Today we visited Max Healthcare, which is a private hospital in India. They have recently begun initiating a digital health record initiative, collecting all information electronically from the moment a patient walks in the door.
We discussed some of the positives and negatives of this new system, and one of the positives that struck a chord with me was the possibility to apply analytics on the data that is collected through the system. Each patient visit will generate lots of information on the hospital's database, which is housed in a private cloud. The use of analytics on that data could lead to some significant breakthroughs in the India healthcare system. For example, it would be easy to quantify the peaks and lulls in healthcare demand in order to properly staff the hospital. Additionally, constant analysis of admittees would show trends of diseases, so that outbreaks could be identified early on in the cycle.
If the use of analytics were also extended into the field, using tablets with connectivity, that information would be further bolstered in order to relate information back to the hospitals and government ahead of the emergency curve. In general, the collection and analysis of information can put India ahead of diseases and provide opportunities for preparation in advance of dire situations. The digitalization of records and information collection is a great step forward and hopefully India will follow Max Healthcare's lead in that respect.
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