India is the world's fastest-growing market for Digital Health

India is the world's fastest-growing market for Digital Health unknown

Dr Rajendra Pratap Gupta, Co-chair, Global Digital Health Summit, Founder, Health Parliament spoke to ETHealthworld's Prathiba Raju about how every doctor must prepare to embrace digital health in the next two years.What is the future of digital health adoption in India?

India is the world's fastest-growing market for Digital Health. The government of India is aiming at 100 crore Ayushman Bharat Health Accounts (ABHA) in 2023, and this sends out a clear message to all doctors and healthcare organisations on the way forward; those who fail to see the future are going to face a stiff challenge. I am sure the ABHA account will eventually become India's default electronic health record. Every organisation and every doctor must prepare to embrace digital health in the next two years. India is the only country where policy has moved faster than technology, and the government has played a key role in the same.What are the critical issues for the mass adoption of digital health in India?

Small Health Care Organisations (SHCOs) are providing 80 per cent of healthcare in the country and beyond metros, they are the key healthcare providers. SHCOs need to be supported with digital adoption. Health Parliament the think tank conducted a workshop that highlighted this issue. Government and the industry must join hands to support them, or we are heading towards a major digital divide in healthcare, and the cost of care for the middle class will go up drastically, and the people from smaller towns will be left with no other option but to travel to metros to seek treatment.

Doctors are still in a wait-and-watch mode, and those who fail to embrace technology will make way for those who are embracing technology. Every doctor in India must move to adopt digital tools in their practice. While it is easy to dismiss the role of AI in clinical practice, in my view, by 2028, technology will be handling at least 50 per cent of the tasks handled by doctors today.
Can you tell us how the 2023 edition of the global digital health summit is different from the previous ones? How will it help push the digital health ecosystem?

Last year the summit focused on return on investment in digital health, issues with adoption and scale, and this year, we are focusing on solutions that will help to manage chronic patients in the digital age, solutions that doctors and hospitals can use, how can the pharmaceutical industry leverage digital therapeutics and how will AI and robotics transform healthcare delivery.

We have found that doctors and small hospitals find it difficult to choose the right technologies given the crowded market of solution providers. We are launching two platforms to solve these problems a) SMART Clinicians’ Suite and b) SMART Hospitals’ Suite. These platforms will make it easier for doctors and hospitals to choose the tested technologies available in the market. We will also work with solution providers to offer the best deals for doctors and hospitals.

We will also release a primary study on Generative AI (Chat GPT), web search, and CDS. This will help clinicians understand with data, the excitement and competence of generative AI & how they could use it, and if at all it is worth using. Since the study is in progress, it is too early for me to share any more at this point. We are focusing on key medical specialities and how they will get transformed through digital transformation.Can you tell us about the APAC DTx Leadership Alliance?

In my view, ‘the pharmaceutical industry has to move beyond pills, the hospitals have to move beyond beds, and the doctors have to move beyond the stethoscope, and so, the conventional ways of delivering care are over’.

Doctors and the pharmaceutical industry must consider using digital therapeutics. Our research revealed that the doctors and the industry lack correct knowledge about the DTx opportunity and the way forward to leverage the DTx (Digital Therapeutics), and hence we are launching the Asia Pacific Digital Therapeutics Alliance to create awareness and help the adoption of DTx in the Asia Pacific region, as our needs are unique, and the market conditions are different from the west.

• Published On Jul 10, 2023 at 03:52 PM IST

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