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CONSUMERDRIVEN PATIENT-FOCUSED INNOVATIONS IN THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY
HEALTHCARE TRENDS
Consumer-driven & patient-focused innovations in the healthcare industry
Charu Sehgal,Partner,Healthcare and Lifesciences Leader,Deloitte India explains that till a few years ago disease was presumed to be inevitable,and the focus was on how best to cure it or in most cases,keep it under control.This has now changed,and the focus has shifted to prevention and wellness,led largely by the younger generation
While the healthcare industry has seen many advances over the past few decades, the most significant change that we have witnessed with respect to healthcare delivery from a customer perspective is that patients moved from being passive recipients of diagnosis and treatment, with very little information, discretion or choice, to being empowered consumers. They now have the information and services that could help validate the diagnosis and even have the option to select doctors and hospitals based on parameters such as service quality, convenience, and cost. This has flipped the dynamics of healthcare delivery and put patients at the center of it. The modern patient demands better services, convenience and health outcomes than ever before.
The market was quick to take note of this changed dynamic and both established healthcare and medical technology players have begun developing protocols, products, and solutions to address these needs. An analysis by Forbes shows that healthcare marketplaces that allow patients to search for and book healthcare services online experienced a 3.2x year-over-year funding growth in 2021 in the United States. Similarly, in India we have seen the emergence of several startups which fulfill the same requirements.
A recent report by the Deloitte’s Center for Health Solutions estimates that up to 70 per cent of startups in healthcare diagnostics are working on point-of-care diagnostic solutions that allow diagnostic studies to be conducted outside the hospital setting and therefore aid patients in caring for themselves. In the coming decades, we are likely to see several such point-of-care and DIY diagnostic solutions emerge and gain mainstream adoption.
Till a few years ago disease was presumed to be inevitable, and the focus was on how best to cure it or in most cases, keep it under control. This has now changed, and the focus has shifted to prevention and wellness, led largely by the younger generation. This has led to the usage of patient centric wellness gadgets, mobile applications, and fitness tracking apps becoming ubiquitous. According to the report by Deloitte’s Center for Health Solutions, 46 per cent of healthcare start-ups in the United States focus on prevention and/or wellness or detection/diagnosis, and only 19 per cent focus on treatment. In 2022, the US FDA approved Apple Watch’s ECG app to track and store a user’s atrial fibrillation history. This is just an indication of the things to come. In a few years from now, we can expect a casual user to be able to obtain medical grade data for things like sleep cycles, reproductive cycles, brain waves, respiratory rhythm, body temperature, stress levels, SpO2, levels etc. through affordable wearable devices. This newfound focus on prevention and wellness has huge implications for resource constrained countries like ours, whose only hope to tackle disease for their growing population is to focus on prevention rather than spend the enormous resources needed for cure.
While over the years we did see patients and consumers increasingly adopt and use technology, both doctors and patients remained relatively reluctant to accept remote diagnosis and care as a substitute to face-to-face doctor patient meeting and examination. This changed due to COVID-19 in 2020, when lockdowns and infection risks forced people to opt for remote care.
Several reports indicate that users have not only availed increased virtual services during the past two years, but also plan to continue doing so in the future.
Both private healthcare providers as well as governments have sought to use these shifts to their advantage and are increasingly leveraging remote care technology to not only enhance their reach to patients but also reduce stress on their limited healthcare resources.
However, you don’t need fancy technology like advanced sensors, artificial intelligence or machine learning to make a difference. There are several easy to implement solutions that can enhance efficiency of care delivery through simple data digitisation. Closer home in India, there are several successful examples of State & National governments effectively deploying mobile apps to enhance patient access to healthcare in resource stressed environments
Conclusion
Given that the healthcare industry deals with the lives of people, it has been a highly regulated industry that must follow protocols that have been developed after many years of trials and research. As a result, it has typically been slow and resistant to change. However, it is going to undergo a technology led revolution in the 21st Century. The pandemic has rendered the public, regulators as well as governments to be more amenable and trusting of technological solutions. This is a particularly opportune time for technology led disruption since changes in consumer behavior are coinciding with an acceleration in digital connectivity and the development of enabling technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, sensors, and internet speed.
