THE FUTURE OF HEALTHCARE
Dr. G V Rao, director of AIG Hospitals and chief of surgical gastroenterology, GI Oncology, predicts five factors that will disrupt the Indian industry in 2022 and beyond.
UNIVERSAL HEALTH COVERAGE EXPANSION
Universal coverage is the most desired aspect of healthcare in any country. We struggled a lot in the last seven decades after independence to make tangible strides forward in providing basic healthcare services to the masses, but with the introduction of several government schemes, both under the respective state governments and the Centre, the gap is closing.
HEALTHCARE DATA AND RECORDS ARE BEING DIGITALIZED
The emphasis on digital health is at an all-time high. One of the most pressing issues in our healthcare system was a lack of structured data and coordination among various stakeholders. Digitalization is required to build the country’s integrated healthcare technology infrastructure, which will allow for the seamless exchange of information and retrieval of critical data. Today, every tertiary care hospital requires a strong EMR (electronic medical records) system that is fully integrated with insurance, government programmes, and medical registries.
ROBOTICS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
AI in healthcare has been the talk of the town for more than a decade, but it has not achieved the level of success expected. The game has completely changed in 2022. As healthcare data became more streamlined, the machine learning algorithm gained the necessary amount of data to absorb and predict results with unprecedented accuracy. In gastrointestinal sciences, we have a variety of tools that can help a doctor make a precise diagnosis, reducing intervention time and costs. Similarly, in other areas, AI is being positioned as a supplement to, rather than a replacement for healthcare workers. The good news is that the algorithms that define such AI systems are evolving.
Moving on to robotics, another significant advancement poised to change the delivery of surgical outcomes by making them less invasive and reducing post-operative trauma for the patient. The costs of these high-end machines are rapidly declining, allowing for wider adoption and thus lowering overall patient costs.
MAKE-IN-INDIA MEDICAL EQUIPMENT INITIATIVE
The pandemic provided us with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to develop and scale indigenous medical equipment that is not only cost-effective but also highly effective. Our strength is our ability to produce high-quality products at reasonable prices. What we’ve accomplished in the disposables space, including Ventilators, Cardiac Stents, and sterilisation products, can now be replicated across the board. The challenge here is the time it takes for these locally sourced and manufactured products to be market ready, which can be addressed by combining the efforts of industry, academia, and government agencies.
IN GASTROINTESTINAL SCIENCES, WE HAVE A VARIETY OF TOOLS THAT CAN HELP A DOCTOR MAKE A PRECISE DIAGNOSIS, REDUCING INTERVENTION TIME AND COSTS
COLLABORATION IN MEDICINE AND ENGINEERING
Our education may have traditionally been limited to two key domains, namely, medicine and engineering. It is now time to see how the combination will change the healthcare ecosystem as we know it. Clinician scientists will collaborate with medical engineers to develop products that are appropriate for patient care. The concept of bench to bedside can be realised in such a collaborative environment where basic science, translational science, clinicians, and engineers will innovate and help solve our population-specific healthcare challenges.