I know this sounds cliché but like every other field, healthcare too is ripe for disruption. One of the most important things about healthcare is the data of patients, probably.
Nearly every country has its own health ID
Nearly every country has its own national health ID. For example, in India, we have Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA). Everyone usually has a tendency to criticise the government for nearly everything.
But today, the Indian government has been proactively advocating the use of ABHA in nearly all government hospitals. So, every patient who visits them has to compulsorily register for an ABHA account (if she doesn’t have one), and the nurse/receptionist has been helping patients create one if the patients are unable to create on their own.
Unfortunately, the Indian private healthcare sector is lagging behind in the adoption of health IDs
However, the private healthcare sector has not been very active in this regard. The reasons are many. It needs to act fast.
And this unique health ID should be able to access even the different systems of medicine, i.e. both Allopathy and Complementary & Integrative Alternative Medicine (CAM).
I have been always vocal about the need of integrated medicine and am reiterating it again here. It is definitely the need of the hour. We can criticize CAM infinitely.
But the use of CAM is definitely on the rise. And no one can deny this. So, instead of vociferously opposing it, steps should be taken towards more research in CAM, especially areas like Homeopathy (which unfortunately has the fiercest critics).
AI will dominate healthcare just like all other sectors
The Artificial Intelligence (AI) will play a great role in covering the gaps in healthcare, both government and private.
But the private sector should adopt the use of Health IDs. The purpose of this article, however, is the need of a unique Health ID that should be able to access the information of the health ID of any country.
And this unique health ID should be able to access even the different systems of medicine, i.e. both Allopathy and Complementary & Integrative Alternative Medicine (CAM).
Integrated medicine is the need of the hour
I have been always vocal about the need of integrated medicine and am reiterating it again here. It is definitely the need of the hour. We can criticize CAM infinitely.
But the use of CAM is definitely on the rise. And no one can deny this. So, instead of vociferously opposing it, steps should be taken towards more research in CAM, especially areas like Homeopathy (which unfortunately has the fiercest critics).
Extreme caution should be used with the use of healthcare data
However, care should be taken to protect the enormous health data of patients at any cost. Blockchain technology should be used to enhance the security of the data.
Hospital beds should be embedded with sensors that can capture the vitals of the patients. And send the data in real time to doctors. Helping save patients’ lives and also time.
Devices like the Apple watch have been able to save the lives of patients by providing and sharing timely updates with doctors. More such devices should be manufactured by startups, companies, etc.
Technologies should always be harnessed to better the lives of people. And AI will definitely play a large role in this in the near future.