These industry shifts will enhance patient access to healthcare, improve health outcomes and improve patient experience by leaps and bounds. It is critical for healthcare organisations of the 21st century to take note of these changes and prepare for a vastly different future.
MEDTECH
INTERVIEW
Ram Rangarajan,Vice President,R&D,of the recently launched Stryker Global Technology Centre (SGTC) explains to Viveka Roychowdhury on how the center will help engineers get direct feedback from surgeons to improve the design of products,thus scaling up innovation and improving clinical outcomes faster
Could you give an idea of Stryker’s vision or current strategy for the Indian market?
Stryker is one of the world’s leading med-tech companies and together with our customers, we are driven to make healthcare better by offering innovative med-tech products and services that help improve patient and hospital outcomes. Science and innovation have been in our DNA from day one and this is one of our pillars of our company strategy and vision. In the past 5 years, about 6-7 per cent of our annual revenue has gone into R&D. In 2021 alone, Stryker has spent about $1.2 billion on research & development, and we now own about 11,000 patents worldwide.
Another one of our visions is driven by values and at Stryker we create an environment, for people to feel empowered to come up with ideas. We value their potential which helps us work as a team as diverse backgrounds, identities, and experiences help fuel this innovation and solve complex problems for our global customers and patients. Our vision is to bring Stryker’s legacy of innovation to India and leverage world class talent and technology ecosystem.
Tell us about the work being done at the recently opened Stryker Global Technology Centre (SGTC).
The SGTC is an enterprisewide cross divisional capability which works with different business units, and that is unique to Stryker. This new center will bring newer breakthrough inventions and technologies to address the needs of patients’ world over. It houses over 1000 R&D employees, mainly engineers and scientists working on various projects for different businesses all under one roof.
The center will have stateof-the-art labs spread over an area of 45,000 square feet. These labs are equipped with world-class infrastructure and equipment to support our engineers in undertaking complex engineering activities.
The new center houses a world-class Neurovascular Innovation Lab. This lab will help in enabling interaction between neurosurgeons and our world class engineers to improve stroke care. Imagine, orthopedic surgeons operating on sawbones using a robot inside our facility with our engineers watching it and getting direct feedback to improve the design. Besides this, this building is USGBC (US Green Building Council) LEED Platinum certified and offers features for differently abled people.
Could you give us examples of technological innovations from Stryker which enable healthcare professionals to enhance patient safety?
One of the areas that we function in is that of orthopedic surgeries, (where) we are moving from traditional surgeries and mechanical instruments to more computer aidednavigated and robotic surgeries – MAKO SmartRobotics. It is an innovative solution for patients suffering from painful arthritis of the knee or hip. Mako Robotic-Arm Assisted Surgery enables surgeons to deliver more predictable surgical outcomes with increased accuracy. Surgeons are armed with better planning before the surgery starts, enabling them to make better decisions in the OT.
For a market like APAC, which has over 2.6 billion people, the scalability of technology is of paramount importance. These smart technologies will help in providing access to great clinical outcomes and will play a role in improving healthcare and ensuring patient’s safety.
Most new technologies come with a certain cost to them. In India, if the cost is covered by insurance, it is good, but with low insurance penetration, what has been the uptake of these technologies in the
Indian patient population?
Our global technologies have to a great extent succeeded in addressing a certain segment of the Indian population. However, we have also realised that the technologies that we have for the global population are not always suited for this market, so we are also focused on developing products that meet the specific needs of the Indian market. A product that we are launching later this year is focused on a solution designed in India, for India and the world.
Since Stryker has been developing and designing products in India for quite some time it is in line with PM Modi's Make in India initiative. Could you give us some insights on what is the company’s manufacturing footprint in India, as of today?
