Major barriers and benefits for adopting digital solutions in a Hospital

India a country with already weary health infrastructure and resource shortages, the covid-19 pandemic is further exhausting its healthcare system. Digital solutions can be a complete game-changer however, it can face hurdles in rural India with low internet penetration and few digital health resources. Also, India has majorly pushed telemedicine services during covid-19 pandemic, the country has been facing major problems in running the services in rural India for a long. Telemedicine involves the use of telecom and information technology to provide healthcare from a distance which is impeded in rural India due to the absence of infrastructure, internet connectivity, and lack of sufficient medical personnel. A reliable and fast 5G network can make this possible. With National Digital Health Mission (NDHM), patient history will be intact, and remote health services will be available at scale with a robust 5G connectivity across villages and cities to make it a success. Digital literacy and accessibility of digital records are a particular concern in rural areas. Digital literacy is another challenge, and the government will need to train and equip healthcare workers in digital technology. Government hospitals and dispensaries have very little information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure. Only some major public hospitals have computers and connectivity. Given a large number of public healthcare facilities in India, a large investment in hardware and software is required.

The launch of the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) and National Digital Health Blueprint (NDHB) underscore the value that the government attaches to the digitisation of healthcare. One of the most significant trends that we have observed because of digitisation is that care is moving towards patients in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Earlier patients from these cities would come to tier-I cities for treatment; with COVID-19 that was not possible. What is happening now is that tier-2 and tier-3 cities are building capacity to treat patients with the diagnosis being done by experts in tier-1 cities. Much of this is happening through the internet and often manifests itself in the form of teleconsultations, telemedicine, and other such forms of intervention. And this really is the concept of connected care where eICUs, NICUs (neonatal ICUs), and Remote Operating Centres (ROCs) can be monitored by experts who aren’t really in the same geographic location. Digitization makes it easier for patients to maintain a history. Gone are the days when you had to maintain a physical file on every doctor’s appointment. Medical history is critical in emergencies when a physical copy may not be available. In this case, digitization helps by keeping the doctors informed about the patient’s medical history in every situation. Digitisation can also automate administrative tasks. Advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems can be implemented that'll automate these tasks and reduce the burden on physicians and clinical staff, allowing them to focus on treating patients. Also, when it comes to patient care, it is of utmost importance that the different specialists maintain a constant stream of communication to design the overall best medical plan for the patient. With the help of constant information sharing, the specialists will also know what’s working and where progress is being made. This is not a rare scenario and this is an area where digitization can definitely assist doctors in doing their work effectively and efficiently. Smartphones and wearables are immensely popular pieces of hardware these days. Modern smart wearables can monitor heart rate, SPO2, count the number of steps you take, and even take an ECG. This makes them tremendously useful not just for everyday users, but for their doctors as well. Imagine a patient wearing a smartwatch that is constantly transmitting their health data online. In this day and age, doctors can act proactively and keep something unfortunate from happening simply through real-time data monitoring.