Japanese edutech startup Manabie eyes Southeast Asia expansion after stepping into Vietnam

Japanese edutech startup Manabie is expanding into Vietnam after raising US$4.8 million in its initial year, according to Japantimes.

Funded by individual Japanese investors and VCs such as Genesia Ventures, the edutech platform revealed that it intends to scale up its services across Vietnam and other parts of Southeast Asia.

Manabie has experienced a surge in demand for its learning platform after COVID-19. The company currently has more than 100,000 users and has partnerships with 30 private and Japanese schools.

Also Read: Morning News Roundup: Tigerhall, Growthwell Group raise funding rounds

Google-Senti AI partnership aims to “unburden people” from sifting through numerous documents

Filipino AI company Senti announced a partnership with Google to roll out a knowledge management tool for the Department of Health (DOH) in the country, according to Rappler.

According to Google, the partnership will make it easier for DOH to sift through substantial amounts of documents more efficiently.

“The tool will unburden citizens from sifting through hundreds of documents with different versions of the same policy. This will help guarantee that important information communicated by all DOH partners is updated and consistent across all channels, and that major cities and remote areas can all be in-sync with the latest and official guidelines,” the company added.

LiveIn, CapBay join forces to offer financing solutions for property owners

Malaysian proptech company LiveIn (formerly known as Hostel Hunting) has partnered with financial services company CapBay, according to a statement.

Property owners can apply for financial assistance from CapBay to furnish, renovate or improve units and simultaneously become a partner of LiveIn as one of its rental owners.

Also Read: Quoting Victor Frankl’s book, Grab CEO urges businesses to stick together during tough times

“CapBay’s financial solutions help business owners optimise their cash flow and support their business growth. This collaboration with LiveIn offers a greater value proposition to customers and creates the opportunity for more owners to come on board as LiveIn partners,” said Ang Xing Xian, co-founder of CapBay.

According to the company, 40 per cent of LiveIn’s customers are students and young working professionals. Despite an economic downturn, LiveIn expects to expand into Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

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Image Credit: Tra Nguyen

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Qoala, an Indonesia-based insurtech company, today announced its US$13.5 million Series A fundraise led by a JV between funds from South Korea’s Kookmin Bank and Telkom Indonesia, Centauri Fund.

The round also saw participation from Sequoia India, Flourish Ventures, Kookmin Bank Investments, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, and Mirae Asset Sekuritas. It also includes existing investors such as MassMutual Ventures Southeast Asia, MDI Ventures, Surge, SeedPlus, and Bank Central Asia’s Central Capital Ventura.

The company said that it will use the funding to invest further into its technology, people, and brands to fuel its multi-channel strategy.

Founded by Harshet Lunani and Tommy Martin, the company provides customers with a multi-channel insurance solution offering two business models:

• Working with large scale platform partners to drive awareness about insurance with consumers due to the low penetration of insurance in Indonesia.
• Supporting the traditional offline insurance channels, which currently contributes 99 per cent of insurance premiums, to become digitally enabled through Qoala’s app for agents/brokers; and supporting the creation of new intermediaries in the future.

Also Read: Indonesian bank BCA’s VC arm gets US$14 million boost

In addition to its currently available offerings, the Jakarta-based company also plans to accelerate its new COVID-19 support effort within the next month for consumers and MSMEs across Indonesia to provide pay-outs to those affected by the pandemic. This includes those who have had their treatment partially or fully subsidised by the government and are hence ineligible per usual insurance plans.

According to Kenneth Li, Managing Partner of Centauri Fund, Indonesia has a considerably low gross written premium (GWP) to GDP ratio in comparison to other emerging countries, coupled with the large growing middle class in need of more security in their financial planning.

“This allows for an immense potential for the insurance sector to take off in Indonesia through innovative propositions,” said Li.

Just over a year after launch, Qoala claimed to have processed over two million policies per month, up from 7,000 policies in March 2019. It has diversified its partnership portfolio to serve five core industries: travel, fintech, consumables, logistics, and employee benefits.

The startup has a number of partnerships with prominent brands across Indonesia, including Grabkios, JD.ID, Shopee and Tokopedia. Qoala’s customers also include other digital platforms such as Investree, PegiPegi, and RedBus, as well as retail giants such as MAP Group.

Their go-to-market approach is supported by over 20 insurers including global players such as AXA Mandiri, Tokio Marine, Great Eastern as well as local insurers such as ACA, Adira and BRI Life.

