The healthcare sector, no doubt, was caught unaware by the dramatic changes that the pandemic brought in. But what is equally interesting is how the sector reinvented the wheel to emerge from this unprecedented crisis.
As further highlighted by Dr. Nundy, ‘healthcare and the relationships that are central to care will be strengthened by data and technology. It will shift from being siloed to connected, from being episodic to continuous, from one-size-fits-all to more personalized.’
That’s exactly what healthcare providers are today striving to achieve. Indisputably, CIOs in the sector have demonstrated their value and the importance of IT in enabling this transition in healthcare.
Here are five ways COVID-19 sealed IT as an integral part of the healthcare value chain:
Dynamic dashboards powered by data
Using business intelligence and analytics tools, many hospitals reaped the benefits of real-time data through interactive dashboards. Bed management dashboards were a life savior during the peak of the pandemic, which not only allowed hospitals to display current availability of beds, but also to showcase future availability. Prediction-informed dashboards saw increased usage to dynamically support admissions, transfers, and discharges across different wards/ICUs. Overall, the usage of dashboards enabled better communication, effective planning, and smart use of hospital resources. At the core of all these initiatives was the ability of IT to dynamically drive insights from the data produced.
Telehealth & remote patient monitoring
COVID-19 turned out to be a strong reason for healthcare providers and patients to explore the potential of telehealth. A Mckinsey study indicates that telehealth uptake has seen a dramatic 38 times increase from the pre-pandemic phase. It will continue to be an integral part of hybrid care models of the future. Remote patient monitoring specifically has transformed access and delivery of quality healthcare. CIOs and their teams spent a lot of time and effort in telehealth integration and enablement to create a seamless experience to both caregivers and patients.
AI-driven predictive health
Integration of artificial intelligence across the healthcare value chain, from patient care to medical management to disease prevention, has had far-reaching impacts in the system.
Healthcare AI enables timely epidemic outbreak prediction, remote diagnostics, and optimized health resource allocation. Leading hospitals in India are already using the technology for preventive care, treatment for cancer and cardiovascular diseases etc. CIOs now have the unique opportunity to integrate AI into the broader business strategy of the organizations to reduce medical errors, improve outcomes and increase organizational efficiencies.
Internet of Medical Things expands
IoT in the healthcare sector has seen greater adoption and more uses cases in the last two years, by helping providers capture and analyze data from all kinds of medical devices. A technology that has been predominantly used for remote patient monitoring at the homes of patients is now seeing expanded use cases within the hospitals. In-hospital IoT will be a key focus area for CIOs in the coming days to drive cost efficiencies, accurate diagnosis and many more. At a time when hospitals experience increased case load, in-hopital IoMT brings the opportunity to better manage resources.
Digital Health get greater impetus
COVID-19 pushed digitization to the center of healthcare systems. In the process, user adoption barriers for Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and Electronic Health Records (EHR) got eased. CIOs and IT departments were able to finally showcase the RoI of digitization and why they has been encouraging the digital shift. The pandemic-induced change in mindset towards technology usage, coupled with the government’s initiatives to digitize the health system, has proved to be an incredible opportunity for the CIOs and their teams.
