"Government AI Readiness Index from 2020 to 2023 by Oxford Insights to gauge ASEAN nations' readiness for AI utilization in healthcare. A comprehensive review of national and regional AI policies that focuses on the healthcare sector was conducted. Data collection involved gathering information from published official policies and guidelines, government health ministries' websites, and online sources. Additionally, guidance on digital health policies specific to the ASEAN region was explored.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Descriptive analysis of government AI readiness reveals disparities with Singapore leading the region (ranked 2nd), followed by Malaysia (ranked 23), Thailand (ranked 37), Indonesia (ranked 42), Vietnam (ranked 59), Philippines (ranked 65), and Brunei Darussalam (ranked 74), highlighting progress in establishing AI governance frameworks. However, countries like Laos (ranked 136), Cambodia (ranked 145), Myanmar (ranked 149), and Timor-Leste (ranked 156) lag, with limited regulations and strategies in place. Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines established a national-level policy with a focus on the health sector while others are still in progress. Regional AI guidance has been established recently with different approaches to the EU's AI Act. Despite witnessing progress in the digital health sector post-COVID-19, challenges persist in digital infrastructure and literacy across regional countries.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>This study emphasizes the varied readiness for AI technology, particularly in healthcare, across the ASEAN region, highlighting the necessity for strengthening country-level policies, especially in governance, to facilitate the effective establishment of AI technologies in the healthcare sector. By implementing proper AI policies, training human capital, and enhancing digital infrastructure, ASEAN countries can markedly improve healthcare outcomes and make significant contributions to achieving SDG Goals 3 and 9b.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48672,"journal":{"name":"Health Policy and Technology","volume":"14 2","pages":"Article 100981"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143350722","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}