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Image Credit: Qoala

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Ruangguru CEO Belva Devara left his presidential special staff role, stating concern over the public’s opinion

Belva Devara, CEO of Indonesian edutech startup Ruangguru, announced that he has left his presidential special staff position effectively after submitting his resignation letter on April 15, 2020 to President Jokowi.

Devara posted its official statement on his Instagram account.

According to Kompas.com, Devara decided after the appointment of Ruangguru as the official provider of Kartu Pra Kerja triggered a backlash in the country. Kartu Pra Kerja (pre-employment card) is a government programme aimed at people, who are jobless or have just lost their income, to provide training and incentives.

Devara said that there is no conflict of interest in the appointment because the required verification for the programme was done before the company was appointed.

“I don’t wish to cause any more false assumptions with regards to my position in Presidential Special Staff and possibly divert the focus from handling COVID-19 pandemic,” said Bevara.

Hong Kong’s recruitment platform Talkpush raises funding to expand to Latin America

Hong Kong-based recruitment platform Talkpush has announced that it has raised an undisclosed amount of investment from Singapore-incorporated, Colombia-based Latin Leap.

It will use the funding to set foot in Latin America and introduce its Felipe Bot over the next few months.

According to TechInAsia, Latin Leap is a venture capital studio that aims to open up opportunities in Latin America for Asian startups.

Also Read: Can Talkpush disrupt the recruitment industry?

Talkpush was founded in 2014. It optimises traditional recruitment processes to acquire talents by using robotic process automation technology with the employment of AI, Big Data, cloud computing, social media, and analytics,

Vietnam receives Facebook’s approval in restricting anti-government content

After spending months of throttling, Facebook has finally agreed to block access to certain anti-government content to users in Vietnam, as reported by TechCrunch.

Vietnam requested earlier this year that Facebook restrict a variety of content it deemed illegal, such as posts critical of the government. When the social media giant didn’t comply, the country slowed its traffic to unusable levels for around seven weeks by controlling the local network providers.

At that time, Facebook said that undersea cable maintenance had caused the slowdown of its products such as Messenger and Instagram. But it failed to convince the public.

Facebook conceded to the government’s demands. A source is reportedly said that “once we committed to restricting more content, the servers were turned back online by the telecommunications operators.”

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Image Credit: Ruangguru

 

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The outbreak of COVID-19 has upended economies throughout the world, including the app-based businesses. Global SaaS company Adjust’s annual App Trends 2020 report takes a look at long-term trends based on data from 2019 and includes insights into how COVID-19 has affected the app economy by comparing Q1 2019 and Q1 2020 figures.

The data shows that many app verticals are seeing increases in sessions and installs in 2020, most notably in the Business, Food & Drink, and Gaming verticals.

The research further noted that the increase is in line with the pandemic forcing the majority of employees to work remotely, which contributes to Business apps seeing a significant rise in sessions (up by 105 per cent from Q1 2019) and installs (up by 70 per cent). Revenue events are also up by 75 per cent, as users opt for premium versions to help ease the transition to working from home.

The increase in various verticals

In Food & Drink sector, many restaurants are forced to turn to takeout-only which contributes to Food & Drink apps experiencing a significant increase in sessions — up by 73 per cent on this time last year, while installs increased by 21 per cent.

In Gaming verticals, there has also seen a large uptick in installs, with the need for entertainment surging. In the last week of March, the vertical saw a 132 per cent increase in the number of installs compared to last year.

Also Read: Coping with consumer behaviour during the COVID-19 crisis

In total, Gaming apps saw a 47 per cent increase in sessions and 75 per cent increase in installs in Q1 2020 compared to Q1 2019.

The engagement behaviour’s slight changes

“Beyond these increases in installs and sessions, the report shows little evidence to suggest that there’s been a fundamental shift in user behaviour post-install,” said Paul H. Müller, co-founder and CTO of Adjust. “Users are still taking the same actions in-app, such as averaging a little above two sessions a day, to churning at predictable points in the customer journey.”

The report also details on differences between paid and organic installs, noting that app marketing is fast becoming a pay-to-play game — as the market becomes increasingly competitive. The number of installs from paid sources amounted to 30 per cent of total installs in 2019, up from 24 per cent in 2018.

