Information technology enabled outgrowth of a “next era” in health sector of India by proffering digital aspects on medical consultation. Internet, mobile applications and web applications are playing the pivotal part to change patient’s experience of the industry. Apart from patients, web enabled coordinated healthcare have induced effective coordination among doctors for collaborative research to treat life threatening diseases and find solutions to complicated medical conditions. Internet facilitated collaborative healthcare by offering exclusive platforms for doctors and medical consultants. Such platforms promoted exchange of long distance communication and allowed collaborations among doctors to offer intensive care to patients.
Health industry in the country is dynamically moving forward adding new aspects of healthcare, diagnosis and medical services. Emergence of new technology as well as new industry players have enable healthcare to be more pervasive and accessible. The development trajectory of India’s healthcare system is through the changing landscape reaching out for new levels in quality and affordability. Technology has been playing the crucial role in rendering a shift to health system bringing in a digital transformation in the way patients and doctors interact. It assisted the materialization of coordinated healthcare in health segment of India. Care coordination is a collaboration of two or more health experts along with the patient, for appropriate delivery of effective treatment. It is an organized care activity involving healthcare personals and resources managed through exchange of information among participants contributing to different aspects of care and treatment. Apart from inducing effective medical communication, care coordination has economic implications as well. Coordinated healthcare can save a lot by lessening many expenses, such as transportation, consultation and even hospital costs.
Coordinated care involves any activity that ensure fulfillment of patient’s needs and preferences. It primarily involves information sharing across experts, functions and geographical locations. An integrated health care system can be formulated through care coordination linking specialists and medical practitioners. The pivotal aspect of care coordination is transition of information. Transition of information occurs between health care entities associated with treatment of a patient. The service is crucial on the point of transition of a patient from a physician to other in the system. While transferring a patient, an array of information, interpretation of diagnostic reports and procedures needs to be transmitted to the other entity. Any communication gap in this stage might lead to wrong treatment, for which, the patient have to bear the consequences ultimately.
Coordinated care received a major breakthrough aided by technology platforms. Web based platforms that allow extensive collaboration facilitated physicians to communicate seamlessly while transferring a patient from a care facility to another. As these platforms can be accessed via mobile devices, doctors can connect with their counterparts and exchange diagnostic reports, medical reviews and treatment procedures related to the patient with extensive ease and agility.
Facilitating easy and “error free” navigation of patients from one facility to another is the primary objective of coordinated care. Clinical coordination involves the most critical aspects of navigation of a patient such as, where to transfer, what information is necessary, and how accountability and responsibility will be managed among health experts while transferring. Sequencing of specialists, allocation of doctors, nurses, care managers and support systems need to be carried out through intensive coordination. The potential gaps in medical and informal support systems are met through coordination. Apart from these aspects, social, developmental, behavioral and educational needs of the patient are addressed in clinical coordination. Through intensive collaboration and information exchange, thus, coordination aims to achieve optimal health, wellness and positive outcomes from a treatment according to preference of the patient.
Online care coordination facilitated transferring international patients through networks of doctors. Earlier, as communication was not well enough for international collaboration, patients from beyond the country’s boundary had to endure much hardship in search or reliable medical treatment. Online care collaboration has made transferring of international patient easy and simple facilitating referral of even emergency case situations.
Among the benefits offered through coordinated healthcare, the practice is of special importance in specialty healthcare. In treatment of patients involving specialty pharmaceuticals special collaboration between medical teams, while handling over a patient is required. In such circumstances, online care coordination platforms offer real time connectivity between medical teams in cases when emergency response is required. Online platforms can substantiate as lifesavers for critical patients. Specialty treatment is becoming popular in India recently. IT enabled coordinated healthcare will benefit patients, physicians and health care organizations immensely. Mobile app based care coordination will be effective for betterment of public health management in the country. The entire healthcare system of the nation will be rendered a major push through active engagement of all entities in the system. Patients are sure to benefit from this system and enjoy better health. They will assist patients to manage their condition of disease and to save a portion of the cost. Effective utilization of care coordination can sideline the need of expensive procedures through timely delivery of intensive care and treatment.
Informed physicians loaded with comprehensive information about the patient are the direct outcome of coordinated care. This results in better engagement of specialist and experts, ultimately resulting better outcomes in treatment. They can assist patients will timely and appropriate treatment benefiting them ultimately. Using these platforms healthcare organizations benefits by offering preventive care that help to avoid expensive procedures at the same time, leading to high quality and efficient healthcare solutions. IT enabled coordinated care assist in efficient population health management. The present healthcare landscape of the country will benefit immensely using these platforms. The technology will help to identify and engage patients in need of care, align physicians, create seamless transitions in care and optimize revenue and efficiency in the industry.
The transformation across health industry will bring cost effective and compelling method to connect clinics throughout geographies of the nation. Healthcare informatics, telemedicine, electronic health records, remote diagnostic and therapeutic tools have driven the first step for technology-enabled healthcare. Healthcare organization will require integrating their IT infrastructure will collaborative platforms for streamlined connection of physicians. This would enable international collaboration apart from national ones thereby bringing the sector on a par with the global healthcare industry.
(Author is co-founder of Curofy)