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Technology is the body pool of knowledge applied to materials and processes to integrate and enhance its applications, output and outreach. Advancing technology has seen the inception, adoption and growth of information and communication technology take gigantic strides. Today we are the benefactors of technology advancement enriching every aspect of our lives. From education, communication, entertainment, banking and healthcare to name a few sectors. The convergence of technologies in the field of medicine has helped us access the best of modern medical knowledge, processes, intervention/s, outcomes and support. It has given us a structure of an emerging optimal healthcare construct. Typically, in India there exists a stark divide demarcating the urban and rural in most aspects, healthcare included.
As one of the fastest growing economies, also just trailing as the second most populous country – India needs to bridge the existing healthcare fissure vis-à-vis the grassroot level vs the metropolis. As per a WHO study the suggested doctor to patient ratio is 1:1000 but India stands at 1:1456 as per reports of a leading daily. The government has acknowledged and has started implementing numerous e-health projects that are relevant to the rural community. The many launched government plans are National Digital Health Management (NDHM), Ayushman Bharat (www.pmjau.gov.in), Telemedicine services – e-Sanjeevani, National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).
E-Sanjeevani has been deployed by the MoHFW at 155,000 health and wellness centres, serving 75,000 patients on a daily basis, hosting 439 online OPD’s, out of which 43 are general OPD’s and the remaining 396 are categorised under speciality and super-speciality OPD’s. With these services the government aims at improving healthcare access by managing and improving the doctor-patient reach, increase remote consultation, real time vital checks, on-time diagnosis and remote patient monitoring. The technology guided model is also addressing other visible challenges in providing competent healthcare in the rural areas primarily; affordability, suboptimal infrastructure, subpar equipment, insufficient medicine supply, lack of trained and qualified manpower, absenteeism of staff, unauthorised medical practises, incorrect diagnosis and uncertified medical practitioners.
Globally, the rural healthcare infrastructure in developing and developed countries is primarily beset with similar conditions of affordability, lack of trained clinicians, distance and accessibility while the developed nations along with technological interfaces have implemented a mandatory health coverage which is either public or privately managed. The health coverage or insurance ensures covering cost of hospitalization and treatment. Rural healthcare is leveraging on technological support, remote patient care devices, virtual care centres supported by integrating real-time data exchange and image guided procedures providing early diagnosis, treatment and aftercare. As also seen, in the rural healthcare in developed nations the workforce training and incentivization is another area that is boosting healthcare permeability into the remotest of regions.
While juxtaposing the global model in India, which has seen mammoth technological leaps in the last decade with a certain degree of adoption in the rural areas, combining healthcare with technology can help overcome literacy barriers, the need for in-person consultation and a healthcare system primarily dependent on community health centres. Where we need to step in and step up to create better community healthcare centres which are technologically powered to manage online consultations, near real-time diagnosis, imagery sharing powered by better internet reach. These tech-powered clinics and clinicians should be accessible beyond stipulated work hours. These initiatives should be backed up by having a full-scale ambulance service or transportation tie-ups to facilitate travel to the nearest healthcare centres in emergencies or otherwise.
As we speak, tech driven healthcare has grown to integrate mobile and wireless technologies that cater not only to the digitization of healthcare, patient data management, but has grown into a domain that not only sets reminders, remotely tracks vital signs on your devices, offers remedial tips, offers and suggests healthcare practitioners and packages. Technology is convergent and ever evolving. Healthcare not being limited to just ICT, will vastly benefit from Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). With long term perspective, variability management, precision and upgradation ML and AI will help in scheduling appointments, aligning patients to doctors and specialists, collect information – infer – compile data, predict diagnosis basis patients’ medical history, and suggest course of treatment.
In my opinion bridging the Rural-Urban healthcare gap highlights the importance of immediate intervention required not merely by the government agencies but also collective effort and emphasis of the private healthcare stakeholders. As per a report by United Nations the urban concentration of healthcare infrastructure and medical specialists stands at 73% in the urban segment whilst 27% is placed in the rural segment. Convergent technology and upscaling internet accessibility can prove to be an enabler to bridge this gap. Training the service providers and the beneficiaries will see better adoption rates and trust in the drive. We live in such times where the true potential of technology can be harnessed by bringing the entire ecosystem together including the financial investments into R&D to provide affordable and accessible top-notch healthcare for all. The motto could be train teach and increase the reach.
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
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