Emerging trends in Indian healthcare - Technology to become a Core Function

Technology will be a game changer in the manner in which healthcare services will be delivered in India. The private sector will be the major driving force behind technology adoption in the Indian healthcare segment. To optimize costs and effectively manage operations, IT solutions will become an integral part of process management, patient care and the management information system (MIS) in hospitals. With the health insurance sector poised for major growth in the coming decade, increasing demand from this sector for more efficient systems for storage and retrieval of information will put pressure on hospitals and other healthcare providers to imbibe technology to modernize existing infrastructure.

The convergence of healthcare with upcoming technologies such as cloud computing and wireless technologies will play a key role in improving accessibility and meeting the challenge of manpower shortage. The coming years are expected to witness greater deployment of tools such as telemedicine, teleradiology, hospital information systems (HIS)/hospital management information systems (HMIS), online or electronic medical records (EMR), etc.

The healthcare sector is poised to embrace cloud computing in a big way in the coming decade. Cost-effective cloud-based solutions are expected to drive increased adoption of HMIS and EMRs. The various benefits that can be derived, such as easy accessibility irrespective of geographical location, fewer errors, fast response in times of emergencies, patient convenience, among others, will drive increased adoption.

To drive improved efficiencies, more hospitals are likely to seek automation for their workforce management, administration, finance, billing, patient records and pharmacies. Along with the growing popularity of digitization in hospitals, market penetration of picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) is likely to increase further in the coming years.

The exhibit below indicates the factors that will drive demand for increased technology adoption going forward.

Source: D&B research

However, the road to greater technology adoption is not going to be without its share of challenges. Currently, the IT budget for Indian hospitals does not exceed 10% of their revenues, substantially lower than allocation on IT in hospitals in the West. Moreover, despite the long-term gains in efficiencies and costs that can be achieved, the initial high capital investments may act as impediments for organizations looking to invest in advanced technology products/ services. Further, lack of in-house IT expertise, lack of standards, reluctance/resistance of staff, inadequate support from the IT vendors, etc are some of the bottlenecks that will have to be effectively dealt with in this direction.

About the Authors

Sreenath A V is the Vice President and Global Head, Oracle and Emerging Applications Practice of Wipro Technologies. In this role, Sreenath is responsible for strategy, sales and operations for IT Services offerings of Oracle applications. His approach centers on helping the organization achieve business results through differentiating initiatives like - developing industry solutions, redefining service delivery models, building strategic partnerships, transformational changes in the operational efficiency, people collaboration and engagement.

Prior to this role Sreenath was VP & BU Head - Applications Business for India & ME. He has vast experience of building strategic new initiatives and offerings as well as driving scalable, profitable and sustainable businesses in India, ASEAN, and APAC & Middle East. He played a major role in driving tremendous growth in Applications business across verticals and Geographies and successfully transformed the business to high growth trajectory.

Sreenath has over 26 years of industry experience. He joined Wipro Infotech's Manufacturing Vertical in December 2002 as a Practice Head for Manufacturing. He went on to become the General Manager - Enterprise Sales in Business Solutions Division. Later, as the Business Solutions Division Sales Head, he spearheaded several significant wins in the Applications business across verticals in Energy & Utilities, Banking, Telecom, Manufacturing and Transportation.

Prior to joining Wipro, Sreenath was the Head of the Industrial Automation Practice at Kshema Technologies - a part of Mphasis group. Before Kshema, he was with ABB Ltd where he spent 11 yrs. Sreenath's interests beyond office are social work and long journeys. He is a BE in Electronics and Communication from UVCE. He is also PMP certified.

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