Nanolabs Laboratory Management Services (a Discovery Health subsidiary) Qorus-NTT DATA Innovation in Insurance Awards 2025- Nominated

The rising cost of Healthcare in South Africa

South Africa is currently grappling with significant increases in healthcare and hospital costs, particularly evident in the medical aid sector. For the year 2025, major medical schemes have announced substantial hikes in member contributions – in cases above 12% increase between 2024 and 2025. In comparison, the 2024 increases ranged between 8% and 9% for most schemes, indicating a significant upward trend in 2025. Several factors contribute to these rising costs:

• Pathology Inflation: Pathology cost inflation grown annually at 9.1% between 2019 and 2024, outpacing the general Consumer Price Index (CPI) of 4.4%. This disparity reflects escalating expenses in medical care, hospital services, medications, and specialist fees.

• Post-Pandemic Demand: The COVID-19 pandemic led to deferred medical procedures and treatments. As these services resume, there's a surge in claims, increasing the financial burden on medical schemes.

• Ageing Membership: An ageing population within medical schemes results in higher claims due to increased prevalence of chronic conditions and the need for more frequent medical interventions.

Turnaround time in hospitals and emergency care settings

Traditional pathology laboratories have adopted business models and equipment that focus on more centralised testing, further away from patients, using larger machines to optimise throughput. Furthermore, lab personnel are often required to capture sample attributes manually, which prolongs the time taken to share pathology results with referring practitioners by 5-10%.

These factors combined; traditional pathology laboratories typically generate results in under 60 minutes.

Nanolabs: a leap in operational efficiency

Nanolabs conducts 94% of tests in less than 40 minutes and only 6% of tests take longer than this. Overall, impressively, two thirds of its tests are done in 20 minutes or less – a 66% reduction in turnaround time when compared to traditional laboratories. The rapid turnaround time enables referring practitioners to make clinical decisions quicker, thereby improving healthcare outcomes and lowering the cost of care through quicker treatment and interventions. The total cost of care is further reduced by virtue of Nanolabs’ efficient cost structure, leading to lower laboratory pathology prices, reduced medical aid reimbursement or out of pocket expenses for patients and ultimately lower healthcare costs in the market.

Nanolabs’ has achieved this advanced operational efficiency by focusing on the excellence of its product which uses:

• Industry-leading analyzers and equipment curated by Pathologists for Near Patient Pathology, with 40-70% reduction in processing time • Custom-built Nanolabs Laboratory Information Management system with full integration into equipment and wholly digital workflows integrated into hospital EHRs, which reduces processing time by 10%, while reducing costly human errors • Strategically located, dedicated micro-labs near to patients which reduces sample transit time to adjacent buildings or centralised facilities in traditional laboratories, also contributing to the reduction in result time

Nanolabs' remarkable success has been driven by its powerful alliances with visionary, patient-focused pathologists, forward-thinking health insurers, and leading hospital groups. With four cutting-edge laboratories already integrated into its network, Nanolabs has made a meaningful impact on over 12,000 patients in the past year. Fuelled by a bold vision for the future, the company is set to expand its reach to 20 more sites by the end of 2025 and over 40 new sites in 2026, bringing transformative healthcare to even more lives.