Healthcare Innovation Challenge - 3: Growing Role of Data in Enabling the Affordable and Accessible Healthcare

While there is general trend towards increasing role of data, when it comes to the healthcare & Lifesciences sector, there is still hesitation in exploring the data-based solutions as well as sharing the data generated by Healthcare Providers & Pharma companies which can be utilized for the AI/ML model training by the solution developers. This also translates into lack of awareness about what data-based solutions can accomplish for the healthcare provider.

"Digital technology in healthcare has critical role to play in making affordable healthcare accessible in remote areas of the country. Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) as nodal agency for all IT promotion in the country, is committed to doing all it can in making this healthcare access a reality. We look forward to more such initiatives to support the government efforts," said Dr. Ajai Garg, Senior Director, MeitY.

In HIC-3 some of the hospitals are exploring how they can utilize data being generated in their operations. Use cases like Future Inpatient Volume Prediction based on Outpatient Data, AI Based Surgical Video Recording and Reporting, and Integration of Multiple Data Streams to Create Data Lake are the kind of solutions that seek to explore the utilization of internally generated data in creating actionable intelligence. Other use cases like OPD Cashless Payer Solution and Automated Credit Payment System seek to integrate dispersed payment systems/vouchers/credits to create seamless experience for the users.

Winners announced by eminent jury include Healthgraph (Comprehensive Patient Care / OPD Automation), Mocero (Preventive Health Checkup Tracking), Attributum (OPD Cashless Payor Solution), Infoveave (Automated Credit payment settlement), Simbo.AI (Prescription Digitalisation), Tredence (Inpatient volume prediction based on Outpatient volume), Ramja Genosensor (Early detection of Microbes and Infection), Infoveave (Integration of multiple data sources to create a Data Lake) and Visualscopy (AI based Surgical Video Recording & Reporting). NHCircle, Navia, Purpledocs, Synctactic.AI, Arya.AI and BestDoc emerged as runners-up in their respective solution areas.

Healthcare data platforms are the starting point of innovation in healthcare, where data from various sources are ingested and stored securely in a cost-effective and consumable format. Organizations build centralized data lakes in Cloud where indexed and organized data is stored for use in downstream Analytics and AI/ML-powered prediction/personalization. AWS empowers startups to accelerate the digitalization and utilization of health data, with the broadest and deepest portfolio of cloud services and purpose-built solutions.

"The Indian healthcare ecosystem is seeing an unprecedented rise in consumerism. Today's consumer expects swift, transparent, and personalized healthcare services, and data forms a critical component of this ecosystem. We are building solutions that can provide a more holistic 360-degree view of the patients for personalized treatment and patient care for many of our customers. However, it is only possible when assimilated data is shared and integrated across different platforms and key stakeholders in the ecosystem. Innovative solutions and cutting-edge technologies like AI/ML are only as effective as the high-quality data available. Relevant stakeholders need to rethink their data sharing models as data is the key to unlocking and embracing solutions that will pave the way for future healthcare," said Balaji Uppili - Chief Customer Success Officer - GAVS.

Operations continue to be the key area of interest for the user communities with requirements like OPD Automation, Prescription Digitization, and Preventive Health Checkup being the focus areas. Hospitals are also looking to get solutions to faster detection of microbes and infection can be achieved, to allow doctors to avoid antibiotic prescriptions while they wait for the reports from conventional diagnosis techniques.

"COVID has taught us what to expect when not expecting, and also has been a key catalyzing agent in accelerating digital push in healthcare. As we move ahead with technology adoption, we need to keep empathy towards patients and related people. While the various technological aspects are so important and supportive, the key to success is the Willing to Serve, Share and Care. When there is a WILL, the technologies discussed so far will provide the WAY to achieve it. Everybody wants change but seldom people want to change, so the journey has to be started and patiently pursued," said Mr. Bhaskar Maddala, CEO, ThirdEye (JBM Group).