How can Vietnam transform its healthcare system into a regional hub of innovation?
That question guided the Vietnam Healthcare Summit 2025, hosted by Vietnam Innovators Digest at JW Marriott Hotel & Suites Saigon. Gathering over 200 leaders from hospitals, startups, investment funds, and government agencies, the summit’s theme — “Making Vietnam an Innovation Hub Through Healthcare” — reflected a shared ambition: to build a system where innovation and accessibility advance together.
Across eleven sessions, speakers explored everything from AI and electronic medical records to community health and postpartum care, offering a panoramic view of a sector that is rapidly modernizing while retaining its most human core: the patient.
Here are some highlights from the event:
Empowering Communities Through Preventive Care – Ms. Hien Lane, Regional Advisory, Hello Health Group
Opening the summit, Ms. Hien Lane, Regional Advisory of Hello Health Group, shared insights from the platform’s first-ever Vietnam Health Index, based on a nationwide survey of over 700 respondents.
The study found that Vietnam’s overall health score stood at 66 out of 100, a nation “doing okay” but facing growing challenges in mental, physical, and financial well-being.
Ms. Lane also broke down striking regional differences:
- Central Vietnam citizens, despite lower access to healthcare services, rated themselves the healthiest.
- Urban areas showed higher physical health scores, while rural communities remained more consistent in social and spiritual well-being.
- Southern Vietnam, she noted, displayed a “proactive and preventative mindset,” with residents more digitally engaged and more likely to adopt new healthcare technologies.
Across demographics, women emerged as the primary caregivers, often managing multiple generations’ health needs while still being the most open to adopting new healthcare technologies.
“For Vietnam to move forward, innovation must begin with empathy and understanding,” Ms. Lane noted. “Trust is the invisible infrastructure that holds innovation together.” In a landscape where 70% of respondents reported encountering online misinformation, she emphasized that verified information and cross-sector collaboration remain essential to empowering patients and building a healthier, more resilient Vietnam.
Strengthening Global Partnerships – Ms. Alexandra Smith, British Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City & Head of Trade, UK Embassy Vietnam
Following Ms. Hien Lane’s keynote, Ms. Alexandra Smith emphasized that innovation in healthcare is also innovation in partnership. “Diseases don’t respect borders,” she said. “COVID-19 reminded us that collaboration saves lives and innovation must travel as freely as information does.”
She highlighted the UK’s long-standing collaboration with Vietnam, from the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU), marking 30 years of joint breakthroughs in malaria research, to recent partnerships between Liverpool City Region, Children’s Hospital 2, and Vietnam CDC.
“It's partnerships, not aid,” she noted. “The British government is providing aid per se, but it's building partnerships that are mutually beneficial.”
With bilateral trade now reaching £9 billion, healthcare remains one of the fastest-growing sectors, driven by medical technology and data solutions. Ms. Smith also underscored the UK’s ongoing support for regulatory reform and public–private partnerships to strengthen Vietnam’s innovation ecosystem.
“We started on partnerships and we should end on partnerships,” she concluded. “We’re to work together to provide some insights into that for Vietnam, creating a roadmap for how innovation can be found, highlighting the huge opportunities here in Vietnam in terms of how it can become a central point of innovation.”
Innovation with Purpose – Mr. Deepanshu Madan, CEO, Pharmacity
Opening with an easy candor, Mr. Deepanshu Madan, CEO of Pharmacity, set aside his prepared remarks. “I had written a very diligent speech,” he said, smiling, “but after hearing the speakers before me, I realized my role today isn’t to explain Vietnam’s healthcare landscape. It’s to share what I’ve learned from visiting 800 stores and speaking directly with consumers.”
Drawing on years of experience investing in and running healthcare businesses across Asia, Mr. Madan offered a practical view of Vietnam’s growth story. “This market will double from USD 8 billion to 16 billion in eight years,” he noted. “Clearly it presents an opportunity for all of the people present here. However, trust is a huge factor in building a relationship with the community that can utilize you, can be with you, can rely on you. ”
Trust, he said, comes not from compliance or efficiency but from intent: the courage to invest in people and solve real problems. At Pharmacity, this belief has reshaped the role of pharmacists. “When customers walk into drug stores, they are not thinking of you as drug dispensers, but as caretakers.” he said. With most of Pharmacity’s pharmacists being women, the company focused on building a culture of empathy and community care, training staff in partnership with leading health brands to provide advice and preventive guidance.
