THE DIGITAL HEALTHCARE REVOLUTION

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The fear of robots taking over the human race has haunted many a minds since quite a few decades. Hardly could someone believe that it could possibly materialize in the future!! But with the advent of modern technology and technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Data Science making the buzz all around, the day is not far when driverless cars and robots plying around us will be the new normal. In future, life is gonna be a one big sci-fi movie, isn’t it!!!

We have witnessed in the recent years that things are turning towards automation at a phenomenal pace. With the stock markets making the initiative of going online, other sectors like the banking, manufacturing, retail, and entertainment soon joined this popular bandwagon because of its seamless working. Accessibility of internet to the common masses at affordable prices played the final role of catalyst in making unimaginable things achievable. Gone are the days when people used to stand in long queues just to get a simple bank statement. Now everything has become online, making it accessible anywhere, anytime. Not surprisingly even money is becoming digital; meet the new contender, the Bitcoin!!

The same kind of accessibility in the medical field was the need of the hour. Getting consulted physically by a doctor has always been the preferred option of anyone. But not everyone is lucky enough to have access to best medical facilities. There are innumerable villages in India where basic medical facilities are barely available. Also people in towns have to travel to far away cities to get satisfactory answers to some of the most pressing questions regarding their health. Also in the modern era where nuclear family systems are commonplace, the elderly are sometimes deprived of medical attention they need the most. Consulting a doctor online has proved to be a savior in many instances by providing access to some of the best professionals in the medical fraternity. Welcome to the world of online consultations!!

Storage of medical records is another avenue which needs to be explored. It can prove to be a boon in catastrophic events as the world is facing currently, COVID 19 infection, or can help in predicting patterns of diseases and other health problems thus helping in building accurate epidemiological data. The lack of storage of medical data proved deadly for many during this pandemic. A recognized hospital in Madrid confessed that had medical data of the patients been stored earlier, many lives that were lost due to COVID infection could have been saved by taking the right approach for different patients. The advantages of such a step are aplenty. First the physical space that these records take up can be freed. According to Stanford Medicine, the physical medical data amounts to approximately 2315 exabytes which is equal to what can be stored on 9 billion laptops!! The number is quite overwhelming. Also if the records are served on an electronic server, they can be easily accessed by the doctor, of course with patient’s permission, enabling the doctor to have a complete picture of the medical condition of the patient beforehand. In this way, the patient is saved of the trouble of carrying huge pile of paper records, which if missed, can lead to disastrous consequences. Also a considerable amount of time of both the patient and the doctor can be saved leading towards a better diagnosis. Some online consultation platforms like MediFlam provide this services on their platform so that all the modalities can be accessed at one place. Storing and viewing of records and subsequent consultation with the patient on the same platform make seemingly complex work quite easy, seamless and efficient.

In the recent times, it has been seen that the medical field has embraced modern tools of technology. Telepathology, teleradiology and tele-ICU have become common along with online consultations. In fact, a famous cardiologist, Dr. Tejas Patel from Ahemedabad, who is a Padmashri and Dr. B. C. Roy Awardee, holds the distinction to be the first doctor outside USA to carry out robotic angioplasty and stenting. He operated on a patient sitting at a remote place by using this advanced technology. Such has been the impact of the modern technology. In fact, famous global management consulting company, McKinsey estimates that global health revenue – from, Telemedicine, Wearable devices, Online pharmacies, will go up from USD 350 billion to USD 600 billion in 2024.

Recent stats suggest that the demand of online consultation has increased during this pandemic; Doctolib, a French company says, Video Consultation by doctors has experienced a growth from 1000 per day to 100,000 per day. Other interesting facts are:

  • 26% of the American patients now see doctors online.
  • A Chinese health portal is tying up with ‘Grab’ in Singapore a ride hailing agent
  • JAMA Internal medicine journal reported that use of Telemedicine jumped 30 fold between January & June
  • In August, Indian government unveiled a plan for a digital health identity & interoperability to its core.
  • Yidu cloud, a big data platform for hospitals, would be the world’s largest health data set.
  • Amazon wants Alexa to analyze Cough patterns and predict whether it is COVID or something else.
  • Pharmacy distribution has been the recent focus of giants like Amazon, Jio and Alibaba
  • A firm called Epic is using voice recognition to help doctors to send notes to specialists.
  • Siemens is working for instruments for remote monitoring and remote diagnostic facilities.
  • Apollo hospitals have started teleconsultations, remote diagnostics, medicine refills and also a tie-up with HDFC bank to provide medical loans.

Companies like Apple and Fitbit have made smartwatches that can track person’s health parameters and monitor sleep patterns. Monitoring sleep patterns can be very beneficial in many people who have sleep apnea but has been still not diagnosed. The latest edition of apple watch can also display ECG and monitor any defects. This feature helped save a 61 year old man’s life; ECG on his watch showed abnormality and a consultation later with the doctor revealed the presence of an underlying serious heart condition. Luckily the patient got diagnosed early and was safely operated. Wonderful achievements like 3D-bioprinting awaits us.

Digitization in the healthcare sector is the future. There is no denying that online consultations cannot replace the essence of physical consultations but they can at least work as an adjunct. They can make tasks simpler, especially for the elderly and bed-ridden patients. Modern technologies have shown that if they are used in the right way, they can prove to be a boon rather than bane. The moral and ethical dilemmas with the storage of personal records of millions of patients can be tackled by the use of technologies like block chain which are practically impossible to hack making it possible for the information to be accessed by the right person. Making healthcare facilities available in the remotest parts of the world and bringing smiles to millions of faces form a part of the beginning that helps in healing the already ailing humanity. Life is full of surprises; this is the precise realization that the year 2020 has caused in the whole of mankind and made us realize that a firm resolve and a constant endeavour towards achieving better can help us overcome any obstacle that comes in our path. As the old adage says, “United we stand, divided we fall’.


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