Additionally, the report explores when users typically engage with app verticals throughout the day, offering insights into peak times and the windows of opportunity for reactivation campaigns for businesses.

First, e-commerce apps see a peak of sessions both at lunchtime, between noon and 2 pm, and again in the evening, with sessions between 7 and 10 pm accounting for a quarter of their daily total. Similarly, Food & Drink apps see a spike in use between 5 and 8 pm, accounting for 31 per cent of their total daily sessions.

Also Read: A survivor’s guide for businesses dealing with COVID-19-led supply chain disruption

On the other hand, many Gaming apps don’t see significant shifts in engagement throughout the day. Casual game activity increases between 12 and 4 pm, but it’s a modest jump of only at 15 per cent. Meanwhile, Mid-core games rise from very early in the morning (5 am) to peak at 1 pm.

The takeaways

The report also includes its takeaways:

• The current state favours the old players in app-based businesses, which presents challenges for newcomers to breakthrough. With this in mind, marketers are advised to build up the paid activities and focus less on organic. To improve paid activities, marketers have to make sure that campaigns are tied to the seasons and the contexts allow the business to engage and retain valued customers.
• Marketers for app-based businesses are looking to a broader range of networks to find new audiences. The research finds that there is more experimentation with networks with marketing automation unlocking this potential, giving marketers more time to manage even more campaigns. However, the more the businesses succeed, the more they have to handle alongside fraud prevention.
• The importance of re-engagement differs depending on the businesses’ vertical, but many app marketers agree that not enough emphasis is placed on retargeting. In 2020 this activation technique could take more of the spotlight — Shopping leads the pack, but others could follow.

The full report is available for download here.

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Image Credit: You X Ventures on Unsplash

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According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, physiological needs are the most basic needs of an individual for physical survival, with food being one of them.

Following the declaration of a worldwide pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on March 11, and the lockdown imposed by countries, the F&B sector in food retail and foodservice have seen a tale of two cities.

With F&B establishments only allowed to offer takeaway and food delivery, businesses have seen 50 per cent drop in sales and expecting sales to be worse in the upcoming months. To put into context, in China, HaiDiLao has suspended operations and from a six-day closure for the company in January accounts for 1.5 per cent for its estimated 2020 sales.

To keep up with the changing behaviour of consumers, many F&B retailers have switched their model from an offline to online model partnering with food delivery partners such as Grab and Food Panda.

However, these platforms charge 35 per cent commission, eroding already thin margins. Having little to zero sales, F&B companies have resorted to renegotiate rental terms with their landlords, delay or cut wages, and even lay off workers, in order to hold on to cash.

Also Read: A survivor’s guide for businesses dealing with COVID-19-led supply chain disruption

On the contrary, sales have spiked across all online and offline supermarkets due to the tsunami of demand from anxious consumers. Grocery delivery app downloads and order volumes have seen a surge since the outbreak of COVID-19, resulting in difficulty to cope with the orders.

Tesco online reported a full schedule of its delivery services next month, Happy Fresh has seen a 10 per cent spike in orders and Meituan has received four times more grocery deliveries. Shelf movements of food staples at offline stores are fast, eventually leading to the inability of aligning the pace of inventories being restocked.

Notably, one of the biggest issues in the industry lies within the shortages of labour along the supply chain. As demand soars, a more rapid movement of goods along the chain is necessary, which is likely to require more manpower due to the lack of automation at this stage.

Walmart is looking to hire 150,000 staff; Aldi to add 9,000 staff, and Tesco is looking to add 20,000 workers; even grocery startup Instacart is planning to add another 300,000 shoppers in the next three months.

Another point to note is the food supply chain, as younger workers migrate to an urban population, we have seen a lack of farm workers. In the US, this has been exacerbated by President Trump’s immigration policies.

In somewhere like Malaysia where we are self-sustaining as food supplies however, we have seen logistics impacted by the Movement Control Order where state borders are now closed. Fresh supplies from Cameron Highlands, for example, have been reduced by 30 per cent due to market closures.

Also Read: A survivor’s guide for businesses dealing with COVID-19-led supply chain disruption

The concern is further aggravated when a number of countries started imposing export restrictions on major crops – countries that are heavily reliant on food imports would be among the first victims of such action. Vietnam, for example, has curbed rice exports, Russia has halted processed grain exports and Kazakhstan has suspended exports of flour, oil, and vegetables.