That direction led Pharmacity to expand beyond retail into preventive health. Through partnerships with hospitals and government agencies, Pharmacity now offers free doctor consultations, bone density, blood pressure, and glucose screenings. “Innovation may be profit-first,” he stressed. “But let it be intent-first. The intent has to be the consumer.”
He closed with a call for collaboration. Pharmacies, clinics, telehealth providers, insurers, and policymakers all share a common mission: to keep people healthy. There is every reason for these stakeholders to collaborate and build a comprehensive healthcare ecosystem that includes everyone.
Technology and Empathy in Modern Care – Dr. Phuong Thao, Medical Director at Charis Healthcare
The fireside chat between Ms. Tu An, Co-founder of Optimal 365 Chiropractic, and Dr. Phuong Thao Tran, Medical Director of Cherish Healthcare, explored how continuous quality improvement (CQI) in medicine can be accelerated through technology and AI.
Drawing from nearly two decades of clinical experience, Dr. Tran shared practical examples of how digital tools are reshaping patient care in Vietnam, from wearable devices that monitor blood pressure and heart rate to mobile apps supporting maternal health in remote areas.
He also highlighted the growing role of AI-powered chatbots in mental health, where stigma still prevents many from seeking help.
However, he cautioned that fragmented hospital systems, inconsistent data standards, and privacy concerns continue to hinder the sharing of electronic medical records. “Technology alone isn’t enough,” Dr. Tran noted. “We need a shared digital language, a unified platform, and above all, patient trust.”
He concluded that continuous improvement in healthcare is not just about AI or data, but about using technology to make care safer, more connected, and truly centered on the patient.
Driving Digital Health Infrastructure – Dr. Chris Bates, Director of Research & Analytics, The Phoenix Partnership (TPP)
Closing the morning sessions, Dr. Chris Bates from The Phoenix Partnership (TPP) explored how digital infrastructure and data-driven innovation can tackle Vietnam’s most pressing healthcare challenges, from chronic diseases to workforce shortages and rising out-of-pocket costs.
With an aging population and increasing prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease, Dr. Bates emphasized the urgent need for better prevention through data and AI. “We’ll never have more healthcare data than we have today,” he noted, citing the explosion of information from hospital records, wearables, and genomic research. The key, he argued, lies in integrating that data across all levels of care – “one patient, one record” – enabling doctors to make real-time, informed decisions.
Drawing on TPP’s global work in the UK, Malaysia, and China, he shared examples where unified electronic medical record (EMR) systems have cut patient wait times by 85%, reduced duplicate testing, and improved disease surveillance. In Malaysia, the nationwide digitalization of primary care clinics allowed patients to “tell their story once,” improving trust and efficiency.
For Vietnam, he outlined a similar vision: a cloud-based, AI-enabled EMR network linking rural clinics and national hospitals to support real-time decision-making, remote monitoring, and better resource planning. Bates concluded that investing in connected health data systems can enhance patient outcomes, strengthen the health workforce, and lay the foundation for a more equitable and sustainable healthcare system.
Financing Innovation for Future Health – Mr. Hsu Keng Hou (CFO, Gene Solutions) & Lam Nguyen (Global Relationship Manager, Corporate & Institutional Banking, HSBC)
One of the most important discussions of the summit comes from a candid fireside chat between Mr. Hsu Keng Hou, Chief Financial Officer of Gene Solutions, and Mr. Lam Nguyen from HSBC, unpacking the relationship between financing and innovation in healthcare.
Mr. Lam began by contextualizing Vietnam’s healthcare investment landscape, one of the most active sectors in Southeast Asia, with over USD 180 million raised in 2023 and USD 120 million in 2024. Yet, sustaining this momentum requires strong financial ecosystems that connect innovators with global capital and strategic partners. Mr. Lam emphasized that HSBC is evolving beyond traditional banking. “We’re committed to innovation banking, helping startups grow from early stage to IPO within a trusted global ecosystem,” he said.
