India sets eye on becoming global healthcare services engine

Healthcare is one of the most critical sectors for India, not just because it has a significant impact on society as a whole, but also because our nation has the potential to become a global healthcare services engine by offering innovative services to healthcare providers around the world.

The healthcare sector is witnessing significant transformation, driven by the integration of technology and the rise of personalisation. In the past, healthcare was often all about a one-size-fits-all approach, with limited customisation for end consumers. However, with advancements in digital, healthcare and technology providers are now able to offer personalised solutions that cater to the unique needs of each patient. This personalisation is transforming healthcare as we know it, reshaping the industry, enhancing patient experiences, and improving overall treatment outcomes.

The big shift in healthcare
The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the rapid adoption of digital technologies across industries, and healthcare was one of the sectors most impacted by digital disruption as it was a health emergency. This has led to a massive adoption of electronic health records, which help consolidate user information in an easily accessible and secure format. This wealth of data enables healthcare stakeholders—including health providers, health insurance companies, governments, medical researchers, public view monitors and data aggregators—to identify patterns, gain insights and develop personalised solutions, all with the patient at the centre.

One of the companies driving this global healthcare transformation is Thryve Digital, which delivers innovative technologies and personalised solutions to customers across the world. “The healthcare industry in the past few years has seen a seismic shift, particularly in the customer-first narrative,” says Bala Sankaranarayanan, president and CEO of Thryve Digital. “This shift has helped everyone focus on bridging the gaps between various stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem. The quest is to build an integrated, holistic profile of patients,” Bala adds.

In order to improve patient experience and outcomes, the connected healthcare ecosystem necessitates that all stakeholders better aggregate, consolidate and obtain a 360-degree perspective of the patient across their health metrics, as well as their social, economic, behavioural and lifestyle dimensions. While personalised patient experience is a priority for stakeholders like insurance companies, from a healthcare provider’s perspective, it is also important to optimise end-to-end care delivery processes and healthcare outcomes. It is here that data integration and innovative digital technologies can be leveraged to deliver next-gen patient experiences like virtual care and telemedicine.

Technology-driven transformation
From wearable and connected medical devices, remote patient monitoring and virtual reality to integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, technology is increasingly changing traditional models and transforming healthcare.

“To navigate this complex and dynamic business environment, the industry will need to harness five key forces of change: embracing and executing total enterprise reinvention; accessing, creating and unlocking talent; leading from the front on sustainability; capturing the power of the metaverse continuum; and leveraging the ongoing technology revolution,” says Ankur Aggarwal, Managing Director and Lead – Sales, Accenture in India.’

Technology transformation is helping create business impact and enhancing value across different healthcare dimensions. Whether it is creating a seamless and personalised digital experience for patients, enabling a cloud strategy for data access across multiple touch points and geographies, or leveraging predictive insights from AI/ML engines, technology is helping improve healthcare outcomes.

At the consumer-facing end, this disruption and transformation is transforming patient care. Bala provides the example of a solution deployed by Thryve Digital. “This solution helped physicians proactively identify and seamlessly enrol eligible members into special diabetes management programmes—at the click of a button—at the point of care. This led to a significant improvement in relevant clinical parameters,” he explains.

On the other hand, transformative technologies are also helping reimagine back-office operations and drive modernisation of legacy healthcare infrastructure so as to keep up with changing consumer preferences, industry and regulatory requirements, eventually improving the wellness journey for millions of lives. Bala says that there is also a shift in paternalism in medicine—from “in doctors we trust” to “in AI/ML engines we trust”—albeit with the right safeguards in place.

“Healthcare has traditionally been the last bastion for technology driven transformation. Thryve is privileged to lead this new conquest where business and technology seamlessly blend in reinventing a totally new future for healthcare, and thus for all of humanity. In the new “payvider” world we have the opportunity to bring payers and providers together and offer remarkable healthcare experiences for everyone. We are in the throes of a pioneering transformation and our “born-in-healthcare” advantage poises us well,” says Bala.

Human element remains critical
“Empowering people is a very essential part in any transformation,” says Ankur. While healthcare organisations can adopt incremental technologies, the human element is what defines the success of technology transformation since it is people who will use them. “There is truly no business strategy without a talent strategy,” explains Ankur.

As healthcare leaders look to new growth strategies, organisations must focus on productivity of employees, which is a strong driver of revenue and profitability. Data, technology and people must be leveraged in tandem and optimised to unlock organisational growth, according to Ankur.

At Thryve Digital, talent empowerment is a key mantra and Bala explains that there are three manifestations when it comes to talent enablement: internal certification programmes, democratising innovation across the organisation through “3I,” and events such as Thryve Health Tech Championship that create a competitive yet healthy environment for growth of people.

Building a digital core
In contrast to other industries where technology transformation primarily focuses on improving process efficiencies and effectiveness, in the healthcare industry, it directly affects consumers’ health and lives.

Building a robust digital core, backed by technologies such as cloud and AI/ML, automation and analytics become critical in technology transformation. And so does leveraging the healthcare ecosystem of partners and technology providers. These also ensure that such a transformation positively impacts human lives—the most critical dimension in healthcare. Thryve has witnessed business success and growth and has helped its clients deliver superior patient outcomes by building this digital core that will also stand the company in great stead for future growth opportunities as India prepares to be the healthcare engine of the global economy. BQ Prime