Compliance and operational efficiency to enable ROI for Indian healthcare: Expert

Bengaluru, April 26, 2022:

Compliance & operational efficiency will help Indian healthcare to achieve strong ROI (return on investment).  However to leverage this, healthcare sector requires an application programming interface (API) to handle voluminous data from various data sources, including social data, research articles and clinical and claims systems, said Sandeep Bhargava, managing director, Asia Pacific/Japan, Rackspace Technology.

The pandemic has pushed countries towards unprecedented changes. The healthcare ecosystem in every country is still coping with complex policies and processes  to deliver better care to patients. Only those that are well-positioned to drive interoperable platforms to match changing consumer-centric care expectations will take centre-stage, he said.
 
With the proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT), only integrated omni-channel capabilities will thrive. To succeed, healthcare sector will require secure, centralised data storage that shares information effectively at the local, state and national levels. In addition, artificial intelligence (AI) will also be at the forefront of driving scientific discovery, he added.
 
New devices and sensors bring challenges related to security, compliance and privacy needs. The need for a new approach to network security is required now that there are more remote users, software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications and information transmission from the data centre to cloud services.
 
Emerging cybersecurity concepts such as Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) and Zero Trust Architectures are gaining popularity. The amount of granular perimeter enforcement and micro-segmentation by the user, machine or device through application access is paramount for maturity development. Building a resilient security framework for human-centred tech will be at the epicentre of future discussions across the healthcare sector, said Bhargava.

Telehealth and remote patient monitoring with tether-less sensors connected to monitors outside the patient’s room or in temporary hospital settings can stall infection spread. Therefore telehealth is here to stay there is need to explore alternatives to remote patient monitoring (RPM) expansion, he noted.
 

Efforts to leverage enormous amount of data and drive actionable insights are on. Seamless interoperability to drive effective patient engagement outcomes will encourage the need to create multiple application programming interface. Bots can help increase engagement, compliance and operational efficiency. But a hybrid workforce of humans and bots at scale is the best approach, he said.
 
AI and machine learning open up possibilities for automated care management and can help physicians cover more patients. Medical devices monitoring temperature, oxygen saturation, pulse rate, non-invasive blood pressure, Perfusion index, Pleth variability index can be made available in a cost-effective manner at home. This minimises hospital re-admission through improved medication adherence and improved care management, said Bhargava.
 
In the coming months, we will see profound implications of what it means to be competitive where innovation and speed drive overall changes in the ecosystem. We will continue to stay focused on proactive community engagement to avoid healthcare uncertainties, and be better prepared for the future, said the Rackspace chief. Pharmabiz