Nilesh Satpute, Founder CEO, Applied Cloud Computing (ACC) talks about the technologies that have helped in creating better digital infrastructure
COVID taught us the paramount significance of healthcare infrastructure and how the lack of it can lead to a full-blown chaos and loss of lives. Over the recent decades, healthcare institutions have adopted digital technologies to make a lot of functions more efficient.
Be it patient history, communication with doctors, digital results, clinical innovation, a mix of all these has taken years to be built. COVID, of course accelerated a lot of these trends.
According to a Deloitte survey which conducted a survey of technology executives of 25 health systems, most survey respondents are hoping to achieve better patient experience (92 per cnet) as the top desired outcome from digital transformation. Further, most survey respondents (60 per cent) rated their organisations as midway through their journeys from becoming an ideal digital state.
Here are a few ways how technologies have helped for better digital infrastructure:
Online services
From booking appointments to delivery of medicines, it is now all available in a matter of seconds. This reduces the hassles for the patients both in metros and rural areas where commuting for healthcare services can be a major problem. The patient also gets to search for the right doctor and choose a convenient time date which wasn’t possible in the yesteryear.
Virtual communication with doctors
During the lockdown, this feature made a lot of impact. Sitting at home, people discussed their issues with doctors via video and tele-calls as visiting a clinic or hospital was not easy at that point. According to a report by McKinsey, doctors were able to see 50 per cent to 175 per cnet more patients during the COVID-19 lockdown situation, thanks to telecommunications. Patients could even obtain clear prescriptions over the healthcare portal or email and then get the medicines delivered at the doorstep.
Access to personal health records
Accessing data for a patient via email or WhatsApp is quite easy at healthcare centres these days. But, behind the scenes, these centres need to aggregate the data as it comes from varied sources. This kind of data usually includes Test results, Pharmacy data, internal & external Electronic Health Records (EHR), data from medical devices like health wearables, Imaging data and insurance claims.
Tracking health data in real-time
With the advent of health wearables, tracking health in real time becomes much easy for each individual. These wearables include smartwatches, smart clothing, wristbands, ear-wearables among others. According to a recent study, the health wearable device market is forecasted to surpass $74 Billion US dollars by 2026, which is a massive jump from just $27 Billion US dollars in 2020.
Overall with the integration of these services, the hassles are reduced and makes the process more efficient. It is a win-win for both the medical professionals and the patients. Relying on these technologies, doctors can now easily conduct patient care visits, screen patients more easily & quickly, and schedule an in-person appointment only if certain follow-ups are necessary. On the other hand, patients do not have to make unnecessary visits to hospitals, which saves them time.
The road ahead
Globally, artificial intelligence is now being tested across healthcare institutions which may be a boon for the industry. AI-based chatbots and voice systems are already being used in multiple places which helps with customer experience.
AI Screening is another example which has started to be used. It helps with quicker identification of the patient and directs the patient to the next step reducing time in the process.
Chatbots are another example which was vastly used during COVID with lesser manpower. It reduced wait times for patients and helped with more efficiency. It even helped to identify the COVID symptoms through chats which made the detection quicker. Even the Internet of things (IoT) which became a boon during COVID helped in managing medical equipment, track drug usage and patient health which streamlined processes to a large extent.
Blockchain is another technology in healthcare which needs to be tested out. The market for blockchain-based healthcare applications is already forecasted to surpass $890 million US dollars by 2023. It remains to be seen how this can help the industry growth overall. Some of the proven examples are accuracy, transparency, security of the data and so on.
However, the total transformation of healthcare is a complex process. Moreover, it needs to be noted that the benefits need to trickle down to the rural and the remotest of the areas, hence easy accessibility is a crucial problem that needs to be solved. Although we have come a long way, it is still the tip of the iceberg. It’s definitely a long road ahead.