At this critical point of time, it is crucial for sectors and industries, or even countries, to work hand in hand to mitigate the food supply chain crisis. Unemployment that arises from the foodservice sector should first be channelled to the food retail and supply chain where a severe understaffing problem is apparent.

Public transportations that are currently operating at a lower capacity, such as buses and trains, could provide support in terms of movement of goods across different states.

Governments should avoid trade barriers or restrictions among countries, particularly on essential goods, as this could potentially accelerate food price inflation when supply becomes limited.

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For more insights by RHL Ventures on COVID-19’s impact on the food & beverage industry and various other sectors, please visit this link.

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The year of 2020 — a year of COVID-19 attack in almost all nations. The impact in the world economy is severe, a lot of activities slow down, GDP downgrading in major countries, businesses shut down, unemployment rate increasing, the stock market went down drastically, and no one could confidently tell when it will be over.

Another question raised in mind; Would things go back to normal after the crisis is over? If it does, how long will it take?

Investors and leaders are demanding to cut non-essential expenses, cut losses, protect cash flow, prepare plans to rise again when things are over. The pressure seems way more real right now –and that’s the reality we need to face.

“Bad companies are destroyed by crisis. Good companies survive them. Great companies are improved by them,” says Andy Grove, former Intel CEO.

Instead of being stressed and imagining all bad scenarios that would happen, wouldn’t it be nice to change our perspective and find ways how to sustain our business in the right and positive way?

Rise of new ideas, innovation, and creativity

This is the time to apply Steve Job’s principle — Think different. Adaptability is one of the traits of human nature. Our ability and flexibility to cope with environmental challenges through biological and behavioural or cultural means, creating new ideas when we forced into changes.

Also Read: A survivor’s guide for businesses dealing with COVID-19-led supply chain disruption

These new ideas transformed into innovations, followed with creativity to overcome challenges. The crisis becomes a forcing mechanism that leads to changes and advances, whether it is in technology, social culture, politics, even policy, and procedures.

Cultivate problem-solving skills

Plato, one of the most famous Greek Philosopher, says that, “Necessity is a mother of invention.” It means the need or problem encourages creative efforts to meet the need or solve the problem. The word had said it all.

During this time of crisis, a true entrepreneur will find out a hundred ways to solve their problem. There is some point in our business where we rely on someone to solve the problem without us being involved in it. But during a crisis, it forces us to roll the sleeves and activate our problem-solving skills to make the most out of it and not losing the opportunity when it comes.

Unity in diversity

Fighting the demotivation among our colleagues, partners, and employees, during a crisis, required unity of purpose, intentions, and understanding. It is common that during a crisis, all the perceptions, assumptions, and rumours are surrounding the workplace.

Also Read: Leadership through a pandemic: A heartfelt note from one entrepreneur to another

Truth to be told, somehow, this brings people into a unity-mode, because of similar opinions. With this situation, leaders being forced to infused a positive atmosphere by forming and influence a unity of purpose and intentions, which will be resulting in understanding among the people that eventually will benefit the business.

Discover new talents

Challenge doesn’t always mean crisis, but crisis always brings challenges. Talented people in our organisation usually emerge when the challenge comes. Sadly, not every time they are recognised.

However, when the crisis comes, we directly involved in it and so desperate for a solution, and we start noticing these talents. What we think we never needed was right before our eyes all this time. These talents usually have their way to create a dynamic in the organisation that enables the team to work better together.

Anticipation for the next event

I agree that this kind of crisis like COVID-19 might only happen once for many years. But this is not the only crisis that we could ever face in our business.

If we have experienced hardship once, it would be a lesson for us how to handle the next type of situation, so it would be our learning. In fact, it is a perfect time to start drawing different ‘what-if’ scenarios and make a brief plan on how to anticipate those situations.

You see, even in the amid crisis, there is always a bright side in it. If we focus on what we can gain and the beautiful impact behind the dark time, we will lift our burden and not wasting every single opportunity that comes. Trust the process. Remember,

“After the rain, there is a rainbow — after a storm, there’s calm — after night, there’s a morning — and after an end, there’s a new beginning.”

Also Read: Entrepreneurs share COVID-19’s impact on their businesses in a survey by Startup Genome

Leadership is key

Unfortunately, even after we realise these things, we can only bring an impact if we utilise our leadership skills for the benefit of the organisation. We must never forget that during the crisis, people look for direction. As a leader, it is our duty to provide guidance and not spreading the negative vibe around us.

