As social interactions and personal contact take a backseat amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, technology and machinery have become the bridge between consumers and essential services.
While technology has taken massive strides with innovative applications across industries, there were certain areas where increased deployment of technology was inevitable and more essential than others.
The healthcare industry, which has been facing unforeseen pressures and work challenges ever since the outbreak of the pandemic, is one such sector. Technology and innovation are crucial in this industry to ease the demand and pressure it faces today.
In the healthcare industry, human resources – including doctors, nurses, paramedics and laboratory professionals – have been working relentlessly to cure the world from COVID-19 and eradicate the disease from the face of the planet. Innovations in technology enhance the efficiency of the healthcare workforce today. They facilitate fast and accurate delivery of healthcare services to an ailing population. They minimise the occupational hazards at the workspace of medical professionals by undertaking some crucial tasks of the sector without any or minimal human intervention.
Technology can be disruptive, but innovation in technology was important to fight an even bigger disruption in the healthcare industry posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. This happened at a time when the industry could not afford a negative disruption. Technology in healthcare has saved thousands of lives and helped the industry with treatments, diagnoses as well as assisted healthcare services.
At present the healthcare industry is poised for a revival around the world. In India, too, it is developing rapidly and is predicted to reach Rs 8.6 trillion in valuation over the next two years. It has already doubled in valuation over the past five years. While the healthcare industry in India is growing at a healthy rate of 16-17 percent CAGR every year, technological innovation has to keep pace with it. Hospitals and other medical establishments in the country are constantly upgrading themselves, trying to provide cutting-edge healthcare facilities and diagnostic techniques for the welfare of patients.
From employing telemedicine portals where consultation can be done easily over the web, to using machine learning and data analytics to create medical history and accurate prescriptions for patients, technology in healthcare is helping medical professionals provide more personalized and high-quality health services to patients.
Whether it is about using online payment and appointment booking systems to make life easier for patients, or deploying AI and robots instead of nurses and caretakers to reduce personal contact between people, the healthcare industry in India is getting ready for all kinds of exigencies in the future.
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