ARTIST for Her pioneers digitalisation to transform the future of women’s healthcare

While the world is increasingly moving towards digitalisation because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Bengaluru-based ARTIST for Her (Asian Research and Training Institute for Skill Transfer), led by its CEO Dr Hema Divakar, a renowned healthcare leader, pioneered the concept of digital transfer of skills, knowledge, and training to healthcare providers and caregivers much before the deadly coronavirus impacted humanity.

Dr Divakar, five years ago, had envisioned the role of digitalisation in strengthening the system by imparting necessary skills and training through remote learning and training methods. It was found most effective in the capacity building of healthcare workers in the maternal and child healthcare sectors. Today, digitalisation has encapsulated the healthcare sector. “The disruption brought about by digitalisation is inevitable today because of the pandemic. We are delighted because we had an early mover advantage in this; ARTIST for Her has built a fantastic, reliable and proven digital skill transfer platform that benefits a wide variety of stakeholders, behind healthcare workers,” said Dr Divakar.

Digital skills transfer is today one of the cornerstones of ARTIST for Her, which has conducted several regional, national and international conferences, training modules, symposia, consultations, and capacity building programs in the virtual world. Crucial among them were Manyata, a quality improvement and certification initiative offered by the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI) for private facilities providing maternal care. ARTIST for Her piloted the program and further provided the necessary training through the digital format.

Likewise, for ORIGYN (Oasis of Recognised & Innovative Practices in Gynaecology), which rewrote women’s healthcare protocols for India and other low and middle healthcare countries, ARTIST for Her was the advocacy partner managing the mega virtual skill-building platform. Pregnancy, Obesity and Nutrition Initiative (PONI) declaration and agenda implementation of Pregnancy & Non-Communicable Diseases Committee by the International Federation of Gynaecology & Obstetrics also greatly benefited from digitalisation at the international level. Digitalisation has also helped the healthcare sector at the grassroots level. ARTIST for Her’s pilot project “Hemmaragala Model Health & Wellness Village” in Nanjangud constituency in Karnataka is a PPP model, which shows the way forward for a new rural low-dose high-impact preventive healthcare delivery system that can be implemented across the state.

“A continuum of this initiative will be through the digital platform in the next few months to empower the providers to be confident and competent to offer preventive healthcare through skill transfer. This will help them use their discretion to identify problems early and refer,” pointed out Dr Divakar.