India’s healthcare sector is experiencing a digital-first revolution, driven by a confluence of factors, including the need for telemedicine and automation. Every segment of the sector, from large hospital chains to pathological laboratories, pharmaceutical companies and tech startups are exploring new ways to leverage data and the cloud so that they can drive positive outcomes for patients and ensure sustainable growth too.
At a panel discussion themed ‘Thinking Beyond Traditional Health Systems’, Moneycontrol Innovation Next, presented by Google Cloud, dissected some unique growth stories in the healthcare ecosystem, to reveal how digital capabilities are fundamentally transforming the healthcare sector. A host of industry leaders, with different specialties - Nilesh Shah, President & Chief of Science & Innovation, Metropolis Healthcare; Rajiv Sikka, Chief Information Officer, Medanta Medicity; Deepak Chopra, Head – Women’s Healthcare, Bayer Zydus, Lead of Digital Initiatives; Dr Anil Pareek, President, Medical Affairs & Clinical Research, Ipca Laboratories; Charit Bhograj, Founder, Tricog Health and Sundar Pelapur, Head – Customer Engineering – Conglomerates Emerging Businesses – India & SAARC, Google Cloud - shared their use cases and technology vision for the healthcare sector.
Although the healthcare sector is brimming with valuable data, the biggest challenges are data silos and data stored in different formats, some of which, like the HL7 format, predate the internet. Additionally, alongside records of transactions, such as billing and invoicing, in the healthcare system, there are parameters like medical images and prescriptions, room occupancy, etc, that need to be recorded. Sundar Pelapur explained how this data can be consolidated to enable uniform access. “Google Cloud envisages creating an API layer on top of all of these silos and formats to ensure seamless access. We work in a holistic manner to bring all the data together to elicit better outcomes for everyone.”
Another challenge has been the evolution in patient expectations. In the past, patients followed the prescription of their doctor. Today, they participate in decisions, seek to understand and want explanations. “We ensure that at the patient level, there is personalization and customization,” said Nilesh Shah. “Our apps and tools give our patients access to our tests and services. They can order tests and book slots online, etc., and even request emergency attention. Our reports are also redesigned to be more patient friendly, so they understand the basics and those with chronic illness can monitor the trends in their test results.”
Dr Anil Pareek highlighted another lacuna – the existence of a therapy gap. “In India, those who do API research are typically from a chemistry background and similarly, pharmacists have pharmaceutics formulation and R&D skills. As a result, the disease angle, which comes from medical students, could get underplayed. Only with the combined knowledge of diseases and drugs, we can close the therapy gap and innovation can emerge around that.”
With respect to the shortage of doctors, nurses, technicians, paramedic staff, phlebotomists, etc., not just in pockets but across India, Rajiv Sikka commented, “Traditional classrooms and training techniques may not be an effective approach. The metaverse, though it’s at an early stage, has immense potential to train people in the healthcare sector, across the country.” He also gave examples of how the metaverse and VR could transform 2D images or videos of CT scans and MRI into 3D images to facilitate surgeons in their pre-operative planning. “The only way we can achieve the scale that we require is through digitization,” he stated.
Digital transformation in the pharma industry got off to a slow start but the pandemic accelerated the journey, both within companies and for external stakeholders too. Deepak Chopra shared, “We do not put the product or any digital tool at the forefront; we put the needs of the patients first. We have started initiatives on multiple channels – for patients, healthcare providers and even pharmacies – using various digital tools and training modules. Our patient care programs are available absolutely free to patients, customized to their needs and delivered though healthcare professionals, so that the stickiness between patients and doctors is established.”
At a broader level, as a predictive healthcare analytics and solutions provider, Charit Bhograj pointed out, “What people have not realized yet is that today we are living in an ecosystem where healthcare is being distributed. With remotely acquired data on patients and their wellbeing, stored and analyzed on the cloud, and use tools and technology like ML and advanced computing, we can offer better outcomes to patients. Once services can be distributed from large hospital to homes, they can be delivered far more efficiently and at a lower cost.” The key outcomes from using accurate data on the cloud are the ability to manage chronic diseases, deliver better patient care and not only predict but prevent disease.
India is on a great journey towards digitizing its healthcare sector. Based on the experience of other sectors in India, like banking and finance, it can be inferred that large-scale digitization will ensue in the healthcare space as well, sooner or later. The cloud can solve a number of challenges that are currently being encountered, towards enhancing patient outcomes and improving operations in the healthcare sector.
Moneycontrol journalists were not involved in the creation of the article.
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