As we work on different healthcare problems, based on the current technologies or business needs our manufacturing strategy varies a little bit. For example, there is a product that we will be launching soon called SmartMedic, which is a platform that upgrades existing beds in a hospital. Now that we are planning to launch it here, this product is made in India, for India and our strategy for making it in
In India,we are designing cutting edge products for this market as well as the rest of the world and with this launch of SGTC,we will be able to take our efforts up a notch
India is to solve the healthcare problems and clinical needs within the ICU.
What are the products conceptualised and made in India which have been adopted to other markets?
We leverage our global manufacturing footprint and design capabilities across different regions while we continue to work towards creating a strong pipeline of innovation and robust product portfolio that cater to market specific needs. In India, we are designing cutting edge products for this market as well as the rest of the world and with this launch of SGTC, we will be able to take our efforts up a notch.
Stryker established its first R&D facility in India more than 15 years ago to provide engineering support to R&D functions in domestic and other emerging markets. Since then, the SGTC R&D team has been partnering across divisions to drive innovation and research to provide better healthcare solutions.
In order to make healthcare better in India, we have and are innovating to cater to specific needs of surgeons across specialties. Some of the products conceptualised in India and adopted to other markets include:
SmartMedic (To be
launched in India soon): A product conceptualised and developed in India and only for India. This is a platform that upgrades existing beds in a hospital. It is a connected device that measures patient’s weight and monitors turncompliance to prevent bed sores. A smart innovation that is designed to eliminate the need for a new bed and is custom-made for it to solve problems for India at affordable prices. Endocart: It is another product which is first made in India. It houses different endoscopic cameras, light sources, and all other devices
Moving back to the Make in India policy, what are the advantages of making in India especially on the cost, availability, access aspects of medical products?
The industry is witnessing tremendous challenges and pricing problems because of supply challenges, and we are obviously not immune to the problem of chip shortages. There are supply chain disruptions due to the war and such global problems are affecting cost.
However, the country is benefiting from a world-class domestic innovation and research. It helps in minimising the impact of these fluctuations. From the business standpoint, we will not be able to provide the affordability and accessibility that we are striving for if we are purely dependent on our global supply chain. Digital is also transforming technology and with it coming to India, it will help us upskill the market and help in improving scale by doing it locally and ensuring access and affordability.
How supportive has the Indian government been in their policies for medical devices? Should we see Stryker's investment in this new facility as a thumbs up for the Government of India's policies? Are you comfortable with the direction that they are taking when it comes to medical devices and the healthcare sector per se?
We continue to partner with the government. Quoting from the draft approach paper on National Medical Device Policy, the policy “envisages to promote innovation and Research and Development (R&D) by focusing on creating a dedicated fund, enhancing industry-academia linkages, promotion of innovation hubs, centres of excellence and intellectual property protection.”
With the current policies and environment, currently we see a very enabling partnership with the Government of India and the overall industry. As a global leader in medical technology, Stryker aspires to drive progress in innovation and to make healthcare better by offering innovative products and services in Medical and Surgical, Neurotechnology, Orthopaedics and Spine that help improve patient and hospital outcomes.
viveka.r@expressindia.com viveka.roy3@gmail.com
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MEDTECH
INTERVIEW
Suresh Vazirani,Founder Chairman,Transasia - Erba Group in an interaction with Express Healthcare talks about the evolution of IVD manufacturing in India and explains Transasia’s upcoming technologies for Indian market for disease management
How has manufacturing of IVD instruments in India evolved over the past 5 years?
