The healthcare sector in India has witnessed a huge adoption of digital technologiesmuch of which could be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. The use of telehealth, wearable devices, health applications, adoption of electronic medical records, Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) has experienced a significant increase.
A recent report by Markets and Research revealed that the digital health market in India was valued at Rs. 252.92 billion in FY2021 and is expected to reach Rs. 882.79 billion for fiscal year 2027, expanding at a CAGR of 21.36% over the period of fiscal year 2022 to fiscal year 2027.
The digital push can be seen in the acceptance of electronic health records with favorable policy frameworks such as the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) and the Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA). Highlighting the major developments that occurred in the year 2022, healthcare leaders told ETHealthworld that technological disruptions will continue as an integral part of India’s healthcare sector.
The COVID pandemic drives digital change
Digital transformation can affect all facets of healthcare, from facilitating better access to care to improving quality and lowering costs.
According to Vineet Aggarwal, CIO, Paras Healthcare, healthcare delivery models continue to be under extreme pressure as healthcare systems around the world battle the COVID-19 outbreak. “With increasing patient volume, employee burnout, labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, equipment shortages and outdated facilities, healthcare providers are rapidly turning to innovations. to address these challenges and improve the care provided to patients Providers are rapidly shifting to virtual care, with increasing reliance on advanced technologies such as 5G telecommunications, cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), VR and AR, Blockchain and interoperable data and analytics to address existing challenges and reimagine the ‘Future of Health’ on the digital push from 2022 to 2023 with the goal of achieving true connectivity across the care ecosystem,” he opined.
Surya Gummadi, Senior Vice President of Global Health Sciences at Cognizant, believes that digital transformation will continue as companies adapt to the post-COVID market. “Businesses are shifting their spending priorities towards patient-centric initiatives, building resilient and streamlined supply chains, and implementing smart manufacturing. In addition, there is a focus on advanced R&D in areas such as precision medicine and gene therapies. By 2023, he expects digital spend to reflect a renewed focus on cost optimization given the current economic climate, as well as an emphasis on data analytics and automated data sharing, and improved patient experience/engagement,” said.
Commenting on the post-pandemic technology disruptions, Ganesh Nathella, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Global Leader, HLS Business, Persistent Systems, stated: “COVID vaccine manufacturing capabilities have laid the foundation for innovation. Worldwide, mRNA technology is being applied in novel ways to treat and even reverse disease.The next wave of disruption will be around cell and gene therapies and their application in multiple areas such as cancer treatment, diseases autoimmune diseases and diabetes. Digital health technologies and cell therapy manufacturing will drive growth. forward.”
He further added: “Restrictions on in-person visits during the times of COVID led to the development of decentralized clinical trials which, since the end of the pandemic, have resulted in optimized patient recruitment and improved engagement. Remote monitoring and the IOT have also established virtual and home care models that are more convenient for patients and more cost-effective for payers.In the future, non-acute care treatment will be delivered in a variety of settings outside of hospital settings. tertiary care”.
Artificial intelligence will emerge in a big way
Today, the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning models can be seen in clinical outcomes, financial and operational use cases in healthcare institutions.
Praveen Bist, CIO of Amrita Hospital explained that AI adoption will continue to dominate in three ways: “First, the fruits at hand can be easily enjoyed with the implementation of simple techniques. Second, the amount of Available data is increasing, therefore we have a larger dataset to train our ML, to make it more accurate and predictable. Lastly, with the availability of large databases due to the presence of IoT, the data is can be easily centralized and Big-data tools can be applied to obtain meaningful information”.
Meena Ganesh, co-founder and president of Portea Medical, agreed that technology has become a major enabler and that this trend will also trickle down in the coming years. She said: “India’s healthcare sector is experiencing significant expansion in terms of new services through technology platforms, next-generation tools for diagnostics, public-private partnerships and home care. It is also attracting a lots of new investment from investors. Some trends to watch out for in 2023 are AI emerging in a big way, remote healthcare, wearables, and personalized, patient-centric healthcare.”
Echoing similar thoughts, Mayank Bhargava, CIO, Fortis Healthcare said the health industry would continue to focus on leveraging technology to deliver better “health” and “care” in 2023. “Increased focus and appreciation of health management, including mental wellness, has been a mainstay of 2022 and is likely to continue as we move into 2023,” he said.
As experts share their strong belief in AI, ML and IOT to revolutionize the Indian healthcare industry in the future, it looks like technology adoption will continue to see positive growth. Furthermore, with the detection of new variants of COVID and the reinstatement of precautionary measures, digital disruption will continue to drive the win-win healthcare segment in the coming year as well.
