Shahid Akhter, editor, ETHealthworld, spoke to Kaushik Mitra, Senior Director, Cloud ERP, Oracle India to know more about cloud technology impacting healthcare in the current digitilization drive.
The healthcare and pharma sectors have been at the forefront during the COVID crisis. What do you think would be the role of healthcare in India’s post-pandemic economic revival?
Despite the adversity and challenges, the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors have demonstrated incredible resilience during the COVID crisis, emerging as one of the most robust sectors. Healthcare, as a supporting pillar of the Indian economy, is expected to play a critical role in the country’s post-pandemic recovery. Technology plays an important role here, especially now that the government of India is also prioritising digitization, with the most recent development being the launch of the centre’s initiative to digitise healthcare records.
The Indian healthcare industry has traditionally been a late adopter of advanced technologies, but that is changing now. Can you please shed light on some of the key technology trends for the healthcare sector?
The Indian economy as a whole is undergoing fundamental changes owing to digitization and technology adoption, and this has spread across the healthcare sector as well. Furthermore, the pandemic has accelerated the entire digitization process in the healthcare space. We are seeing an increased reliance on technology from organisations and patients in the healthcare sector. Teleconsultation, Digital Patient Engagement Technology, Digital Health, etc. are some of the trends that are gaining prominence.
How does employing cloud solutions help healthcare organisations with patient care?
Technology and cloud solutions are essentially serving as tools to improve the overall functionality of healthcare organizations. Healthcare providers are now utilising technology to gain efficiency, optimise workflows, reduce healthcare delivery costs, and provide personalization in care plans to improve outcomes.
The cloud assists in lowering costs and facilitating ease of interoperability. For example, reducing manual processes such as patient record-keeping, HR processes related to staff management, and employee engagement allows organisations to streamline their processes by relying on automation and devote more time to patient care. Furthermore, cloud-based data analysis assists healthcare providers in extracting relevant patient information, lowering healthcare delivery costs, and optimising workflow. Cloud technology, in conjunction with unified ERP and finance, HCM, and supply chain, is already empowering healthcare providers and researchers to drive innovation, reduce costs, and improve patient outcomes. Therefore, both healthcare providers and patients have benefited from cloud technology.
What are some of the benefits that patients have from these solutions?
As mentioned earlier, technology has greatly facilitated both healthcare providers and patients. The use of cloud technology has provided patients with a higher level of accessibility and integrated record-keeping. They can easily access their documents remotely. Similarly, with digital health and teleconsultation, patients can connect with healthcare professionals from the comfort of their own homes. All of these services have provided significant benefits to patients, especially in light of the social distancing measures we are required to take these days.
Another significant improvement that patients have gained with these solutions is that, with technology such as predictive analytics, healthcare organisations can efficiently safeguard their patients. Predictive analytics enables healthcare workers to analyse data quickly and plan the best course of treatment for their patients, saving time and delivering better results.
Can you please elaborate on some of your clients in the healthcare sphere and how they are using Oracle’s solutions to streamline their systems and processes?
Oracle assists several organisations in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries globally and in India. Oracle cloud-based solutions support leading healthcare organisations in navigating the complex needs of health systems and their patients. Oracle HCM and ERP solutions free up our customers’ time to focus on patient care by streamlining their backend processes and employee management processes. Furthermore, the use of advanced technologies supports organisations in lowering per capita costs, shortening operational periods, and improving care quality.
Apollo Hospitals, Fortis Hospitals, Aster DM Healthcare, and Shri Gangaram Hospital are among organisations that use Oracle Applications. Similarly, we have collaborated with pharmaceutical companies such as SRL Diagnostics and Aurobindo Pharma, including insurance firms such as Religare Health Trust and India First Life Insurance.