Improve patients experience and healthcare with Digital

How can Digital Transformation through IoT, drones, bigdata, Analytics and wearables improve healthcare and Patients experience

I was prompted to write this article following recent comments and issues that my friends and relatives posted on Whatsapp groups and also what I observed during my recent visits to India. Rather than highlight just the flaws in the system, what could be the incremental initiatives that the Indian Government, the Private healthcare providers and the Private insurance providers do to improve #healthcare availability and reduce the costs of healthcare to the Indian citizens? Most Indian citizens choose private healthcare over public services as cited in this report #HindustanTimes http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/most-indians-prefer-private-healthcare-services-over-govt-hospitals/story-KSgqT0rqLIebKzq34wRbJJ.html.

Indian citizens choose private healthcare only because the number of public hospitals and healthcare services are non-existent or minimal. I read this report http://www.nbr.org/research/activity.aspx?id=298 which reflects on the state of Healthcare in India and thought it was quite benign when I compare it with the level of services from NHS-UK. I now live in the UK experiencing NHS services, which you may consider superior if you are a lower rate tax payer or unworthy of the level of the Government spending if you are a higher rate tax payer. Nonetheless and despite of the once-a-week cribbing that you hear on UK News channels, I think the NHS service is quite sophisticated and there is a consistent level of care across the country irrespective of location, higher or low level tax payer, native or foreign origin or immigrant.

I am encouraged reading the many Digital initiatives launched by the Indian Central Government as part of #Digital_India. I noticed one such initiative, which is mostly information about accessing health services whether they are public or private https://www.nhp.gov.in/. This initiative however falls short of the public aspirations about universal healthcare since it is mainly an Information dissemination system and/or an appointment booking systems to those few Government Hospitals that have subscribed to it. More recently, the GOI had announced linking #Aadhaar with #Healthcare for Senior Citizens in India with a pilot of 15 districts http://mashable.com/2017/02/01/aadhaar-smart-health-card-senior-citizen-india/#er_9uRzh8aqT. This is quite laudable but again, just an Information System.

Establishing the equivalent of the NHS in India - an extensive system of Hospitals or GP Surgeries in itself for a population of more than a Billion will cost Trillions, which means more taxation of the <1% of people who pay income tax which is unsustainable. Introduction of VAT should hopefully shore up government tax revenues but may not be enough. The only option would be to continue to have this hybrid of Government healthcare where it exists and the private healthcare system for those who can afford it. But, the private healthcare system is far too few considering the population density per square mile. People mostly rely on private healthcare for all needs right from General Practitioner services, Medicines, Blood tests, Ambulance services, Scans of all types, Operations & Surgeries, after care and what have you. As much as direct costs, it is also the indirect costs of healthcare which is high. What contributes to this indirect healthcare costs is the non-availability of information, central information systems for Push/Pull near real-time updates. One size does not fit all, however, can #digital play a role to simplify #digitalhealthindia? Here are some examples of how #digital_transformation together with #iot, #drones, #bigdata, #API, #Analytics and #DigitalHealth could all play a role towards improving information accessibility and rapid access to #healthcare.

Blood Banks. There are a number of individually operated or voluntary groups based blood banks in India. Access to blood is not an issue for the planned surgeries. It is chaotic when there is an emergency since the hospitals call up each of the Blood Banks individually losing precious time and impacting patients’ lives. What if (a) a country-wide #database of blood banks and blood availability is published? (b) #API is used to connects Hospitals’ systems to Blood Banks database to request and arrange for blood using #mobility #smartphone #app paid with #DigitalPayment? (c) IoT is used to keep track of blood bottles consumption and delivery, (d) #analytics used to organise voluntary blood collection service #JustInTime rather than random events?, (e) #analytics to determine the highest/median/low consumption and voluntary offers to plan the optimum blood collections/locations/type, (f) #drones to deliver blood to overcome traffic when there is an emergency and much more.

