As is inevitable in times of adversity , the Covid-19 pandemic has inspired promising innovations , particularly in digital healthcare models . Surveys conducted by the Boston Consulting Group ( BCG ) across doctors and patients highlight that 85 % of the clinicians used digital platforms for patient interactions during the lockdown . 60 % patients across metro and tier 1 cities reported they would continue using digital platforms for primary care in the post COVID world due to the fundamental benefits of shorter waiting time and easy access to qualified doctors .
“ The digital healthcare first started as a matter of convenience . The idea was to make it convenient for the patient and doctor to interact through digital medium , understand the problem and come to an appropriate solution . Going forward , the question is how do we bring care in this part , not just convenience ,” says Dr . Raja Indana , Medical Director , MFine .
“ Hopefully , after a couple of years we can influence the outcomes . More digital acceptance , like let ’ s say , wearable devices that are collecting a lot of vitals could be used to predict any event . This transformation to collect the data and guide so that we can prevent long term complications can bring in better health outcomes with diabetes , hypertension , pregnancy , and child growth . There is a lot of data that is coming and it can influence better pregnancy outcomes , better lifestyle disease outcomes , better milestone tracking in Pediatrics . Earlier when digital health was not there , the point of care was more at the hospital but now the
point of care is coming to where the patient is !” elaborates Dr Indana .
Digital technologies empower patients
The digital healthcare has democratized the whole system which means that doctors are now available from any place and one can avail the services without any hitch , feels Ajay Sharma , Cofounder , COO & Operations Head , DESH Clinic .
“ There are places where one never thought of availing the best of the doctors from the best of the hospital . But now we are able to
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Digital healthcare is much beyond what we normally perceive it to be
Himanshu Sikka , Project Director , SAMRIDH Blended Finance Facility
do that . So the change has happened and people have accepted this as the way of getting the treatment , With the increase in tele-consultation numbers , the government in March 2020 issued guidelines on the proper way of providing healthcare consultation over calls . This showed that the government officials were proactive or may be reactive , but very fast enough to bring that . It helped in creating a system where a patient knew that he is taking consultation from a proper doctor and can track doctor ’ s qualification etc . The second was the prescription has to be there , which means that it is not just sending the name of the medicine over WhatsApp but being serious enough to do an appropriate diagnosis . Therefore , now people realize that they don ’ t need to necessarily go to a doctor physically for every disease and that certain things could be actually managed over the phone ,” Mr . Sharma informed .
Many reports have estimated that over the next decade , NDHM can potentially unlock an incremental value of INR 1.5 lakh crore for the healthcare industry . Now at the cusp of the Digital 3.0 era , the Open Digital Ecosystems represent a fundamental change in the way the government can leverage technology for public care delivery and enable private sector innovation .
Digital healthcare is not necessarily a replacement to the existing healthcare ecosystem , believes Enbasekar D , Co- Founder & CTO , MediBuddy .
“ It ’ s definitely emerging as a very key component of the journey of a patient through the healthcare ecosystem . but not a replacement for non-digital or conventional healthcare . And second , it ’ s definitely not a substitute for the clinical knowledge , not a substitute for the human understanding , the empathy that a medical professional would bring to healthcare . The best role of digital lies in improving these processes manifold and making it
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BioVoiceNews | October 2022