I would say that the last five years in particular have seen the floodgates open up to offer a host of opportunities for Indian manufacturers: Making in India: The government’s focus on recognising medical devices as a sunshine sector in its ‘Make in India’ campaign has given an impetus to indigenous manufacturing with many IVD and medtech companies realising their potential for meeting India’s needs for affordable diagnostic solutions. Adoption of automation: The growing demand for testing for lifestyle-related and infectious diseases has led to labs adopting automation for reduction of workload, convenience, speed and accuracy. Until a few years ago, who would have thought that total lab automation would allow integration of analysis across different segments on to a single platform? The focus of labs is now on TAT. Conveyor belts and rack systems are being deployed for a continuous flow analysis with automatic loading, mixing, pipetting of sample and reagent. This helps to establish more efficient workflows by relieving lab technicians from manual work and enhancing user safety by reducing exposure to bio-hazardous materials. For labs that run round-the-clock, it allows for faster TAT and increases walk-away time. AI and ML: It is interesting to note how the implementation of AI and ML in the IVD instruments is becoming the next big thing to watch out for! AI tools aid in augmenting the accuracy of clinical decision and improving patient care. On the other hand, ML can be used to predict out-of-control events in internal QC studies, detecting instrument failures before they even occur or determining compatibility between analysers in central labs where several instruments running the same parameters are tested. IoT and LIMS: With an increasing focus on offering value-driven services, manufacturers are adopting rapidly evolving technologies such as IoT to meet the huge demand for fully automated products and services. Moreover, instruments are now available with a complete suite of LIMS that brings in a lot of convenience and data integration.
Faster introduction of instruments in the market:
Manufacturers of IVD instruments are now focusing on reducing the ‘time to fly’ by developing and launching new products in a short time. A deep-rooted collaboration of the R&D, manufacturing and sales teams helps achieve this goal, offering customer solutions that are easily adoptable by labs, big and small, easily available in every region and affordable to all.
You have attained installations of 40,000 units of Erba analysers, in the last four decades. What are the key benefits, these analysers bring to the labs, clinicians and patients?
Adoption of the latest technologies, timely accessibility and affordability remain the biggest challenges of healthcare in India and the emerging markets. The Transasia-Erba group addresses these challenges by adopting the latest technologies from its European subsidiaries and manufacturing in India to meet the needs of the emerging markets. As a result, labs in India have
MEDTECH
access to the latest European technology that is customised to India.
At Transasia, the focus is on offering total solutions across segments, be it instruments or reagents and backing it up with a well-knit sales and service network, the largest in the Indian IVD industry.
Our instruments and reagents are designed and adapted from time-to-time to offer robustness, accuracy and timely reporting to meet the needs of the customers in large labs in cosmopolitan cities as well as small labs in some of the most treacherous locations. As a result, more than 70,000 labs in India have a Transasia instrument and one test is conducted on a Transasia product every two seconds!
Tell us about how you overcome design challenges. Do you have any best practices for reducing human error and offering reliable results?
As mentioned earlier, we take into consideration the needs of our customers to design solutions that are a hallmark of quality. We adopt various best practices that help us reduce manual intervention, automate the processes and bring in standardisation. All of Transasia’s products and manufacturing facilities are ISO certified. Transasia was the first Indian IVD company whose products received the CE certification to enter the European market. In fact, Transasia was also the first Indian IVD Company to receive ICMED certification the country’s first indigenous QA system for India manufactured medical devices. Additionally, Transasia is also the first IVD Company to be awarded the ZED Diamond quality rating from the Ministry of MSME, GOI and the Quality Council of India for its manufacturing facility at Mumbai. And just recently, the company’s manufacturing facility at Sikkim was awarded the gold certification. All the IVD instruments, manufactured at Transasia’s Mumbai facility have been successfully registered under USFDA. Our products can now be marketed and exported to the USA.
Transasia has one of the largest hematology reagent filling lines in India with a capacity of 30,000 Litres per day. This makes Transasia the first and only Indian IVD company to have a fully automated production line made of 316L stainless steel and meets GMP requirements. Specially designed for Erba range of hematology diagnostic reagents, the system is free of manual intervention, which ensures that reagents are consistently produced and are devoid of contamination.
The fully automated clinical chemistry range of analysers use hard glass cuvettes that reduce plastic usage making them environment-friendly while also lowering the CPT by eliminating the recurring cost of disposable cuvettes.
