Vishal Jain brings experience and expertise of more than a decade to Inspira Enterprise and is responsible for strategic initiatives to expand the business in South East Asia, Government and Healthcare sector. Vishal’s keen eye to evaluate an enterprise or a government opportunity has helped him and Inspira Enterprise gain momentum. He has handled multiple large deals in the IT, e-governance and Banking sectors. At Inspira Enterprise, he is responsible for driving large strategic business deals and generating new business avenues. He is also passionate in nurturing long-term relationships and this holds a pivotal role in developing government and enterprise segment relationships.
- Why Indian Healthcare system had to face this crisis during the second wave?
Indian healthcare system faced an unprecedented crisis as the second wave of COVID-19 hit the nation. The first wave in 2020 mostly hit metropolitan cities of the country, but the second wave in 2021 infected larger number of people in rural areas as well. As a result, hospitals both govt & private in urban and rural areas, had to battle lakhs of cases, which they were not prepared for. Hospitals were struggling trying to make the most out of limited resources, but the harsh truth is that there were countless deaths caused due to delayed medical attention and shortage of resources like oxygen cylinders, medicines, test kits and even beds. Now as the cases have gone down, the situation is much controlled, however it is natural to fear what will happen if and when the third wave of COVID-19 hits the nation?
Indian healthcare must undergo a tectonic shift towards digitization, a decision that was on the cards for years. Yet, a complete reimagination of the healthcare system towards the digital age remained an elusive long-term goal, even though time and again it has been proven that technology can save lives. India’s total healthcare spending (out-of-pocket and public) is at 3.6% of GDP, which is way lower than other countries. During crisis situations like the COVID outbreak, technology can bridge the gap fast by making healthcare accessible and affordable to people across the country. Basic tech solutions like Hospital Information Management System (HIMS), EMR (Electronic Medical Record), Telemedicine and Analytics for Population health apps can help in turning the situation in time.
- In what way could digitization and data analytics have helped the Indian healthcare system during such time?
While Electronic Health Records (EHR) is a prevalent practice in western countries, India is still in the nascent stage of digitizing patient records and lacks regulatory bodies with Govt (Regulators) guidelines for the adoption of EMR\EHR. Collecting large volumes of data and implementing big data analytics with a little blend of AIML based predictive model can be a game changer in the Healthcare System. Big data analytics can examine large, unstructured data sets to uncover patient patterns and present data in the most efficient and effective way to ensure findings that can drive strategy and decision-making. Already, computer algorithms can interpret a range of digital images more accurately than clinicians. When applied in the healthcare industry, big data uses the required health data of demography or individuals to help make informed decisions in preventing epidemics, curing diseases, reducing health-related expenses, and mitigating healthcare crises in the future.
With Hospital Information Management System (HIMS) to record, accurate and meaningful data can be collected based on preventive initiatives and even provide real-time analytics for future references. The right data on a disease can be analysed based on morbidity, post recovery symptoms, population mobility, etc. Data about people being resilient to the virus can also prove to be beneficial in the future to curb such healthcare scares. Genomic data studies in recent time for identifying the strains variants, and clinical studies on drugs and vaccine, has created a huge demand within India for Big data analysis.
- Elaborate on Inspira’s work done for this sector?
As India’s leading digital transformation solution provider across all the domains like Healthcare, Banking, Defence, Oil & Gas, Smart City and Cyber Security. we have focused on building enterprise technology for hospitals and community health centers that will enable them to enhance patient care, while keeping cost under control. We have deep expertise in HIMS developing Smart/Innovative Solutions, EMR/EHRs, Telemedicine, Next Generation/Mobile Apps, Population Health Management and Patient Portals impacting patient safety and quality of healthcare delivery. These solutions are inter-operable and compliant with international Health standards. Inspira has served the needs of nearly 1000 Healthcare providers not just in India, but across Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific. The customers of Inspira today include Enterprise Hospitals, Government Hospitals, Municipal Corporations, Smart Cities, Health Insurers and PSUs among a plethora of other healthcare entities.
- What role has tele-consulting solution played during the Covid-19 crisis?
Telemedicine has been instrumental in connecting patients with doctors over digital platforms, which ensures social distancing norms. This reduces the burden on patients to go to doctors for routine check-ups, as they can also be done online. It also helps hospitals from being crowded and helps with better resource management. Telemedicine connects care providers and patients virtually while collecting and integrating all the critical clinical patient information. The solution uses this data to provide real-time data analytics of patient, medication and vaccination, which helps the healthcare facility to predict and plan for an efficient healthcare delivery. Telehealth services are scaling rapidly with more Healthcare providers and governments relying on remote consultation to combat Covid.
- How may this trend of technology adoption in healthcare impact the year ahead?
Despite numerous challenges, examples of progress in health care digital transformation are proliferating and should continue to do so in 2021 and beyond. Australia’s first fully integrated digital hospital, St Stephen’s Private Hospital in Hervey Bay, is described as “the Australian benchmark in automated patient care.” Patient health records and results are updated and accessible on tablets and mobile devices throughout the hospital, personalized food and medication can be managed electronically, and practitioners can log in at any time to see what a patient is doing in real time. Health systems in Canada are making significant investments in the next wave of EHR, which offer an improved data value proposition and support better clinical and financial outcomes.
Our nation’s healthcare system needs to be proactive and preventive rather than acute and reactive. Embracing new technologies can take giant strides towards a digital future. The country needs a system where every patient has their digital records, which includes demographics, medical history, allergies, laboratory test results, etc. These records can be shared via secure information systems and available for providers from both the public and private sectors. This unified healthcare database will help the Indian health system making records accessible in times of crisis. Now, is also an appropriate time to build public-private partnership (PPP) projects involving technology companies working in the healthcare space for faster and scalable digital healthcare initiatives. Joint efforts from all stakeholders can help tide over this storm and build a future ready healthcare sector for India.