Diagnostic #pathology Labs facilities. Very few Government facilities exist and as a result, most people are dependent on Private facilities even for this. Whilst the service is individually good, there are a lot of repetitive forms filling up to be done when multiple tests must be done at different facilities. The Patients’ situation worsens or possibly is fatal by the time the supporting family members take the patient from one place to the other. What if with #DigitalTransformation (a) The Diagnostic labs and the General practitioners are connected and hooked up to a central and yet federated system of referrals, (b) #Smartphone #app is available which when accessed and filled with information provides the most nearest Diagnostic facility with maximum tests capability and information is automatically uploaded from the General Practitioner system (assuming this General Practitioner is having a computer and using a central app), (c) places the patient in the queue and allows for the patient to arrive at a pre-booked time, (d) test results are loaded to a central multi-media content enabled database through #Blockchain which can be accessed by the referral specialist, (e) automatic self-booking for an appointment with the Specialist, (f) Specialist is ready with recommendations following a Triage with other specialists, (g) paid with #Medicare card or any Insurance provider card. Humourously, Indians have this habit of conferring with multiple specialists paying more money since the trust deficit is extremely low and hopefully, this cost is completely eliminatedJ. The results could also be subscribed by Medical #Insurance companies providing #medicare cards in India thereby eliminating a portion of the Medical #Insurance enrolment costs.

Hospitals Again, people rely more on Private #hospitals. There is never a challenge for the run-of-the-mill general Hospitals. The issue is typically with availability of #Hospitals dealing with Specialist operations for which neither the medical equipment nor the facilities are in abundance. The General Practitioner typically provides a reference to multiple Hospitals or Specialists/Surgeons. As most of the Private Hospitals are unable to hire Specialists/Surgeons (Poor chaps, they spend a lot of time in traffic and end up working harder/longer) on full-time basis – due to Demand/Capacity issues, they work on a Consultancy mode and part-time at many Hospitals in a truly capitalist “Business of One” model. Therefore, getting a booking at the right Hospital and/or Specialists/Surgeons is often an issue. #thehindu report states that only 17% of Indian citizens have Medical #insurance. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/only-17-have-health-insurance-cover/article6713952.ece.

What if (a) The Hospitals and Specialists/Surgeons information system and their availability is made available, (b) General Practitioners are able to hook up through #Smartphone #App and help the booking for the patient, (c) Patient is able to get confirmation of booking and able to tie up confirmation with #DigitalPayments since cash is not easily available, (d) Medical records are seamlessly transferred with #Blockchain, (e) Preliminary interactions are held over #Skype as a Unified Communications which saves time for the Specialists/Surgeons as well as for the patient and saves some costs too, (f) and, a lot more such as #internetofthings #IoT & #Wearables with enabling progress check interactions.

The gamut of #healthcare is quite an expansive subject to deal with and the above are just a few examples. With Professional #Digital_Transformation and #consulting to define the Target Operating Model, #healthtechnology could well be dramatically improve patients’ experience in India. #cybersecurity is obviously a very critical element to consider when going #digital ensuring #compliance not just on #DigitalPayments but also ensuring protection of healthcare records. Needless to say, there is a huge Management of Change to be undertaken too. For example, very few Private Hospitals, Diagnostic Labs and other take Digital Payments.

Rather than invest in a fully-fledged National Services for Health, the Government of India could be a #digital enabler of #healthcare service aggregation or become the #uber of healthcare and related service providers in India. This is the least that could be done to enable Citizens have as seamless a #healthcare service as possible.

About the Author

This article was first published by Jagadish Rao Raghavendra on May 8, 2017

Jagadish is a Strategic Board adviser, senior Executive leader with specialisation in reimagining business models; who has been successful at building and/or turnaround Practice advisory, Presales, Sales enablement, Solution consulting capabilities for:

- Applications & Enterprise applications

- Modernising and Transformation to a secure hybrid Cloud

- Service Integration and Management in a multi-cloud environment

- Digital workplace solutions

- Digital transformation using IoT, IIoT, Big Data, Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Drones and Robots

- IT Infrastructure services

More recently, Jagadish has influenced re-imagining a digitally enabled business model for a leading enterprise

#IoT, #IIoT, #Bigdata, #Analytics, #artificialintelligence, #drones, #robots, #RPA, #cloud, #hybridcloud, #sales, #presales, #salesenablement, #strategy, #managementconsulting, #boardadvisor, #nonexecutivedirector, #applications, #digitaltransformation, #mixedreality, #integration, #collaboration, #API, #microservices, #marketplace, #solutionconsulting, #servicemanagement, #governance, #riskmanagement, #cybersecurity, #saas, #CRM, #ERP, #customerexperience, #customersuccess