Transasia has recently upgraded its Made in India, fully automated clinical chemistry analyser, Erba XL 640 by integrating a Conveyor Rack System. The CRS allows for continuous flow analysis with automatic loading, mixing, pipetting of sample and reagent. This establishes more efficient workflows while minimising manual intervention.
Laura XL is a fully automated urine analyser, combining urine strip reading with digital microscopy powered by AI. This results in greater accuracy and more reliable results.
Considering the varying temperature and storage conditions in India, Transasia developed a next-gen lyophilised RT-PCR kit for detection of COVID-19. The kit has been engineered to improve detection and ease of use and is compatible with room temperature storage and transportation.
Another example of a design change is the ErbaLisa HCV Gen 4 ELISA kit, which is India’s first and only indigenously manufactured 4th generation kit for detection of HCV Ag + Ab. While most Indian pathology labs perform HCV ELISA testing based on 3rd generation assay, 4th generation assay offers additional advantage for early and more accurate detection of HCV infection.
How will artificial intelligence and machine learning improve the efficiency of a clinical laboratory and the overall health of patients?
The COVID-19 outbreak has been an accelerator in the adoption of digital technologies in laboratories. According to a recently published report, several examples of applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to COVID-19 are already reported such as AI-enabled outbreak tracking apps, chatbots for diagnostics, AI-powered analysis of scientific publications and triage using natural language processing for screening potential patients and prognosis prediction tools, using radiology CT scans to manage system capacities, among others.
Do you think there are gaps at the policy level that still needs to be filled, for India to be more globally competitive, as a manufacturer and an exporter of IVD instruments?
While I applaud the government’s efforts in recent years to bring diagnostics and manufacturing in India in focus, there are still certain policy gaps that can be filled: PLI scheme: It is a good start and will incentivise domestic manufacturers to engage in high value production. It can make Indian manufacturers globally competitive, attract investment in the areas of core competency and cutting-edge technology; ensure efficiencies; create economies of scale; enhance exports and make India an integral part of the global supply chain. However, currently, the PLI scheme offers incentive of just 3-5 per cent for IVD industry. Such low incentive is too small to make India a global player. There is a need to increase the PLI incentive to atleast 15 per cent for five years to help local manufacturers become global players.
GST rates on diagnostic
equipment: There is an urgent need to revise GST rates for the essential diagnostic equipment, from the current 18 per cent to 5 per cent. The introduction of GST has worked against Make in India, as it has led to imported devices being cheaper by 11 per cent. In addition, there being no import duty on blood analysers, makes it difficult for the Indian manufacturers to compete with the cheaper imports. The interests of the domestic manufacturers need to be protected through a revision in the GST regime so that not everyone gets the benefit of input credit. While the government has exempted the healthcare services and hospitals from GST, the taxation on the medical supplies and devices, ultimately is a hindrance in bringing down the cost of treatment. The common man can get some relief from this burden by a reduction in the GST rate on medical supplies, diagnostic equipment and devices. Import Duty: Even now, the import duty on several raw materials is higher than that on finished products. In fact, India's import duty is the lowest among BRIC countries, at zero to 7.5 per cent - making it cheaper to import devices rather than encouraging home-grown, cutting-edge technology Indian devices. This should be raised to 15-20 per cent, as lower import duties dissuades manufacturers from producing them in India. To reduce the dependency on imports, we expected the government to provide reasonable tariff protection for enabling Make in India.
Preferential Purchase Policy for locally manufactured medical
devices: Government of India has recently introduced this well-intentioned policy. However, its implementation is extremely slow and ineffective. Government of India should implement it not only for Central Government departments but make it mandatory for all State Government purchases as well.