There are two kinds of responses that we can choose; despondent and panic, or energised and inspired. A true leader will keep him/herself steady in front of the people and not letting their emotions overcome their attitude.

Panic won’t help and will lead people into confusion. On the contrary, when we show our passion and energy, it will lead the organization into a positive mode and people will be inspired to work for the good.

Keep strong and steady, for the great things will come to those who believe in it.

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The decisions leaders make now will determine the future of our generation yet there is no definitive guidebook on how they should respond to the crisis caused by COVID-19.

More than ever, we look up to our leaders who are also struggling to find the balance between acting with certainty and masking their own fears, whether from the government or from businesses, to give us some guidance and reassurance of stability and security.

It is a tall order but there are several ways to manifest great leadership — and compassionate leadership should be the lens at which we should measure our leaders.

Compassion, displayed explicitly, was once viewed as a weakness for leaders but at a time of a crisis, we expect leaders to act with an abundant sense of care, respect, and understanding of our unique situations.

Compassion in leadership demands a different dimension from traditional leadership but it is increasingly becoming a business imperative as evidenced by several studies proving that organisations with engaged employees are more productive and have lower turnovers.

We have seen amazing responses from business leaders from companies such as the ADB tripling its response package to US$20 billion to help Asia Pacific deliver quicker and more flexible assistance while keeping their own people fully employed and working from home and San Miguel Corporation donating PHP878 million (US$17 million) to solidify efforts to help medical front-liners and support the severely affected communities, all while also helping produce disinfectant alcohols from their own Ginebra San Miguel facilities.

Also Read: Leadership through a pandemic: A heartfelt note from one entrepreneur to another

These are just some of the exemplary examples of effective responses to the ongoing war on COVID-19 and we are here to help break down what compassionate leadership looks like.

What defines compassionate leadership?

• Empathy

Having the intention to see as others see and feel as others feel is the first step. It is different from being sympathetic but rather stretches it by practising empathy by trying to feel what the other person is really feeling however uncomfortable.

This crisis has brought about many unforeseen tragedies to our lives and to our economy and it is unimaginable to see people lose their loved ones while having to worry about how to live off of a cancelled paycheck because of the shutdown.

We need compassionate leaders to find it in their hearts to try to feel what this means for their people so that they can prepare themselves to listen and chart out an authentic response.

• Understanding through conscious listening

Too many times, our biases hinder us from listening with mindfulness and we form our own judgments and provide solutions based on our experience but this is a behaviour that could even aggravate a situation. Compassionate leaders will try to listen, validate and acknowledge to fully understand the true feeling of their people.

Some organisations we have spoken to have rolled out pulse surveys to collect suggestions, feedback, and concerns of their people in this delicate time to help them understand their situation and come up with ideas to keep the people engaged – and ultimately, secure.

Leaders are not always required to act based on people’s suggestions but it helps to understand the sentiments on the ground to make a sound decision rooted in compassion.

• Championing the company culture and values

Compassionate leaders should always be at the forefront of championing their culture and values to inch closer to their “north star,” no matter the situation.

Most companies are geared towards improving communities, environmental stewardship, or creating more economic opportunities – to be a compassionate leader means stewarding your people to support your mission by being the first one to demonstrate the embodiment of your core values.

Also Read: 3 leadership lessons for women in tech

Several amazing leaders stepped up to heed the global outcry of anxious citizens and employees, and the world should take note of the swift, decisive and clear responses of some of these leaders like President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan, Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield, and LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault, to fight the spread of the virus and give people the hope needed to stay positive in this challenging season.

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Originally published on Workbean.

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The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is the foundation for identifying health trends and statistics worldwide and contains around 55,000 unique codes for injuries, diseases and causes of death. It provides a common language that allows health professionals to share health information across the globe.

ICD is a standard diagnostic tool created by the World Health Organisation (WHO), for monitoring the incidence and prevalence of diseases and related conditions.

The ICD has diverse clinical applications and is used not just by doctors but also by paramedic staff, insurance companies, researchers and policymakers. ICD is used to classify diseases and store diagnostic information for clinical, quality and epidemiological purposes and also for reimbursement of insurance claims.

What is ICD-10 or ICD-11
The ICD tenth revision (ICD-10) ICD eleventh revision (ICD-11) is a code system that contains codes for diseases, signs and symptoms, abnormal findings, circumstances and external causes of diseases or injury.

