India Attempting a Complete Shift from Manual to Technology-Based Healthcare Services

The healthcare services market is growing by leaps and bounds, bringing in new opportunities, challenges, and also potential risks with respect to the services provided. The rapidly transforming medical science and technology along with the changing industry patterns and trends have revolutionized the sector. Technology today has become the backbone for any industry and healthcare is no exception to it.

The availability of technologically advanced diagnostic and therapeutic equipment together with interoperability and connected devices are overturning the way the sector functions and have served to significantly improve the way the healthcare services are delivered. Major technological advances like advanced analytics, machine learning, Artificial Intelligence, digitization, and the Internet of Medical Things have found their path successfully into the healthcare sector. Numerous applications in the healthcare arena are presenting forth opportunities that would help address the key challenges in the sector and result in high productivity in a cost-efficient way.

The healthcare facilities are focused on managing costs and quality of healthcare, thereby aiming to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of administrative operations. For this, the ingress of technology in healthcare is crucial. Currently, India is attempting a technology shift, bringing with it a complete digital transformation of the healthcare functions, which would also impact the way physicians and patients interact. The integration of technology and healthcare have become the center of the ‘new era,’ in which both, digital and human aspects of healthcare services, are pivotal to enhance the patient experience.

Technology Supporting the Growth of the Indian Healthcare Sector:

The Indian healthcare sector today is projected to grow at a steady rate from $381.3 million in 2018 to $280 billion by 2020. This phenomenal growth can be attributed to the rise of income levels, changing consumer demands, increasing awareness of NCDs, and most importantly the emergence of modern technology-based services. However, the country is still experiencing a lag in funds distribution, accessibility, and quality assurance, which could be mitigated to a greater extent with the indulgence of technology.

The increasing convergence of healthcare and technology has put forth immense opportunities for healthcare providers to operate more efficiently and improve their patient experience on the whole. There is an augmented connection and information sharing carried out by the connected technology between the healthcare providers and the patients.  The increasing use of technology in healthcare will help facilities in providing high-quality diagnostics, treatment, and multi-disciplinary patient care. Healthcare technology solutions have started modernizing medical care, reducing costs, avoiding redundant or duplicate tests/procedures, and helping to mechanize the manual processes into automated ones. Today the healthcare facilities are at the forefront of bringing in a number of healthcare technology initiatives into the sector with a view to enhance the delivery of a wide range of healthcare services with sheer efficiency.

Gone are the days when healthcare professionals and physicians have to manually enter patient information. Today, the introduction of Hospital Information System (HIS), Electronic Health Records (EHR), and Picture Archival and Communications System (PACS) into the healthcare systems is making it easier for healthcare professionals to collect, store, and share patient data effortlessly. The increased adoption of these technologies into healthcare has served to rapidly grow the volumes of health data. Moreover, patient records have become readily accessible for the entire healthcare system including physicians, diagnostic and paramedical professionals, as well as patients.

With the advent of telemedicine, mHealth, and other web-based healthcare services using advanced communication and internet technology, it has become possible for the healthcare data to expand, thus necessitating the deployment of a robust IT infrastructure within healthcare organizations. Continual improvements in collaborative data exchanges, financial management, workflows, and mobility have taken the healthcare sector into the next phase of technological evolution. As this trend continues, it is possible for healthcare to achieve amplified growth in digitization of health information.

Technically Equipped Healthcare Professionals Have High Demand I the Job Market'

There has been a major shift in healthcare from manual to technology using mobile devices, cloud computing, and wireless technology, all of which contribute to improved workflows and reduced system costs. Technology enabled healthcare is becoming the trend now to increase accessibility of healthcare and fulfill the capacity demands for data-intensive records. Overall, effective implementation of digital technology is a cost-effective and compelling way for healthcare facilities to connect and share information across multiple players.

With the technological advancements in healthcare pivoting the sector towards tech-enabled care, it is important that healthcare professionals stay abreast with the trends having ample knowledge about communications and technology to leverage the new modalities of healthcare in future. This is where we, at IIHMR, Delhi, have been helping bridge the gap between the demand and availability of skilled healthcare professionals having in-depth knowledge of the latest technological trends in the healthcare arena. We focus on preparing our students for the new ‘tech era’ where academic knowledge, industry-focused training, and adept technical know-how are collectively essential.

IIHMR is an esteemed institution offering quality education that targets to produce efficient healthcare management professionals capable of performing well on national as well as international platforms. Students at IIHMR are taught and trained with a cutting-edge curriculum that endow them with the expertise to successfully make their mark in the competitive job market.