Tag Archives: HealthCare

How wearable’s are improving your health

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Wearables have been fast gaining importance. Fitness trackers and Smart watches play the most pivotal role.
With more and more people beginning to use them, there is a lot of data with the manufacturers which can be used for varied research activities. In fact, using an fitness tracker helps one to monitor his/her fitness levels and motivate them. For instance, I keep tracking my steps per day and give my best to ensure I reach my goal each night before I sleep. It has become more of psychological to feel the vibration on my device when I reach my goal.
What should happen next is that this data should be made available for the end user to share with his Physician so that he can be advised on how he should be working to keep his health and maintain fitness levels.
With the Internet of Things slowly gaining important and many devices being connected and all the data collected being consolidated, research is improving to provide information on how one can improve/maintain his/her health.
I am optimistic that this is the new norm of manning health and beginning of building a healthy lifestyle yourself.

Adoption Rate

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Aviation and Health Care. Let us take two industries to compare a simple aspect – Adoption Rate.
Both industries are part of each and everyone’s lives. There are people who might fly or have never flown, but there is no person who has never visited a Doctor / Hospital.
In case of emergency, in aviation, the Pilot who is responsible for the safety of the flight knows that if he makes a mistake, even his life is in danger. On the contrary, let us look at Health Care. The Doctor is responsible for his patient’s life, but in this case, if there is a failure or medical error, the Doctor does not loose life, but the patient does. Is this a case point for why the error adoption rates being long and low in Health Care?
If there is a flight accident, the instance is completely evaluated and analysed by an independent team and the findings are quickly circulated across all airlines across the world. In return, all airlines update the required findings and roll them out to their pilots. Also, long papers and thesis reports are not circulated to Pilots, but the findings are either incorporated into the Pilot’s checklists or they are called for updated training. This happens very quickly so that there is no other life lost because of any error.
If there is a medical accident, the similar approach is not adopted. The hospital may or may not bring out the error in the first place and secondly, even if they did, the error finding reports are not immediately available for everyone. The hospital might incorporate the findings, but for others to follow takes a very very long time and in certain cases, even centuries for the change to come.
Why is there this much of difference in adoption rates when in both industries the cost of error is a life? Is there a case in point?

Educating the Healthcare Consumer

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There are over 1000 startups just focusing on Healthcare in India and we see more and more coming up each day. If you look at the pattern of the startups, predominantly we see competitive startup’s. There is one person who is wanting to solve a problem and they are many others following the trend but with an additional feature or functionality. Consider finding Doctors as a pain point. There are few early adopters like Practo, but over the last eight years, there are more than 50 startups in the same space offering similar services. The next thing what happened is the startups have diversified to different cities becoming first in their city. Competition is good, the consumer gets to taste more convenience and functionality. But what should not happen is withdrawal from using technology.
The key area what we need to focus is to streamline the problem-solving abilities and diversify the solution offerings based on the regional requirement. One solution does not fit all.
Consumer education plays a very vital role in building a successful startup and solving a problem. The key aspect of Consumer education is to reach out to the end user and help them utilize services available and for this, education should start at the ground level. Reaching out and working with NGO’s who work with varied population, partnering with Primary Health Centers, organizing educative seminars and workshops at meeting points (Panchayat meetings, Locality meetings etc.) will go a long way.

What has changed in Indian Healthcare landscape?

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According to the World Economic Form and Harvard Public School, the probability of during the most productive years – 30 Years to 70 Years is predominantly because of non-communicable diseases like Heart stroke, heart diseases, pulmonary diseases, and diabetes. This is accounting to 26% of death’s in India in this age group.
India struggled to bring down the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) which have been the key metrics. However, over the last two decades, this has significantly come down and it is on a positive note.
While we are improving on the metrics, due to the changes in lifestyle, there are non-communicable diseases which are increasing leading to disparities in the Healthcare in the country. The Government’s spending on Healthcare has also has been reducing.
Private Healthcare services is on the rise. This calls for out-of-pocket expenditure on Healthcare. Since India has a good number of people living below the Above Poverty Line, the affordability for quality Health services is also one of the primary reason for the rise in non-communicable disease not being addressed at the appropriate time. Most of the out-of-pocket expenses are for medicines.
With startup’s focusing on bringing Healthcare to all (even though the predominant acceptance is in Tire 1 and 2 Cities), I look at this as a possible approach to bridge the gap between Doctor and the Patient. Looking at the mobile penetration rate which has crossed over 800 Million today, I personally see that technology can help bridge the gap.
What we need at this time is the education of the consumer on how to use the services.

What can Big Data do for Healthcare?

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The population is increasing everywhere and this is driving every country in the world to focus on providing better Healthcare to its citizens and also Healthcare has become one of the top discussed agenda items in any International forum. Innovations in Healthcare are gaining much attention and Healthcare startup’s are on the rise in every part of the word.
Big Data has been playing a pivotal role in Healthcare since the beginning. With the increase in focus on Healthcare, Big Data and Predictive analysis are playing a crucial role in enhancing the quality of care.
Here are few areas where Big Data will continue to focus:
  • Personalized Medication – Big Data can help save patient’s previous data on the cloud which can be easily accessed anywhere and anytime required. This will allow Doctors to see the kind of medications which have been used by the patient and he can continue to do so with similar medicines. This helps in personalized care and better quality of care.
  • Diagnosis Patterns – When your medical history is stored in a central place, it becomes easier to access and also run patterns on the medical reports to have a better understanding of the patterns of care.
  • Faster turn around time for Medical Practitioners – New innovations in medicine can be easily deployed to Doctor’s offices using Big Data. Using Medicine Management tools Doctors can now not only consult with patient’s in their office but can also focus on delivering care remotely.
  • Predicting and fighting diseases – The most important aspect of Big Data. Having access to quite a lot of information, analysis can be performed to predict and fight diseases well in advance.

