Digitizing Healthcare

- Vinod Kumar Reddy

Honorable Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi says, “I dream of a digital India where every netizen is an empowered citizen.”

Digitization is the new wave, making ripples across sectors, crossing geographies worldwide. Healthcare is undoubtedly going to be one of the industries which will see significant disruption as a result of serious digitization, enabling mankind to live longer and healthier lives.

Helping them take ownership of their own healthcare, digital healthcare will elevate patients from their existing state of ‘enforced passivenesses’; providing them with appropriate medical assistance, aiding them in making informed decisions. Internet has brought knowledge right to the fingertips to such an extent that patients are today more aware of their health and wellbeing, making them active contributors in their own healthcare. Digitization has also changed the nature of patient communication with the healthcare providers. It is no more a monologue, where the doctors explain to the patients about their medical condition and guide them on the next steps to be taken. Today, a more informed patient picks up a more proactive conversation with the healthcare provider, disrupting the unidirectional flow of information. This two-way communication also helps the latter develop a strong database of patient information, which could be later utilized to design customized solutions. This is truly the rise of the “smart-patient.”