Development-Linked
Incentive (DLI) Scheme: As medical devices industry is highly technology oriented, it is important for India to not just to manufacture instruments but also develop necessary technologies for it. Just like the PLI scheme, the Government should support R&D by introducing a Development-Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme to encourage companies who are investing in R&D in India and filing design and project patents in India. Building R&D infrastructure needs huge amount of investment and we expect the Government to provide 200 per cent weighted tax deduction on expenditure made on R&D of medical devices. Encouraging exports: At present, there are zero incentives on exports. Introduction of export incentives would help manufacturers take care of the high investments in cost of land, labor, financial and R&D cost and this can then be used to encourage their growth engine and boost up their sales in export markets.
In parallel with the regulatory approval process, tell us about Transasia's preparations for developing newer technologies for disease diagnosis.
To start with, Transasia is expanding its manufacturing and R&D base by setting up dedicated centres of excellence in medtech parks. These facilities will form the hub design and development of newer technologies especially in the areas of infectious diseases and TTIs. In addition to introducing new and advanced diagnostic systems in CLIA, Molecular, high-end hematology, AI, LIS, etc, we will soon be launching a very innovative and affordable ‘Total Solutions in Laboratory Diagnostics.’
EDUCATION
INTERVIEW
UPES School of Health Sciences & Technology recently signed an exclusive partnership with Wipro GE Healthcare to jointly launched the B.Tech Biomedical Engineering program at UPES, Dehradun. Assistant Professor Smriti Arora,UPES School of Health Sciences and Technology in an interaction with Kalyani Sharma talks about this collaboration and its key objectives
What are the major highlights of this exclusive partnership between UPES and GE Healthcare?
This exclusive partnership provides solutions to existing challenges that biomedical engineers face:
Lack of infrastructure and hands on experience to be industry ready professionals:
A ‘UPES X GE centre of excellence’ has been set up by GE Healthcare at the UPES campus. There will be intense training on diagnostic devices such as X-rays, CT/MRI images, ventilators, anaesthesia, and ECG machines will be rendered jointly by experts at UPES and from GE Healthcare. Students can operate/fix technical errors and also set parameters relevant to the human body.
Landing the first internship:
The first internship is the hardest to find, and that has been a key challenge in the past for biomedical engineers based on reviews. This collaboration provides a one-month internship to all incoming biomedical engineers in the 7th semester at GE Healthcare’s The John F. Welch Technology Centre, Bengaluru, besides the hands-on training at the centre of excellence at UPES. GE Healthcare will also interview few with exceptional candidature as potential employees.
Bring out specialised
biomedical engineers: The joint B. Tech UPES-GE biomedical engineering program has its curriculum benchmarked against international universities Harvard, Stanford, Michigan Tech, and several Indian IITs. The curriculum is a blend of core engineering courses, computer science, elements of design, and courses in biology. Minors are offered where students can specialise in one of the three branches: Engineering assisted design of medical devices, medical robots, and Industrial design and ergonomics. These specialisations overcome the ‘jack of trades and master of none’ stigma associated with existing biomedical curricula.
What do you aim to achieve with this partnership? What is the objective behind this collaboration?
UPES has ensured experiential learning to raise industryready professionals. The collaboration tends to do the same as the medical device industry is envisioned as a sunrise sector endorsed by several schemes under the honourable Prime Minister’s ‘Make in India campaign.’ MedTech parks have been launched in several states, including one in Noida, Andhra Pradesh, and Chennai, with one due in Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh. India stands in the fourth spot in Asia and amongst the top 20 in the world as a medical device market. And with this, jobs in the medical device sector are on the rise. While one aim is to meet this increasing demand for biomedical engineers; the other is since GE Healthcare is one of the biggest medical device companies with a focus on research, the students would get an opportunity to align projects with the vision of the company and work with them to meet unmet medical needs. In India, industry and academia run in isolation; this collaboration would seal this gap with both teaching and research being conducted jointly by academicians and industry experts.
The collaboration also intends to promote entrepreneurship in the country using incubator set up at various universities, such as the Runway incubator at UPES. This would promote R&D and manufacture of medical devices in India, paving the way towards building a more self-reliant India.
