| | November 20178H ealthcare is one of the fast-est growing industries in India, expected to expand at a CAGR of 18.3 per-cent during 201220 to reach $280 billion. Yet, the fast-paced growth of this sector has not matched the demand gap for access to quality healthcare. The spiralling costs of care, shortage of trained healthcare per-sonnel (India has a doctor to patient ratio of 1:1700, as against WHO recommended levels of 1:1000) and lack of infrastruc-ture are a reality of the sector. A growing disease burden, especially with the emer-gence of lifestyle diseases such as obe-sity, diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer have put further strain on the Indian healthcare ecosystem. In such a scenario, technology solu-tions play a pivotal role in bridging gaps in healthcare access. Technology enabled care, which involves the convergence of health technology, digital media and mobile devices has multi-pronged ben-efits to offer in the current Indian con-text: Enhancing reach and access across geographies, reducing costs, improving the quality and outcomes of healthcare procedures, as well as providing a more personalized and versatile approach to healthcare. With dynamic technology solutions at hand, the future of healthcare is in holistic continuum of care provided at home go-ing beyond curative care available at hos-pitals. Remote technology enabled care is being driven by innovative IoT devices and mobility solutions powered by big data analytics that would facilitate contin-uous patient engagement and augment the care-giving process:Mobility Solutions: According to a PwC report on Future of India, India's dig-ital connectivity is expected to grow from 15 percent in 2014 to 80 percent access in 2034, with rural Internet users increasing by 58 percent annually. This creates scope for building and renewing programmes in IN MY OPINIONTECHNOLOGY'S PIVOTAL ROLE IN HEALTHCARE ACCESSBy Sumit Puri, Chief Information Officer, Max Super Specialty Max Super Specialty is one of India's leading Hospital chains offering comprehensive, seamless, and integrated healthcare services through its network of 14 hospitals and 2300+ doctors, treating patients across 29 specialties.
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