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The political upheaval that we all have witnessed recently also makes its case to do things differently and innovatively. Healthcare, for instance, is one of the fields where the new government should do a lot by embracing technology. BJP manifesto clearly laid stress on telemedicine and mobile healthcare for rural healthcare delivery.
Now that the next government is all set to start its journey, we found it exciting to talk to technology experts (including IT managers) on what and how they think our next government should exploit technology to impart knowledge of disease prevention and cure to the people of the country.
“In India, at least the new generation is not conscious enough about their health and lifestyle in particular,” says Vikas Sachdeva, CTO of Health Care at Home India. “Also, approach towards disease management is largely reactive and more targeted towards symptoms instead of looking at the source of the problem,” he adds.
Digitise medical records, decision support systems
A patient typically moves across hospitals and doctors, and at times the information doesn’t move seamlessly across institutions. This leads to diagnostic errors and affects treatment outcomes. A centralised cloud based e-records system can help resolve some of these challenges -- provided the healthcare institutions are ready to support such a move and collaborate. Decision support systems can be developed on top of a comprehensive e-records platform, which can help prevent diagnostic errors. Himanshu Shah, CTO, Adarsh Co-Op Credit also advocates the cause of digitisation of medical records.
Bank on telemedicine, remote monitoring of patients
Telemedicine can bridge the gap in providing crucial care for those in areas that experience a shortage of doctors, says Mehul Lanvers-Shah, MD, Hannover Milano Fairs India. In India, 70 per cent of the population lives in rural and remote areas, he says. According to him, there is a pressing requirement for providing urban essential services and bringing them into the mainstream economy.
Provide subsidies on smart devices, Wi-Fi zones
It is manageable and can be cured by investing in Infrastructure, getting people online and providing free Wi-Fi --feels Aditya Mehta, Founder of Wickedleak. Besides, lowering the price of devices by providing the subsidies to the companies on smart phones and tablets will also help. Moreover, spreading the awareness about the diseases and their cures will help the cause a lot, he adds.
Provide patient education and outcome orientation
This is very important and something which will take a long time, says Vikas of Health Care at Home. Traditionally, people look upon on doctors and hospitals for even minor clinical advice, and have a rather reactive approach towards their health. Patient education and empowerment is one area that should be a focus of healthcare institutions, and patients should be educated after (say) an important surgery, and guided as to how they should take care of themselves at home. This can significantly reduce hospital admissions and re-admissions, argues Vikas. Also, the ecosystem needs to be geared towards delivering outcomes, instead of a financially profitable transaction, feels the CTO.
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