Digitization – Key to stronger post-pandemic health ecosystem

The Covid-19 pandemic, which seems to be relenting across the country after two years, has exposed several challenges in guaranteeing medical support since March 2020, when the first cases were reported in India. While the pandemic’s effect on the global economy has been staggering, countries are gradually resuming normal economic activities, with necessary bio-safety protocols in place to help prevent further spread of the virus.

Since 2020, the outbreak spread globally in an unprecedented manner, leading to billions being infected, and an alarming number of deaths worldwide. Keeping in mind the need to mitigate effects of the pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended strategies, such as social distancing, wearing masks, and regular washing of hands as actionable public health measures, which would go on to have long-lasting social, economic, and political impact.

Many did not realise this while fighting the virus that it was during these difficult times that a future roadmap for the healthcare sector has automatically been drawn, taking into consideration ground realities. Even as proper unrolling of the post-pandemic growth plan yet remains to be seen in action, the healthcare sector will need to factor in the challenges revealed by Covid-19, before putting into use the strategies for future growth.

Even though there remains no doubt that the existing healthcare system has been committed to provide the best of medical care during the pandemic, the challenges exposed by the pandemic cannot be ignored. Even at AMRI Hospitals, one of Eastern India’s largest private healthcare networks, as we rolled out our safety measures against the virus’ spread, we came across vulnerabilities faced by healthcare workers, both medical and nonmedical.

The major lessons we learnt during this pandemic include the gaps in the process to reduce risk of infection in hospital environments, requirement of better biomedical technology, and the need to make patient care more sustainable. The healthcare sector needs to adopt strategies to address these issues, with stress on advanced technologies that will provide not just better prognosis and treatment but also minimise hospital stay for patients, and subsequently even reduce stress and exposure for healthcare workers.

The pandemic provided crucial insights into management of human resources, as hundreds of doctors, nursing staff, and technicians fell to the virus. When one adds to this the shortage of qualified doctors, nurses, and paramedical staff, where demand is always expected to remain a step ahead of supply, digitization seems to be the one sweeping solution, where a doctor or nurse can address health issues even from remote.

A 2021 McKinsey report points out that even though the direct effects of Covid-19 seem significant, the indirect and long-running impact could overpower even the immediate ones. The report notes that there are enough hints to suggest that healthcare service providers need people to be won back into confidence. Even a cursory glance will show that people are cancelling normal practices like routine check-ups, and sometimes, even treatment of chronic conditions.

Renowned health economist Jane Sarasohn-Kahn stresses in her latest book, Health Citizenship: How a Virus Opened up Hearts and Minds, the need to put more focus on telemedicine, which became the mainstay for healthcare delivery during the pandemic. This would not only lead to a deeper connect between service providers and patients but also help break the traditional notion of visiting a doctor only when necessary.

Since it is not possible for hospitals to reach everywhere, the need to create a network of smaller nursing homes, pharmacies, and clinics, acting as spokes for hub hospitals, will be imperative in developing a digital health environment. The use of wearable monitoring tools and phone apps will help hospitals to involve patients in preventive healthcare, a goal that has eluded healthcare groups for years, and lead to the creation of a loyal band of end users, who will willingly participate in the overall health ecosystem.