IHH FutureHealth.Now 2026 Explores How Affordability, AI, and Precision Medicine Will Shape the Future of Care

Against a backdrop of geopolitical uncertainty, supply chain disruptions, and rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and precision medicine, FutureHealth.Now provided a platform for industry leaders to explore how innovation, technology, and new models of care can help tackle rising healthcare costs, workforce pressures, and growing demand for services across the region.

At his opening address, Ashok Pandit, Group Chief Corporate Officer, IHH Healthcare, described the ‘care stack’ as the combination of people, technology, financing, and policy that must work together to support high-quality care in an increasingly complex healthcare environment.

“Healthcare systems today are facing pressures like never before. Demand is rising faster than capacity, costs are increasing faster than affordability, and expectations are growing faster than our systems can adapt. The way we have delivered healthcare for the past 50 years will not be enough for the next 50. That is why we are redefining the care stack – bringing together people, science, technology, infrastructure, capital, policy, and trust to reimagine how care is designed and delivered. Ultimately, our goal is simple – better outcomes, greater access, and better value for patients,” he said.

Among the conference’s key discussions was a session on balancing cost and outcomes in healthcare, featuring Dr Bhushan alongside Lawrence Lam, Chief Executive Officer, Prudential Hong Kong, and Professor Joseph Sung, Dean, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University Singapore, moderated by Dr Kamal Amzan, Chief Executive Officer, IHH Healthcare Malaysia.

Dr Bhushan, best known for spearheading Ayushman Bharat, India’s national health assurance scheme covering more than 500 million people through cashless, paperless access to public and private hospitals, offered a framework for how policymakers, providers, payors and patients can align around a shared definition of value.

“Value is an outcome, cost is an input,” he said, adding that from a patient and society perspective, value means better health outcomes, equity and improved population health for the resources available.

He also outlined three tests he applied when deciding whether government should support new health technologies while leading India’s National Health Authority: whether the improvement is meaningful and not merely statistical, whether it is cost-effective relative to existing alternatives, and whether it improves or undermines equity of access between those who can and cannot afford it.

Drawing on India’s experience, Dr Bhushan noted that beyond financing, one of the biggest barriers to accessible and affordable healthcare is a lack of knowledge and information about available services – a challenge that is especially pronounced given India’s diversity across states and populations. He added that government has a critical role to play not only in financing and infrastructure, but in regulation, given that healthcare markets are prone to failure through information asymmetry and misaligned incentives.

Investing in the next decade of healthcare

The conference’s opening panel examined how healthcare can become a driver of productivity, economic growth and national competitiveness, and the role of investment, innovation and technology in building more sustainable health systems for the future.

Moderated by CNBC news anchor Christine Tan, the panel featured Dr Prem Kumar Nair, Group Chief Executive Officer, IHH Healthcare; Ganen Sarvananthan, Managing Partner, TPG Asia; and Associate Professor Daniel Ting, Co-Director, SingHealth Duke NUS AI Medicine Institute and Chief Data and Digital Officer, Singapore National Eye Centre.

When asked about what will shape investment decisions in the next decade, Dr Prem shared:

“Three healthcare megatrends that will reshape how care is delivered are ageing populations, the advancement of technologies including AI, robotics, and imaging, but most importantly, healthcare affordability.”

IHH Healthcare Singapore launches Healthspan, expanding its focus on preventive health and longevity

Reflecting the conference’s focus on preventive and personalised healthcare, IHH Healthcare Singapore unveiled Healthspan, an initiative that supports individuals to live healthier and more fulfilling lives. Healthspan represents a shift from traditional episodic care to a proactive, continuous health management model centred on early detection, personalised interventions, and long-term wellbeing.

As a broader philosophy of care, Healthspan will be supported through a range of current and future offerings across IHH Healthcare Singapore’s network, including preventive screening, advanced diagnostics, genomic health, specialised services and targeted programmes. Bringing together clinical expertise, data-driven insights, and multidisciplinary capabilities, it supports individuals across different life stages, helping them better understand future risks and take a more proactive approach to healthy ageing.

FutureHealth.Now, 2026 builds on the inaugural edition of the conference held in Kuala Lumpur in August 2025, which convened more than 350 leaders and experts across healthcare, government, and business. More information on FutureHealth.Now is available at www.ihhhealthcare.com/futurehealth-now.