After the conclusion of the Lok Sabha Election 2024, for the third time, the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi formed the government.
Now, that the NDA has formed the government for the third time, it is time for the new leap. Which is to transform and conquer the Indian healthcare system.
And how can we transform the health sector? well as per the article written by Ashwin Gopinath at Hindustan Times, a unified health intiative (UHI) is needed for the country.
Banking on the AI and digital tools, most of the experts believe that AI can transform the Indian healthcare system in the coming decade.
Potentially, this technology can improve efficiency decrease cost and improve the outcomes for patients.
In India, AI can contribute substantially in country’s overall economic growth and development. As it can accelerate drug development and moreover, it can also enable more accurate diagnosis.
AI not just improves diagnostics and pharmaceuticals, in clinical trials, AI has enhanced his efficiency by increasing the speed of design, improving adherence, easily enhancing patient recruitments and minimizing the dropout rates.
The speeding in clinical trials is important for drug discovery & development, as it can potentially decrease time & cost in introducing new treatments in the market.
As per Ashwin Gopinath, many startups and institutions are utilizing AI to transform several aspects of healthcare.
For example, the Tata Medical centre and Indian Institute of Technology have recently introduced de-identified cancer image banks, which uses AI to capture biomarkers and enhance cancer research findings.
Companies like PharmEasy are taking the help of machine learning and huge data to improve pharmacy services. Thus, connecting around 80,000 pharmacies across 1,200 cities, providing services to customers.
Besides PharmEasy, firms like SigTuple Technologies have also embraced technology by automating the analysis of medical data. As a result, it has elevated the accuracy and efficiency of diagnostics, especially in areas, which lack specialist doctors.
Nowadays, even operation room aren’t stranger to AI. The increasing instances of robot assisted surgeries has augmented the surgical precision, by lessening recovery times and boosting patient outcomes.
As further detailed by co-founder and CTO of Biostate.ai in his article, the Indian government has started taking steps towards digital health revolution. As per him, initiatives like National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) and Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), are some of the good steps, for digitally enabling the healthcare system.
The proposed initiative like National Health Stack, whose aim is to enable the integration of health data across providers and optimize health service delivery via digital platforms.
According to the author, India needs a UHI. Taking inspiration from UPI’s success, UHI can have a drastic impact on healthcare. But this initiative should be ambitious in vision but feasible in execution.
This initiative should include the following main components: –
Should be established for protected sharing of health data across providers. Thus, creating a smooth flow of information and ensuring easier access of patient’s health history to providers. Location no bar.
2. Inclusion Of AI
The AI-powered tools for diagnosis, treatment recommendations and health guidance has the potential to act as an asset for the healthcare professionals. Thus, elevating their capabilities and expanding their reach.
3. Presence Of Smart Pharmacies
The presence of smart pharmacies accompanied with AI-powered inventory management and quality control, can ensure the availability of medicines whenever they are needed, regardless of the location. Thus, decreasing wastage and saving lives.
4. Presence Of Telemedicine Services
These services have the potential to decrease the gap between urban & rural healthcare. Ensuring, improved consultations and access to healthcare in country’s remote areas.
These components of UHI have the potential to transform the India’s healthcare sector, just like UPI, which changed the way we conduct our financial transactions.
But according to the author, there are two drawbacks associated with UHI. First, digital divide in India still exists, as urban area enjoys internet penetration of 70%, while rural area stands at mere 32%. This divide accompanied different education levels, can act as a hurdle for implementing these initiatives equitably.
Privacy is also one of the issues, as areas like management of consent, data localization etc. needs careful discussion within Indian context. The future data breaches can make the public loose their trust in digital health.
But overall, both the pros and cons of UHI needs to weigh in, keeping ethical and technological aspects into consideration.
