Evolution of healthcare technology with change in consumer behaviour

The healthcare sector in India is constantly evolving, an evolution that is being driven by the developing health-tech ecosystem, more so post-pandemic.

Every patient has unique needs and expectations, and to understand them well, having access to their complete medical histories on a single platform is of paramount importance.

This is where technology comes into play, enabling healthcare providers to deliver personalised medical services at scale. However, to understand the nook and cranny of this sector, we need to take a step back and revisit the poor condition of India’s healthcare system during the pandemic years. One of the most critical challenges people faced during this dark period was the lack of access to primary health care (PHC). 

Enhancing Primary Health Care with technology. 

Sadly India witnessed a 76.2% shortfall of specialised doctors in primary and community health centres across rural and urban areas, as highlighted by the MoHFW’s Rural Health Statistics 2020-21 survey.

Infrastructural inadequacies further add to this woe. These factors have not only ramped up the average out-of-pocket costs of healthcare but also increased the pressure on secondary and tertiary-level healthcare services. Over the years, many health-tech players have emerged to address these issues and realised the need for a ‘continuum of care’ to reshape PHC using innovative technologies. For instance, drones

were deployed to address logistical and transportation challenges, thereby improving access to vaccination in remote areas. Likewise, mobile-enabled devices were implemented to facilitate better patient monitoring and the hospital management information system to streamline patient data.

Another successful initiative by the Government of India was eSanjeevani, a one-stop digital OPD to connect health specialists and vulnerable local communities during the pandemic. As per estimations, approximately 1.5-2 lakhs teleconsultation appointments are conducted daily in India, of which eSanjeevani handles around 50%.

These stats show immense growth in teleconsultation compared to pre-pandemic days. But when it comes to its penetration, that is just 0.5% of the total consult volumes in the country. As digitization increases with more and more people using smartphones and other gadgets, health-tech players will have more scope to tap into the emerging area.

National Health Stack: How can it help transform the Indian healthcare landscape, and what are the risks involved?

Launched in 2018, National Health Stack (NHS) aims to create the frameworks for all health data of Indians, making it accessible to private players for medical research and predictive analytics to aid policymaking. It is estimated to become one of the largest health databases in the world. But what if a breach happens? Imagine the disaster if India’s healthcare data falls into the wrong hands. 

According to reports, the Indian healthcare sector recorded over seven million cyber attacks between October 1 and November 25, 2020. It is thus crucial for health-tech players as well as the government to work closely on ensuring the highest security protocols to avoid such disastrous breaches. 

An effective solution to safeguard this data stack could be blockchain integration rather than cloud technology, as it ensures enhanced security of the shared data between a sender and receiver. 

Reviving the good old concept of Family Doctor

The pandemic-driven challenges indicated the importance of the traditional concept of family doctors to ensure a continuum of care for patients. Their significance is demonstrated by the fact that family doctors can proficiently address about 80% of all medical needs of a patient during their lifespan. 

To revive this concept, health-tech players are collaborating with doctors and bringing them under a single umbrella to provide comprehensive treatment to patients in the most affordable manner possible while also minimising the existing infrastructural issues. Advancements like big data analytics and machine learning (ML) are playing a pivotal role in enhancing healthcare providers’ diagnosis capabilities by making processes more accurate and efficient, thus enabling them with better predictions about future diseases at the primary care level.

Wrapping up

The Indian healthcare industry has gone through massive changes, especially post-pandemic – thanks to health-tech players addressing the critical challenges patients face and driving innovation in this space. The complete overhaul of this sector also calls for a robust synergy between these players and the government, without which the potential of these cutting-edge solutions will remain untapped. If the aforementioned challenges are addressed with better and faster implementation of tech-driven solutions, there will undoubtedly be better patient outcomes, and people will reap the benefits of a better health infrastructure.

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