ICD purpose and uses
ICD is the foundation for the identification of health trends and statistics globally, and the international standard for reporting diseases and health conditions. It is the diagnostic classification standard for all clinical and research purposes. ICD defines the universe of diseases, disorders, injuries and other related health conditions, listed in a comprehensive, hierarchical fashion that allows for:

• Easy storage, retrieval and analysis of health information for evidenced-based decision-making;
• Sharing and comparing health information between hospitals, regions, settings and countries; and
• Data comparisons in the same location across different time periods.

Uses include monitoring of the incidence and prevalence of diseases, observing reimbursements and resource allocation trends, and keeping track of safety and quality guidelines. They also include the counting of deaths as well as diseases, injuries, symptoms, reasons for encounter, factors that influence health status, and external causes of disease.

Also Read: [Updated] These 4 medtech startups will help you bust health myths during COVID-19 crisis

History of ICD
The first international classification edition, known as the International List of Causes of Death, was adopted by the International Statistical Institute in 1893.

WHO was entrusted with the ICD at its creation in 1948 and published the sixth version, ICD-6, that incorporated morbidity for the first time. The WHO Nomenclature Regulations, adopted in 1967, stipulated that Member States use the most current ICD revision for mortality and morbidity statistics. The ICD has been revised and published in a series of editions to reflect advances in health and medical science over time.

ICD-10 was endorsed in May 1990 by the Forty-third World Health Assembly. It is cited in more than 20,000 scientific articles and used by more than 100 countries around the world.

A version of ICD-11 was released on June 18, 2018, to allow Member States to prepare for implementation, including translating ICD into their national languages. ICD-11 will be submitted to the 144th Executive Board Meeting in January 2019 and the Seventy-second World Health Assembly in May 2019 and, following endorsement, Member States will start reporting using ICD-11 on January 1, 2022.

Why ICD-11 data is a natural part of modern healthcare
ICD data isn’t just about diagnoses. It’s data about the patients. That means physicians can focus on the data associated with the patients like their patients.

Hospitals are going to be able to use the data to analyse readmissions. That won’t be something they can avoid. Healthcare payers will be penalising hospitals based upon readmissions. They need to get a handle on readmissions. Medical practices and hospitals will need ICD-10 data to identify the details driving these costs.

ICD claims are a rich source of data. Data analytics does take effort and investment to manage. But technology has progressed to make it accessible to healthcare professionals.

Also Read: To fulfill its goal to improve biopsy process, medtech startup Lucence raises US$20M in Series A

Why ICD codes are important?
The significance of the ICD code system can be assessed from its application in various realms of quality management, healthcare, information technology, and public health.

1. The ICD code system offers accurate and up-to-date procedure codes to improve health care cost and ensure fair reimbursement policies. The current codes specifically help healthcare providers to identify patients in need of immediate disease management and to tailor effective disease management programs.

2. ICD-10-CM has been adopted internationally to facilitate implementation of quality health care as well as its comparison on a global scale.

3. Compared to the previous version (i.e. ICD-9-CM) ICD-10-CM is more specific and captures public health diseases, particularly diseases related to external injury, e.g. terrorism.

4. ICD-10 and 11 codes hold particular significance in research since code-analysis is an essential component of research and development. Code system and logic allows for fewer coding errors that ultimately benefit in the research and development analyses.

5. The upgraded version of the ICD code system enhances health policy decision making by providing better data for organisational monitoring and performance.

6. The ICD-10 and 11 coding system are more easily configurable and retrievable into electronic format offering better format than ICD-9, other codes such as SNOMED CT and CPT codes.

7. ICD-10 codes have specifically been developed for reimbursement purposes to offer a rational foundation for payment procedures.

8. Alphanumeric formats of the ICD-10 code system provide a better alternative than ICD-9-CM codes offering a more flexible and upgradable version e.g. diabetes mellitus – E10-E14

9. Lastly, the ICD-10 coding system helps to:

• Reduce medication error
• Improve treatment options and disease outcomes
• Lower treatment and claim cost
• In the health policy and operational and strategic planning
• Improve payment systems through claims processing
• Decrease claim submissions

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The article was first published on nfinitiv.