Interoperability – Future of Healthcare

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According to the dictionary, Interoperability is ability of a system to work with or use the part of equipment of another system.
Very simple and easy to articulate. But, it is the toughest to execute in the Healthcare space. Most organizations and Healthcare apps work in silos because no one has still figured out how each one can work with each other. So, until then, there will be silence but debates and ideas will exist.
For me, Interoperability does not necessarily mean that each organization has to work with each other and each app has to communicate with other apps freely. Interoperability is a framework and these guidelines are what we should be driving towards executing.
Interoperability is definitely very important component of the Future of Healthcare and it is going to play a pivotal role in the future.

How can Big Data change Healthcare?

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How can Big Data change or transform Healthcare? We capture Insurance information, medical history and wearable devices can track the lifestyle and provide more in-depth information on how the person actually is.
Have you noticed how a couple’s who have been together for longer periods communicate? They talk with their eyes many times. Whereas younger couple speak and share their thoughts and opinions. What happens over a period of time is that one gets to know the other better and mostly each one is proactively involved with each other.
In the same way, initially the data collected by the wearable devices can do a lot of talking and provide various parameters, but only over extended periods of time can the data be providing analysis. Patterns on how various lifestyle’s effect health and how to ensure quality care and take appropriate precautions are just a few things we can analyze from the data we collect. Insurance companies can use data to offer custom Insurance plans which can be more beneficial, Hospitals can provide personalized care, Individuals can themselves monitor and manage their health proactively.
Can Big Data alter the lives? To begin with, Yes. It can. All depends on how we are capturing and utilizing the data.
Do you agree?

Direct 2 Consumer

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In this era of Digital Health, Entrepreneurs and Organizations are beginning to reach the Consumer directly in building an ecosystem for their offerings. In Healthcare, mostly Business 2 Business is the prevailing approach.

For a home Diabetic testing machine, earlier Physician/Hospital used to recommend a particular product, but today, manufacturers are reaching to Consumers directly and Consumer is having all the information at their fingertips which is helping them to buy the product of their choice.

Earlier manufacturers used to focus on Business 2 Business, but today this just does not end here. If a consumer is not happy with the offering, the business collapses.

In the Indian Healthcare scenario, Direct 2 Consumer model brings in stronger following allowing for quicker feedback loops and helping organizations to better their service.

For any technology company, the key attribute of the success of their idea is Consumer base. The bigger the signup’s, the larger is the ecosystem. The larger the ecosystem, more successful is the business model. Look at startup’s like Practo who provide Doctor, Hospital, Lab etc search with ratings? Consumers are getting a sneak peak at what kind of service they can expect even before they go. Companies like this will focus on building their consumer base which will help them build an ecosystem. The ecosystem can do more than just merely providing service.

Direct 2 Consumer is just not with Technology or Home use products. It is with all businesses impacting Healthcare.

Big Data in Healthcare

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Big Data is going to change the way we live. Wearable devices, Insurance claim information, Electronic Medical Records, Apps collecting data on phone etc are all good samaritans of Big Data.

What can we do with Big Data – Analysis, Predictions, Preventive Care, Best Practices etc are few of the aspects which we can derive from the Data.

There are various sources of data and the need of the hour is tools which can comprehend the details of this data to make it meaningful and usable.

If you look at the investment trends, Healthcare Investments have grown over 176% in 2015 and majority of the investments are in Data Analytics.

We have not yet scratched the tip of the iceberg and personally I feel the next decade will be focused on making meaningful use of the big data.

Do you have a pathbreaking algorithm which we can start with?

To startup in Healthcare – Focus on Domain

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Healthcare is the hottest sector to startup in any part of the world. There is a complete paradigm shift in how Health is being delivered. It is no longer going to see a Doctor or visit a Hospital, Healthcare is beginning at home. Preventive and Proactive Care delivery is fast gaining acceptance.

Technology is indeed helping bridge large part of the ecosystem. Smartphone and apps are bringing care to our fingertips.

When you are thinking of starting up in Healthcare using technology it is very important to understand the domain.

Recently, the DCGI (Drugs Controller General of India) asked the state government’s to take action against ePharmacies which are selling drugs online. Why? There are definitely legal aspects which need to be take care. The prescription based drugs need supervision and it is not that difficult to get prescriptions. Also, the medicines need to be authenticated by a Pharmacist before they are consumed. Since duplicate drugs are prevalent in the market, Government wants to ensure there is a process which is set before medicines are sold remotely.

For building Healthcare related apps and technology, it is very important to understand the details of the law and how the workflows actually flow. There are quite a few details which need to be understood and applied to ensure the best is delivered.

Understanding Domain is just not understanding how the workflow is, but understanding how the care is delivered. There is a difference in the workflow and administering care. Workflow shows how a diagnosis is performed for the symptoms and administering care is to ensure that the ailment is cured and the client (patient) is completely recovered.

With the growing acceptance of Internet based care, I am sure India will have laws built around the same, but before that, if you are looking at starting up in Healthcare space, focus on understanding the Domain, Workflow, how tests are interrelated to the care, how medicines are administered and finally how the care is delivered. This is what will make your startup successful and accepted.