What is the Future of Healthcare Technology in India?
Well, I’m sure, you can’t deny the fact that the COVID-19 rise has vastly affected Healthcare Industries across the globe. The pandemic which proved to be deadly for other industries became a boon for the healthcare industry.
Though, the Indian healthcare system has faced a lot of challenges initially because of the lack of infrastructure and other facilities, it has also taken this as an opportunity to use the technology, for the advancement of healthcare services in India.
But do you think the Indian healthcare system has the latest technology that can help them come out of this situation or deal with similar problems in the future? Is the Indian healthcare system ready to be digitalized completely? What does the future of the Indian Healthcare system look like?
Not sure yet? Don’t worry, you’ll get the answers to these questions in the blog itself.
Let's look at some stats
According to the current statistics, the Indian healthcare market is expected to reach USD 372 billion by 2022. The healthcare industry has become one of India’s largest sectors in terms of revenue as well as employment, because of the rising incomes and health awareness among its citizens.
If you’ll take a look at the Future Health Index (FHI) 2019 report, India is leading in the adoption of digital health technology with 76% of healthcare professionals already using Digital Health Records (DHRs) in treating their patients.
What the Experts Say
“Given that India is setting up 150,000 health and wellness centers by converting its rural health centers, and these have an element of telemedicine as its offering, it is the right time to frame legal and regulatory frameworks/standards for digital health, data privacy, and protection act.”
- Prof Rajendra Pratap Gupta from Digital Health India said at the Observer Research Foundation
“In India, the Healthcare Organizations face two major challenges at the moment. Firstly, as the private sectors are eagerly pitching in to help with the covid situation and reduce strain on the government facilities, they need to be prepared with manpower and resources. Secondly, with the constant rise in the number of covid positive cases, elective and OPD visits are dismal.
Both situations impact the revenue directly and adversely. To maximize available resources and reduce the burden on the already exhausted physician workforce, healthcare organizations need to resolutely look at adapting new technologies.”
- Dr. Muthu Krishnan (Chief Digital Transformation Officer, IKS Health) wrote in his article published on Aug 10, 2020, in The Economic Times.
Technologies Transforming the Healthcare System
The healthcare companies in India are all set to embrace innovation and use the new advanced digital tools and technologies to capture consumer interest and deliver improved and efficient healthcare services in the coming few years.
The Indian healthcare system is about to experience a paradigm shift in the next few years using the following technological advancements:
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML):
Even the best doctors might not have the history reports of patients with them or the time and resources to analyze the same but with the help of the ML-based chatbots, they can bridge the data gap that may exist between the doctors and their patients.
AI is going to play a big part in improving clinical outcomes as it’s making available more amounts of health data and improving the analyzing techniques.
2. Electronic Medical Records (EMRs):
To avoid hours of manual administrative work, medical professionals have already started using EMRs. It has become essentially important to digitalize patient’s information coming from various sources in one place for the doctors to make an accurate prognosis in a shorter time.
3. Telemedicine:
The remote diagnosis and treatment of patients through telecommunications technology is termed telemedicine. Telemedicine has become an optimal measure to reduce the time it takes to consult a doctor by ten to fifteen minutes by cutting the time required to travel to the hospital or clinic and the waiting time.
4. Mobile health apps:
Mobile health apps are proving to help prevent some serious diseases by increasing patient engagement, by providing them health education and expert guidance from healthcare officials.
Conclusion
The healthcare sector is shaping its future using advanced healthcare technologies, such as AI, Robotics, Nanotechnology, telemedicine, VR/AR, etc.
I honestly believe that if we want to improve our lives we have to embrace the working of technology and healthcare workers hand-in-hand. We need to upgrade ourselves and be aware of the latest developments to control the technology. The cooperation between people and technology could result in amazing achievements in the coming years.
