The healthcare industry is changing on several different fronts especially after the global Covid-19 pandemic from virtual and augmented reality to smart medicine and biotechnology, the year 2020 has witnessed some of the biggest drivers of change. With the inception of new vaccines, treatments and breakthroughs enabled by innovation, the healthcare industry will continue to leverage ground-breaking solutions to attend to patients’ needs over the coming year.
KEY TRENDS
Virtual care will continue to grow
Virtualised treatment adoption has witnessed a surge after the pandemic. Social distancing and increase in daily caseloads at hospitals paved the way for virtual care so that patients can have access to physicians while staying safely at home. This trend is expected to continue this year as well because it would allow physicians to fit in more patient consultations into their schedule as well as mitigate the risk of spreading infections.
Other than that, there will be a shift in focus to autonomous and robotic healthcare assistants capable of working in people’s homes and hospitals. Robots are presently being used in different care homes in the UK to improve mental health and reduce loneliness.
Focus on Electronic Health Records
Even though in western countries there is a prevalent practice of Electronic Health Records (EHR), but India is still in the growing stages when it comes to the adoption of electronic patient records. To save clinicians and physicians from hours of draining administrative work, digitisation of patients’ medical treatment is crucial. Certain states in India have mandated the use of EHRs in public hospitals, but most of these patient summary records are used for billing purposes instead of clinical purposes. With large healthcare players gradually entering the Indian healthcare landscape, EHRs are expected to become a possibility sooner.
Big data
There is a significant burden on healthcare organisations in the form of decreasing revenue and increasing workload owing to the pandemic. However, Big Data can address such challenges once digitisation of patient records happens and longitudinal patient records are developed and maintained. Big Data can be used to accumulate data to provide hyper-personalised care through data analysis/preventive analytics of lifestyle, genetic, and social circumstances that will help prevent diseases.
Data can also be used to identify potential adverse reactions and spot medication errors. Health strategies can be developed and disease trends can be identified by monitoring data based on geography, demographics and more. With global trends indicating a growing shift towards digital transformation, Big Data is expected to optimise patient experience further in the coming year.
Healthcare would be a big consideration in the lives of people
Going forward in 2021, there could be increased consideration towards early-warning systems and safety measures to reduce the spread of contagious diseases. On-job medical screenings could become the new normal with quarantine measures at offices where work from home is not possible. Once again, technology is expected to play a crucial role in mitigating the dangers of contagious disease transmission and guide use to a healthy life.
CHALLENGES
Cybersecurity
Though the healthcare industry had its fair share of cybersecurity attacks, data breaches and ransomware, but in light of the massive data been collected during the ongoing pandemic and for usage of health apps, cybersecurity will remain a major concern in the coming year.
Data breaches are a threat to compromising confidential patient data and exposes healthcare businesses to lawsuits and penalties. It is therefore vital for healthcare firms to put in place state-of-the-art digital security measures to protect sensitive data from malicious hackers and third parties.
Government’s role in future healthcare and GDP
Even though the healthcare spending of the government has increased to Rs 1,944 in FY20 from Rs 1,008 in FY15, it is still considered low keeping in mind the present demands. The total expenditure by the Centre and states for FY20 was Rs 2.6 trillion, or 1.29% of GDP. As per OECD, India’s total healthcare spending (out-of-pocket and public), at 3.6% of GDP is significantly less than that of other countries. For developed nations – the United States of America (16.9%), Germany (11.2%), and Japan (10.9%), it is way more than what India is spending. The annual article IV by the IMF stated that India can boost the productivity of its human capital by investing in education, and healthcare. The government needs to focus on a specially designed fiscal stimulus, that can be funnelled policy bottlenecks and public health, to make the sector the engine of GDP growth.
Healthcare needs to go into smaller towns and rural areas
According to a Lancet study, India ranks at a dismal 145 out of 190 countries in terms of the quality and accessibility of healthcare. It is behind countries like Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and China. Though the WHO states a minimum requirement of ,1 doctor for 1000 patients, according to the Medical Council of India (MCI) estimates, India has roughly 1 doctor for every 2000 persons, reflecting low doctor-patient ratio.
Quality healthcare specialists and diagnostic techniques are concentrated in metropolitan cities. Invariably, people in rural areas suffer a lot owing to the lack of healthcare facilities and staff. They have to travel to far-off places to seek quality treatment options. India’s healthcare woes can only be addressed when the government pays equal attention to the development of primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare systems.
Arranging isolations in hospitals
The pandemic has consumed and exhausted widespread national health resources with unprecedented speed. Poor resources, deficient infrastructure, and manpower created major issues for health authorities to grapple with. In November, the number of Covid-19 cases in India was 12.8 lakh, second only to the United States. Though efforts to introduce vaccines are underway, the battle with the pandemic is expected to continue well into 2021.
There is a definitive need to enhance healthcare infrastructure and ensure that proper isolation facilities are readily available at hospitals and clinics. Though the trajectory of the Covid-19 pandemic is expected to come down in the coming months, some percentage of the population will still get affected. Thus, isolation facilities and proper infrastructure are some of the key areas that would require continuous upgrade and intervention.
Healthcare and care delivery are evolving at a rapid pace all over the world. Although, the pandemic has brought in some obstacles for healthcare organisations, with efficient use of technology, innovation, and further advancements in medical science, the healthcare industry is expected to come through triumphant from the crisis.
The writer is MD of Paras Healthcare.