Image Credit: Artur Tumasjan on Unsplash

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It’s no secret that the video gaming market is a massive — and massively lucrative — space, with an estimated 2.5 billion video gamers enthusiastically picking up their consoles or tapping at screens and keyboards worldwide. 51 percent of gamers play using their mobile phones, thus dwarfing the numbers for all the other gaming consoles available in the market.

Avid gamers are more than willing to spend money on virtual gaming success and a chance to be unique. Others seek avenues to monetise their gaming skills and efforts, evidenced by the vast number of live streams that gamers broadcast and watch on platforms like Twitch fueled also by the rise of professional eSports. All this money floating around means the global online gaming market was worth US$150 billion in 2018.

Almost 50 percent of the market’s revenue comes from mobile gaming, which accounted for an estimated US$68.2 billion. Contributions from mobile gaming are projected to grow over 10 percent year on year. And there is a secondary market that has proven itself to be very lucrative — the market for gaming accessories, virtual items like skins or currencies, and the like all have a potential of 500 million active users seeking new ways to stand out from the crowd. For example, you could buy a custom outfit for a video game character for US$500.

Toppling would-be tricksters in the game

As popular as mobile phone games are, there are a number of issues players frequently come across when interacting with its products and services. For instance, gamers who wish to purchase products and services to improve their gameplay or skills often have to trade on forum platforms like Reddit, where no protected verification or transaction systems are available.

Gamers trading on platforms like these are more at risk of getting conned as they have difficulty verifying accounts that sell the products and services. The lack of transparency is worrying for many gamers and neither party has a method for verifying if the offer or payment is genuine, it creates a barrier from successful transactions.

Gamers would greatly benefit from a trusted platform that bridges buyers and sellers and would be empowered to further enjoy their gameplay, even more, knowing their transactions are safe and sound.

The market needs a space that can verify and establish credibility when it comes to such purchases. A platform that can provide competitive rates and loyalty rewards to buyers would undoubtedly attract gamers from all over the world to invest more in their gaming enjoyment and success, while protecting them from scammers and other malicious personalities.

ZeusX machina to the rescue

ZeusX is a mobile-first, premier service positioned to fill that gap in the gaming market. It’s a one-stop online trading platform for gamers to exchange gaming services and virtual products: accounts, in-game items, skins and currencies, and professional services. It is available to gamers all over the world and aims to be the top secondary market leader in Mobile Games, eSports, and Gaming Gigs, or Services.

ZeusX was created by Alex Tay who has 16 years of experience in business transformation, technology, banking, and insurance, having headed some of the largest insurance industry initiatives in Singapore and has held senior management positions in leading financial institutions. His passion for gaming began at the age of 9, and now he is marrying it to his business and technology expertise with ZeusX.

Alex created ZeusX to take the guesswork and fear out of transactional processes and act as a trusted intermediary to both buyers and sellers to allow them to trade with confidence.

“ZeusX is much more than a technological advancement for gamers. We want to build a global exchange and help millions of our fellow gamers to create a better life for themselves and find more joy in their gaming passion. It can be monetization of their efforts, time and skills or simply getting a rare and powerful item/skin which maximizes their enjoyment. ZeusX is not just for eSports athletes or gamers seeking to enter professional arenas, but for anyone and everyone who games as part of their day-to-day lives.” says Alex on his vision for ZeusX.

By utilising established trading and transactional practices from the financial and e-commerce sector, and incorporating technology to match the right buyer with the right seller quickly, ZeusX aims to solve a myriad of problems for gamers and provide a hyper-personalised experience over time to ensure each gamer feels their unique personalities are catered to. Social media and popular gaming tools will also be integrated within ZeusX, allowing gamers to connect and create communities of their own.

Gamers can now access ZeusX on mobile phones in Android as well as web browsers in English. As the platform focuses on catering to mobile phone gamers, users can expect a seamless, information-rich experience on the apps centered around modern e-commerce storefronts that will bring items of interest to the user’s attention.

Keen to bring your passion for gaming to the next level? Visit their official site here or search for the ZeusX app in your Google Play Store now and see what the fuss is all about!

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ZeusX

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According to the World Health Organization (WHO), non-communicable diseases account for 71 per cent of deaths worldwide. Tens of millions, in developed and developing countries, are suffering from these diseases, that could cost the global economy US$47 trillion by 2030, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has estimated.

Digital transformation in the healthcare sector is seen as one of the ways to make people healthier and reverse this trend of devastating non-communicable diseases and harmful lifestyle choices.

For medical providers, with numerous costs and other burdens, digital healthcare surely is one of the most effective business cases that can be made. Poor health and choices cost money and lives. A population able and proactively making smarter health choices will cost less, live longer, and live healthier lifestyles.

Whether implementing directly or supporting the use of, medical providers can make a huge impact on the use of digital tools, apps, and platforms. Here are five ways to encourage and make the business case for a healthcare digital transformation.

Wearables

An enormously popular, consumer-driven market already exists for wearable products. From Fitbit’s to iPhones that record health stats, millions of people around the world are recording and sharing health data in real-time.

Also Read: Report: Preventive healthcare, manufacturing will be the key to China’s AI development

Where there is a business case to be made for healthcare providers is the value of connecting this into the patient management process. Doctors and medical teams can proscribe drugs, treatments, and lifestyle changes; but until recently, there has been no way of monitoring whether a patient is taking the advice of a medical professional.

Patients told to walk, run, go to the gym, eat less, smoke, and drink less don’t always take that advice, often with negative health impacts and therefore, further costs and strain placed on medical systems and providers.

With the right digital systems in place – and patient consent – doctors could collect lifestyle-data from wearable devices and technology to monitor patients’ progress and make sure they’re taking positive steps (sometimes literally) to improve their health and lifestyle.

This way, medical providers would have a clearer idea who might need more treatment and therefore make it easier to allocate resources, medicines, and other medical courses of action.

All of this comes with a financial impact for medical providers. One way to make that financial impact on patients is that those with wearable devices could take out medical insurance that rewards them for making positive lifestyle choices, thereby providing further incentives.

Also Read: What healthcare transformation in Asia will look like in 2020

Genomics

Human genomes have been mapped. As have millions of species of plants and animals. We have a much clearer understanding of the genome than ever before.

With increased and enormously enhanced computing power – such as machine learning and AI – we are getting closer to being able to modify and defeat diseases at a genetic level, preventing them from emerging and spreading.

Long-term investment is needed and medical providers and drugs companies should continue to work together to understand how diseases such as cancer are evolving, then find ways to prevent and cure them at a genetic level.

Long-term benefits for medical providers mean that these diseases should become less common, and therefore allowing money to fund other treatments and preventative cures.

Big data in medicine

Big data is everywhere and in the medical sector, there is an enormous amount of data available.

What we do with all of this data is the main challenge. How it’s used, how medical providers, drugs and insurance companies interpret the data that decides how useful – or not – innovation in this area proves.

Also Read: What healthcare transformation in Asia will look like in 2020

Between wearables and platforms that contain patient data on treatments, there is more than enough information to create a 360 view of millions of patients.

With the right tools and platforms in place – some of which might still need to be built – access to this data in near real-time would give doctors the ability to provide more effective treatment and therefore reduce long-term costs for medical providers and those funding them.

Fighting disease with genetic engineering

Other diseases are not lifestyle choices. Fighting malaria and the Zika virus required a more innovative solution than traditional approaches allowed. Using genetically-modified mosquitos, scientists and health organisations are able to reduce the deadly spread of these diseases.

Advancements in genetic technology, like genetic sequencing and synthesis, are currently helping to fight the coronavirus epidemic.

This is another way of effectively reducing the impact – including the cost – of deadly outbreaks that can kill millions. A business case should always be possible to create around preventing every death we can.

Fighting misinformation

In the US and Europe, a growing risk to babies, children, and teenagers is a movement of misinformation against the dangers of vaccines, commonly known as “anti-vaxxers.” The WHO has identified this as one of the top ten global health threats in 2019.

Similar to a disease, misinformation and outright lies spread through social networks, and the media about the impact of vaccines is causing real risks to millions around the world.

Also Read: Caregiving provider Homage secures Series B funding from EV Growth, to launch personalised healthcare service

Governments and medical providers need to continue to fight this spread of misinformation, otherwise, we risk diseases coming back that have not caused problems for humanity since the Victorian era.

Poor health, choices, and a lack of the right information costs lives and increases costs for medical providers. We have the tools, resources, and data to make real, lasting improvements to the overall health of humanity.

Making the business case around digital transformation means putting the most effective tools and systems in the hands of doctors, nurses, healthcare providers, and patients to improve the choices they make and therefore the outcomes of preventative treatment and traditional approaches to medicine.

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