Digitalisation of pharma industry

Mudit Vijayvergiya, Co-founder, Curofy, speaks on the advancements of technology and the revolution it is bringing about in the pharma industry

DIGITAL REVOLUTION is here and in a big way. It has in a way revolutionised the way we go about our daily business. We don’t catch up with our friends in a coffee shop, we Whatsapp them. We don’t stand on a walkway waiting for the next cab to arrive, we book an Uber. We don’t shop at a mall instead we will get it from Amazon. In every aspect of life, digitalisation is involved also. Beyond the realms of an individual life, industries are being defined by their adoption of technology. The Ubers, Amazons, the Air BnBs of the world have truly disrupted industries and have made lives of the people infinitely better.

However, the pharma industry has been able to resist the temptation of riding the digital wave for long now. This in no way gives us the right to tag them as technology laggards. In fact, the reality is quite the opposite. They have been early adopters of technology in many aspects. Their Internet adventures can be dated back to 1996. 24X7 rep visit was an initiative that was aimed at reduction of sales force. However, that failed. Sites like WebMD do indicate that the intent was always there, but the doctors, the focal point of the healthcare ecosystem never went digital. And hence the entire industry was branded as a late adopter.

Meaning of digitalisation