Mr. Hsu then shared Gene Solutions’ journey from a local startup to a regional genetic testing leader operating in over 10 countries and serving more than 600,000 patients annually. Founded in 2017 by Vietnamese scientists trained at Johns Hopkins University, the company’s mission is to make world-class genetic testing accessible and affordable across developing economies. “Ten years ago, a genetic test could cost USD 1,000,” he explained. “Today, we can provide the same quality for less than 20% of that price.”
Their discussion underscored how innovative financing models can empower healthcare breakthroughs and expand social impact. “Through innovation and partnerships like HSBC’s,” Mr. Hsu concluded, “we’re showing that Vietnamese talent and technology can compete and lead on the global stage.
Sustainable Investment and Healthcare Growth – Ms. Janice Trinh (Director, Quadria Capital) & Mr. Atul Tandon (President, AstraZeneca Vietnam)
The final session of the Summit brought together two distinct yet complementary perspectives: finance and innovation. Both Janice Trinh of Quadria Capital and Atul Tandon of AstraZeneca Vietnam explored how public–private partnerships (PPPs) and blended finance can drive Vietnam toward sustainable healthcare for all.
Ms. Trinh opened by reflecting on Quadria’s decade-long journey as one of Asia’s first healthcare-focused private equity funds, with over USD 2 billion invested across 30 companies in South and Southeast Asia. She stressed that in healthcare, She noted that “what we were lacking is not just funding… it’s about blended execution,” underscoring the need for consistent collaboration between investors, regulators, and local operators to ensure long-term impact and equitable access.
Mr. Tandon emphasized AstraZeneca’s 30-year commitment to Vietnam’s healthcare ecosystem, from technology transfer of nine locally-manufactured products to clinical research involving 75 active trials nationwide. He framed healthcare equity as a shared mission, spanning prevention, early detection, and innovative treatment, and praised Vietnam’s growing openness to private sector participation under Resolution 72.
Both speakers agreed that meaningful impact requires a broader definition of success: not just profit or revenue, but patient outcomes, awareness, and environmental responsibility. As Mr. Tandon put it: “The big aspect here is about people, about relationships and understanding … and creating an environment of trust in which you can actually create solutions.”
The dialogue closed the Summit on an optimistic note: Vietnam’s healthcare transformation is well underway, powered by shared purpose and strategic collaboration.
Beyond the Highlights: A Day of Dialogue, Trust, and Transformation
Vietnam Healthcare Summit 2025 also brought together a wide range of experts from Vietnam and abroad, each adding new dimensions to the conversation on innovation and access.
In “Bridging Gaps: Advancing Community Health and Accessibility in Vietnam,” Thanh Nguyen of DKT Mekong and James Alexander of Bayer Vietnam discussed how partnerships, education, and innovation can advance equitable healthcare access across the country. Thanh Nguyen highlighted DKT’s work in making reproductive health more affordable and inclusive through community outreach and digital training, while Alexander emphasized Bayer’s commitment to women’s health and the need for forward-thinking regulations to enable innovation. Moderator David Nguyen (GM, Vietnam Innovators Digest) underscored that true progress lies not only in expanding access, but in tracking who is left behind to ensure lasting impact.
Not a minute was wasted, even during the Executive Lunch, where Kun Jiang, Founder of The Joyful Nest, shed light on the overlooked issue of postpartum care. Her message — that women’s health is both a medical and social innovation frontier — resonated strongly with the summit’s theme of people-centered care.
Other sessions added further depth: Francis Tuan Anh Nguyen of OneMedic showcased AI-enabled diagnostic tools improving rural access, while Nhat Luong of DiaB Healthcare urged stronger integration between digital and traditional providers to enhance efficiency and lower costs.
Across all sessions, a clear insight emerged: innovation in healthcare, and by extension, Vietnam's aspiration to become an innovation hub through healthcare, is not defined by technology alone, but by ecosystems built on trust and collaboration. From AI diagnostics and digital records to retail health models and social finance, each initiative reflected a shared vision: Vietnam’s healthcare modernization is now.
Some moments at the event:
