Before becoming executive director for Mayo Clinic Asia-Pacific, Royston Lek had been involved in work around direct patient care.

He was a former COO of an integrated healthcare services company in China and the managing director in Singapore for a similar company that operates across Asia.

In holding these executive roles in healthcare services companies, Lek learned about the immense challenges of healthcare providers in delivering care to patients.

“It allowed me to understand that delivering patient care requires an orchestration of resources, know-how and expertise across a continuum of care that is both extremely difficult to do but very rewarding when it is done right,” he adds.

In the area of digital health, he is particularly interested in how machine learning and artificial intelligence are able to enhance diagnostic imaging and data processing, helping raise the capabilities of diagnosticians in detecting anomalies more efficiently and effectively.

“AI-enabled image processing, detection, and other augmentation is, I feel, a very important aspect of digital health that doesn’t get talked about much but is incredibly valuable,” he claims.

Mayo Clinic’s unique model of care

Mayo Clinic, a non-profit organisation, is driven by its core foundation of putting the needs of patients first. 

Through partnerships, it shares its values, knowledge and expertise across its three “shields” – education, research, and practice – to help elevate care to patients. Right now, it is building the Mayo Clinic Care Network, an integrated global health care network that enables care locally while providing access to its resources and skills to care for patients with serious or complex conditions.

Lek is currently involved in this initiative where he works closely with his colleagues in Mayo Clinic United States to identify, develop, and expand international partnerships around Asia. He is helping healthcare providers get involved in deeper, more meaningful partnerships that are “above and beyond mere commercial transactions”.   

​​At the upcoming HIMSS22 APAC Conference, he will share about Mayo Clinic’s unique model of care, its core values, and how its patient-centred, team-based approach to care differs from the others. 

"I will also share updates about our projects in Indonesia and how we are working with various partners in delivering better care to patients in Indonesia.”

Lek will be speaking at the HIMSS22 APAC Conference during the keynote session, Partnering in Creating Centers of Excellence in Indonesia. The conference will be happening in Bali, Indonesia from 26 to 29 September. Find out more here.