Raja Jamalamadaka, Managing Director, Roche Information Solutions India highlights that while the demands of an unforeseen pandemic brought multiple stakeholders together during the pandemic, future collaboration efforts will be driven by higher healthcare costs and limited budgets
Collaboration and innovation are crucial in the healthcare industry to improve patient outcomes, reduce costs, and enhance the overall quality of care. Collaboration enables the exchange of knowledge, resources, and expertise among different stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem. The pandemic underscored the benefit of collaborative effort in the healthcare industry. The global crisis – stemming from the pandemic- could not have been mitigated had it not been for the joint efforts of various stakeholders resulting in the development of a highly effective vaccine within a year of the declaration of the pandemic – earlier efforts to develop vaccines have taken several years. While the demands of an unforeseen pandemic brought multiple stakeholders together during the pandemic, future collaboration efforts will be driven by higher healthcare costs and limited budgets.
The COVID pandemic and the subsequent vaccine is an exceptional example of multiple stakeholders collaborating to effectively solve a life-threatening crisis:
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Universities and research institutions that evangelised the drug
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Drug companies that developed the drug
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Volume vaccine manufacturers that produce at scale
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Policy makers that rapidly drafted guidelines and policies to administer the vaccine
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Healthcare digital companies that rapidly developed digital tracking tools to book appointments, track durations, enforce reminders, avoid vaccine mix-ups and maintain certificates
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On-the ground-administrators like nurses and primary care physicians who administered the doses in the remotest corner of the country with the support of data received from digital tracking tools
The World Health Organization has established five key pillars in its healthcare manifesto – monitoring public health risks, universal healthcare, coordinating responses to health emergencies, promoting human health, and well-being. These pillars form the base for the entire spectrum of healthcare from preventive (wellness and diagnostic) to curative (disease and pharmaceutical). These outcomes can be met successfully through collaboration across all players of the entire healthcare ecosystem.
The two factors that will play a crucial role in strengthening collaboration and accelerating innovation in the healthcare industry are –
Adoption of digital proficiencies
The most important catalysts for fostering collaboration and advancing innovation are data and digital technologies. By bringing together all the participants, digital platforms create the ecosystem necessary for collaboration. On such platforms, all stakeholders will have quick access to precise information which will increase trust between all parties – In the world of collaboration, trust is the most important asset. Digital platforms democratise data by allowing information to freely flow to the appropriate ecosystem players at the right moment, which supports fast decision making. Over time, as ecosystem players exploit data and develop customised solutions by utilising cutting-edge technologies like AI or ML, the whole ecosystem gradually evolves into a trust-driven, futuristic proactive system. Innovation thrives in such a trust-driven collaborative society as players feed off each other’s strengths. The cycle of innovation and collaboration is now complete.
The contribution of technological advancements cannot be overstated in this exemplary cycle. The real-time exchange of information is now a working reality owing to solutions developed using AI, ML, and data analytics. Better treatments is possible with precision care that makes use of the insights provided by such solutions. Identifying ailments is much quicker and simpler thanks to AI in computer vision. AI algorithms can now be taught to read X-rays and scans, which supports disease diagnosis and detection.
Regulatory Landscape in lockstep with Digital ecosystem
Access to healthcare is intrinsically tied to a supportive regulatory environment. Weak regulations stifle innovation and create needless barriers for the stakeholders.
The Indian regulatory environment paints a positive picture in this context. The government has understood the significance of supporting the positive “healthcare digital” cycle described above. The Budget 2023 was very forward-looking, placing a strong emphasis on fostering innovation through improved collaboration – this was exemplified through announcements like setting up 100 labs for developing applications using 5G services, formation of National Data Governance policy for enabling access to anonymised data and establishment of centers of excellence for artificial intelligence.
The innovator Henry Ford rightly remarked, “Coming together is a beginning, staying together is development, and working together is success.” By fostering collaboration between healthcare professionals, patients, and organisations, and embracing innovative technologies and practices, the healthcare industry can continue to evolve and improve in order to provide the best possible care to patients.
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