After COVID-19, digital healthcare saw an increasing global interest. Digital technologies can be instrumental for tracking epidemics, limiting transmission, developing new drugs and diagnostics, and advancing medical research to improve well-being. The World Health Organisation (WHO) issued guidelines to help countries implement technology in healthcare on a large scale. Countries like UK and US have already adopted digital technologies in health, including electronic health and medical records to improve healthcare. These aim to streamline and expand access to healthcare services by digitising patient data.
India is following a similar trend, with initiatives like Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) aiming to address long-standing issues in India’s healthcare access, quality, and affordability, factors that push 60 million people into poverty each year. While the use of technology in healthcare sounds promising, collecting electronic medical and health records for 1.4 billion citizens is complex, and may face challenges such as discrepancies in data collection, resources, and competing interests of stakeholders. Even during COVID-19, there was no clear data on deaths or shortages in services like oxygen, hospital beds, and medicines. While this would affect everyone, those facing socio-economic injustice are at greater risk.
Digitising healthcare, for example, requires resources, which service providers may be reluctant to invest in. Large healthcare providers may face disruption, while smaller platforms will struggle with the resource-intensive nature of digitisation. This has led to resistance to the ABDM, particularly from stakeholders within the medical community. A major factor is the shortage of medical doctors, with the current number just exceeding one-fourth of the WHO’s recommended threshold.
Doctors are expected to upload patient data themselves, yet the average Indian doctor is understood to be seeing 40-60 patients a day, leaving little time for this. With consultations lasting only two minutes, healthcare professionals may overlook digital records even if available.
SOURCE-THE WIRE
#Healthcare #DigitalHealth #HealthTech #PublicHealth #HealthInfrastructure #HealthcareChallenges #HealthSystemStrengthening #TechVsInfrastructure #HealthEquity
#HealthInnovation
India is following a similar trend, with initiatives like Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) aiming to address long-standing issues in India’s healthcare access, quality, and affordability, factors that push 60 million people into poverty each year. While the use of technology in healthcare sounds promising, collecting electronic medical and health records for 1.4 billion citizens is complex, and may face challenges such as discrepancies in data collection, resources, and competing interests of stakeholders. Even during COVID-19, there was no clear data on deaths or shortages in services like oxygen, hospital beds, and medicines. While this would affect everyone, those facing socio-economic injustice are at greater risk.
Digitising healthcare, for example, requires resources, which service providers may be reluctant to invest in. Large healthcare providers may face disruption, while smaller platforms will struggle with the resource-intensive nature of digitisation. This has led to resistance to the ABDM, particularly from stakeholders within the medical community. A major factor is the shortage of medical doctors, with the current number just exceeding one-fourth of the WHO’s recommended threshold.
Doctors are expected to upload patient data themselves, yet the average Indian doctor is understood to be seeing 40-60 patients a day, leaving little time for this. With consultations lasting only two minutes, healthcare professionals may overlook digital records even if available.
SOURCE-THE WIRE
#Healthcare #DigitalHealth #HealthTech #PublicHealth #HealthInfrastructure #HealthcareChallenges #HealthSystemStrengthening #TechVsInfrastructure #HealthEquity
#HealthInnovation
After COVID-19, digital healthcare saw an increasing global interest. Digital technologies can be instrumental for tracking epidemics, limiting transmission, developing new drugs and diagnostics, and advancing medical research to improve well-being. The World Health Organisation (WHO) issued guidelines to help countries implement technology in healthcare on a large scale. Countries like UK and US have already adopted digital technologies in health, including electronic health and medical records to improve healthcare. These aim to streamline and expand access to healthcare services by digitising patient data.
India is following a similar trend, with initiatives like Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) aiming to address long-standing issues in India’s healthcare access, quality, and affordability, factors that push 60 million people into poverty each year. While the use of technology in healthcare sounds promising, collecting electronic medical and health records for 1.4 billion citizens is complex, and may face challenges such as discrepancies in data collection, resources, and competing interests of stakeholders. Even during COVID-19, there was no clear data on deaths or shortages in services like oxygen, hospital beds, and medicines. While this would affect everyone, those facing socio-economic injustice are at greater risk.
Digitising healthcare, for example, requires resources, which service providers may be reluctant to invest in. Large healthcare providers may face disruption, while smaller platforms will struggle with the resource-intensive nature of digitisation. This has led to resistance to the ABDM, particularly from stakeholders within the medical community. A major factor is the shortage of medical doctors, with the current number just exceeding one-fourth of the WHO’s recommended threshold.
Doctors are expected to upload patient data themselves, yet the average Indian doctor is understood to be seeing 40-60 patients a day, leaving little time for this. With consultations lasting only two minutes, healthcare professionals may overlook digital records even if available.
SOURCE-THE WIRE
#Healthcare #DigitalHealth #HealthTech #PublicHealth #HealthInfrastructure #HealthcareChallenges #HealthSystemStrengthening #TechVsInfrastructure #HealthEquity
#HealthInnovation
