How Technology Is Transforming Indian Healthcare Services

“The role of technology in the healthcare system” was the topic of discussion at one of the panels at The Third BW Businessworld Digital India Summit.

The topic was discussed in great detail by a panel consisting of esteemed dignitaries like Dr Tarun Seem, Mission Director, National Health Mission, Government of NCT of Delhi; Mr Gyanesh Pandey, Chairman and Managing Director, HSCC India Ltd;  Mr Ambrish Bakaya, Director, Corporate Affairs Hewlett Packard Enterprise; and Dr Avtar Sing Dua, professor P&SM, RajCOMP Info Services Limited.

Starting off the discussion, Dr Avtar Singh Dua spoke about the success of the medical department of the government of Rajasthan in implementing the Bhamashah Swasthya Bima Yojana which provided quality healthcare to all National Food Security Scheme (NFSS) families.

“We used technology to prevent fraud from the beneficiaries’ side by using databases to authenticate the persons ID.”

Next, Gyanesh Pandey spoke about the launch of a near Rs 650 crore hospital located near Delhi which is set to be a completely paper-free hospital.

“Doctors will have to enter the medicines online and nurses have to enter patient records into computers. Technology will also be used to diagnose symptoms of some diseases…”  

After that, Dr Tarun Seem threw light on the importance of taking healthcare out from the hospitals and bringing it to the community.

Dr Seem emphasized the need of software that allows doctors to know the identification of their patients. The software will make it easier for doctors to keep records and basic health details.

He added, ‘It is important for government hospitals to adopt healthcare technology as there is a very questionable IT structure in these hospitals’.

India has to go through a procedural adaptation of technology and there is no way out, because of the super complex structure of Healthcare in India, he concluded.

Finally, Ambrish Bakaya said there is a dichotomy in healthcare and Hospital care in India. For healthcare technology to improve in India, both hospitals and healthcare must come together.

He emphasized the significance of ‘Telemedicine’ in remote areas of the country to provide healthcare even when there is no availability of Doctors. The technology works on the concept of cloud computing, where data’s are stored and can be accessed from anywhere. Analytics technology has to be introduced to the micro level in India, he added.

"Technology in healthcare will provide affordability to the next level" he said, in his concluding statement.