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How
Technology Is Changing The Face Of Indian Healthcare
The technology shift
has cast itself over the field of healthcare, bringing with it a digital
transformation in the way doctors and patients interact.
It is not surprising
anymore that when you visit your doctor or physician, you may find him using an
iPad to note or store your medical records. Rapidly transforming medical
technology and the availability of technology diagnostic and therapeutic
equipment together with changing practice pattern of doctors has revolutionized
the way health care is being delivered today.
The technology shift
has cast itself over the field of healthcare, bringing with it a digital
transformation in the way doctors and patients interact. The integration of
information technology and network have now become the centre of the "new era"
where both, digital and human aspects, are pivotal to the complete patient
experience.
Today, patient care
experiences are top of the mind in the healthcare industry across the globe.
According to a report by Frost and Sullivan, India's healthcare information
technology market is expected to hit $1.45 billion in 2018, more than three
times the $381.3 million reached in 2012.
Due to the increasing
convergence of technology and healthcare, there is a huge opportunity for
providers to improve the patient experience and operate more efficiently due to
augmented association and information sharing among providers. Healthcare
technology solutions are able to modernise medical care, reduce costs, avoid
redundant or duplicate tests /procedures and mechanise manual processes.
For instance, in the
effective treatment of cancer it is critical to track the patient's progress
over days, months and years. Now medical institutions can store medical images
and patient records electronically, which can be instantly compared to previous
images. These images can be quickly shared between consultants and remain highly
available during the course of the diagnosis and treatment.
The increased
adoption of telemedicine, HIS, electronic health records, mHealth, and web-based
services has made digital patient data expand, demanding the deployment of
robust IT infrastructure in Indian healthcare organisations. It has amplified
growth in data, digitization trends in health information and electronic medical
records.
Improvements in
collaborative data exchange, workflows and mobility, and need for better
financial management are the next phase of technological evolution in
healthcare. In addition, the shift to mobile devices, wireless technology and
cloud computing will reduce system costs and improve workflows.
A cancer institute
and research centre like Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute provides high-quality
diagnostic, treatment and multi-disciplinary care for patients with cancer.
Today medical institutes are at the forefront of enabling number of healthcare
technology initiatives to enhance the delivery of a range of healthcare.
The introduction of a
hospital information system (HIS), picture archival and communications system
(PACS), and electronic health record system (EHR) have led to rapidly increasing
volumes of data. Also, due to the unpredictable nature of cancer progression,
patient records need to remain readily accessible as a patient may visit us the
next day, a few weeks, and maybe even 10 years later.
This means the data
containing patient medical records and images needs to remain highly available
rather than becoming less accessible within archival solutions such as tape
libraries. To deliver patient needs at forefront of technology-enabled
healthcare and meet the capacity demands of data-intensive medical images and
records, we required highly available storage platform to meet the expanding
data needs of our medical systems.
When we deployed the
Dell Compellent storage solution and Dell PowerEdge servers, we were able to
double their storage capacity which provided a compelling price-performance
ratio. The storage solution has improved business agility in responding to the
needs of their consultants, technicians, and nursing sta? because the centre can
project storage allocation more accurately, the IT team can be highly responsive
to user requests.
One of the key
pillars of health transformation is being able to refine access to the best
healthcare for a larger segment of the population. The implementation of
technology is a cost-effective and compelling method to connect clinics in the
cities as well as rural regions. Although there are healthcare challenges we are
facing today, the good news is that we have innovative solutions to help address
these formidable challenges.
Technology
advancements in healthcare informatics, telemedicine, HIS, electronic health
records, remote diagnostic and therapeutic tools have pivoted the first step
towards tech enabled healthcare and can be further leveraged to effect new
modalities of healthcare.
Today, healthcare
organizations need to streamline their IT infrastructure, to be able to provide
simple, quicker and more efficient healthcare service or delivery. The
healthcare solutions promote a new productivity model whereby the ultimate
winner is the patient, who will now have instant equitable access to the best
clinical expertise.
(Ref:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/comments-analysis/how-technology-is-changing-the-face-of-indian-healthcare/articleshow/33130661.cms
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