The pandemic has highlighted the crucial role of R&D and industry-academia collaboration. Which all parameters need attention to strengthen this? Can you highlight the same?
The pandemic has indeed given a panoramic view of inadequacies in the Indian healthcare sector. Insufficiency of clinicians, biomedical engineers, and medical devices such as medically equipped ambulances, respirators, ventilators, ergonomic patient beds, MRI/CT, X-ray, RT-PCR to calculate viral loads and experts to deal with and retrieve data from these devices was unearthed. India imports medical devices such as ventilators, oxygen cylinders, air purifiers, etc. India is the largest importer of medical devices and medical electrical equipment, with 86 per cent of devices being imported. Another huge revelation was that of educational institutions and industries working in isolation. Indian academia was unaware of the needs of industry and vice versa. In terms of healthcare, a lot of unlearning and learning was expected. An upskilling of life science professionals with the knowledge and use of diagnostic devices such as MRI/CT scans, X-rays, and
The collaboration also intends to promote entrepreneurship in the country using incubator set up at various universities,such as the Runway incubator at UPES.This would promote R&D and manufacture of medical devices in India,paving the way towards building a more self-reliant India
ventilators was expected by the industry, hospitals, and even households. As a country of billions and fear of the pandemic still looming large, we need to be future-ready and build institutions or strengthen institutions that hold industry accountability, embed industry early and often, and create value-based education.
With the digitalisation of healthcare, demand for skilled professionals who can run these platforms is also rising and an unanswered bell. Some organisations, such as NITI Aayog, are trying to bridge the industry-academia gap, but the opportunities for publicprivate partnerships are still few. To summarise, for upskilling of the workforce to the needs of industry, more industry-academia connect, in particular medtech companies, hospitals, and NGOs need to work in concert to work on the five A’s that define challenges to healthcare in India –awareness or the lack of it (education in particular in health science and allied courses), access or lack of it (rural versus urban healthcare reach differs), absence of skilled workforce during a crisis, affordability of healthcare, and accountability (of each of these partners).
What are the major challenges and opportunities as far as scaling up the level of skill development in healthcare in India is concerned?
As mentioned, the five challenges to Indian healthcare are awareness or the lack of it, access to the lack of it, absence of skilled workforce during a crisis, affordability of healthcare across India, and accountability. The same are also opportunities to work on and build a healthier India or at least a country with better healthcare infrastructure.
Some more challenges are:
◆ Lack of knowledge about Indian healthcare regulations. ◆ Significant medtech device imports into the Indian market, resulting in no upskilling or R&D in India. ◆ Fewer government programs and funding opportunities for private institutions related to healthcare. Healthcare is integrated with other schemes such as Make in India and Ayushman Bharat, and there are no separate schemes for the healthcare sector.
Some of these challenges can be turned into following opportunities:
◆ Economic freedom to institutions that provide healthcare courses ◆ Increase in the availability of expert healthcare professionals ◆ Government’s accountability and thrust on research and development in the country in both public and private setups.
What is the need to upgrade India’s medical education with advanced training programmes to meet the growing needs of the healthcare industry?
The following areas require upgradation to improve Indian healthcare: Skill development: Skill development training/upskilling must be done as per the industry’s demands. The areas that need to be worked on include clinical research, drug delivery, Six Sigma technique in medtech, regulatory science, AI/ML in healthcare, biodata analytics and predictive analysis, and intellectual property rights, which are industry relevant and can boost the employment and start-up environment in India.
Launch of interdisciplinary/ transdisciplinary schools
and programs: Healthcare is no longer about the mixing of compounds. It requires interdisciplinary faculty and training from science, engineering, and business who can work together on same platform and deliver affordable products to the market.
Industry-academia
partnership: A strong industry-academia connect will help students work on realworld problems. The fund flow from the industry would be smooth as academia would work on industry-related problems, and students would get exposure to the technologies that are much in demand.
Kalyani.sharma@expressindia.com journokalyani@gmail.com
