Maintaining business, operational continuity takes centerstage at CII HospitalTech 2020 

Report on ‘Tracking the Changing trends – the way healthcare services are pursued by consumers and delivered by providers’ published during the virtual meet 

The onslaught of pandemic has exposed the vulnerabilities in the existing commercial patterns. Moving forward, a forced but pleasant introduction of technology is bound to impact the business models. The ‘After-COVID19’ era is likely to witness evolved business models that rely on maximising technology-based interactions and minimising the physical contacts. This digital transformation also likely to restructure the consumer preferences as well.

The healthcare sector in India is also on the cusp of experiencing an exponential growth. The incorporation of technological advancements is further expected to fuel growth story of the sector while making it more accessible and affordable to the masses.

With the intent of maintaining business and operational continuity of the healthcare sector in changing times, Confederation of Indian Industry – Western Region had organised CII HospitalTech 2020 – a focused Virtual Trade fair and  Digital Conference for the healthcare sector from September 24- October 9, 2020 on a secured, in-house, digital platform – CII HIVE.

This online initiative succeeded the impactful CII WR Healthcare Conclave of 2017 & 2019 and was organised under the aegis of CII WR Task Force on Healthcare chaired by Joy Chakraborty, COO, P D Hinduja Hospital. CII Hospital Tech 2020 was supported by Netherlands as a ‘Partner Country’. The United Kingdom also supported the show.

The initiative witnessed an overwhelming response from the industry. Beckman Coulter, GE Healthcare, Medikabazaar, Samsung,  Philips India, Abbott, Fujifilm, Getinge, Hiranandani Hospital, Mahindra & Mahindra (Supro),  Medtronics, Mylan, P D Hinduja National Hospital & Research Centre, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, supported the initiative as Sponsors. Express Healthcare was a media partner to the event.

Virtual Trade Fair promoted the business continuity, mutually beneficial partnerships and showcased innovations. 50+ exhibitors such as Elsevier, Diversey India, Elesa+Ganter, Nihon Kohden, TSI Instruments, Janitri Innovations, Advanced Diabetes Centre, VIAS Corp., Clean Air, Versatile Textiles, Duratech, IPE Global, etc., exhibited their products, services and solutions while 18 companies from Netherlands such as Philips Innovations, Deam, Coolfinity, Aeon Air, Biond Solutions, Leven Medical, Gociety Solutions, Visutaal, MedX Ehealthcentre BV etc., showcased their progressive offerings at the Dutch Pavilion which was co-located at the Virtual Expo

AI for Healthcare, Bio-Pharma, AT Assistive Technologies, eHealth / Health games, Maternal and Child Health, Medical Devices, Pharmaceuticals, Life-Science, Medical Air-logistics & Repatriation, Dental Devices, IT for Healthcare; Patient wellbeing; Remote Monitoring,  Safety, Sanitation & Hygiene; Bio-Pharma; Healthcare & Hospitals; Radiology, Microbiome Analysis and Diagnostics; Intrapartum Management; Information, Analytics, Diagnostics & Research; Mechanical / Industrial Engineering Component, etc. were some of the  key offerings displayed at the virtual expo

A concurrent Digital Conference witnessed a convergence the sectorial captains. They addressed various critical issues and deliberated upon strategies to transform healthcare sector by incorporating the technological advancements. The conference also featured a session that showcased the next-level innovations and technological solutions from Netherlands to usher in post COVID-19 era.

46 eminent stakeholders from Government, Industry & Academia such as Rajesh Tope, Minister of Public Health and Family Welfare Maharashtra; Subhash Desai, Hon’ble Minister of Industries, Mining, Marathi Language, Government of Maharashta; Iqbal Singh Chahal, Commisioner, Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai; Dr Naresh Trehan, Chairman CII Healthcare Council & Chairman and Managing Director, Medanta – The Medicity; Prof K Srinath Reddy, President, Public Health Federation of India; Alan Gemmell, Trade Commissioner for South Asia and British Deputy High Commissioner for Western Region;  Kunal Kapoor, Bollywood actor and co-founder, Ketto, etc. shared their perspective during the digital conference.

In fact, Chahal elaborated on the preparedness of MCGM and assured that of Mumbai has not been hit with the second wave of the coronavirus during his Fireside Chat at the conference.

A series of three webinars and nine Digital Healthcare Leadership Dialogues were also organised to create an awareness on various topics and for facilitating exchange of ideas. 75+ experts from the sector addressed wide range of technical issues during these interactions. Apart from acting as an apt pre-cursor, the webinars and dialogue series added relevance and value to the CII Hospital Tech 2020. The webinars were organised in association with Hosmac and Meddiff while Bravelily, IQVIA and KPMG supported the event as ‘Technical Partners’

CII-WR Task Force on Healthcare and Bravelily had also conducted a survey to analyse the impact of COVID-19 on the demand and delivery modules of the healthcare services. On the basis of key findings of this survey, a detailed report – ‘Tracking the Changing trends – the way healthcare services are pursued by consumers and delivered by providers’ was published during the CII Hospital Tech 2020.

The event attracted digital convergence of about 3000+ healthcare professionals, R&D experts, academicians, medical practitioners, nodal government agencies, ‘C’ level executives, decision makers, strategy and procurement heads, etc. from across the globe. The next edition of CII Hospital Tech 2020 is scheduled to be held in 2021.