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By Ganesh Prasad
Technology
None of this would have been possible but for technology. Home isolation in the last two years has given people a lot of confidence in relying on technology. It has given them the conviction that it’s the way forward. So local doctors who have made enough money from consultation in the last two years, have started investing in basic technology such as screening and early diagnostics to ensure that they retain their client base.
Tele health consultation is another area that has grown dramatically in the last two years and is still continuing. Telehealth is not just about connecting patient with a doctor, as many people think.
It’s only one part of the process. Telehealth becomes really powerful when a doctor also provides immediate life saving assistance through technology. This can also drastically bring down the cost
of treatment. Through tech-enabled care or connected care, a nurse or a trained paramedic will be able to save the life a patient having a chest pain, living in some remote town, even at midnight, if they are able to connect him with a specialist doctor through technology, irrespective of where the doctor is at that point of time. All the doctor needs to do is see the ECG and give instructions to stabilise the patient. The patient can then come to the hospital without being rushed. The idea behind connected-care technology is that a patient living in a small town too should get the same level of care that is available to a resident living in a metro city. Connected-care technology is today available in every healthcare area. It should be our priority in the next two to three years.
I personally believe that healthcare in India should follow the model adopted by the automobile industry. Just like the way there are separate automobile showrooms and dealers catering to the needs of people living in tier 2 and tier 3 cities, we need to have technology-enabled healthcare infrastructure that can serve people locally. After all, isn’t a human life more precious than a vehicle?
(Concludes)
The writer is the founder, MD & CEO of Genworks