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May - 2015 issue

Bettering Healthcare for 1.22 Million Lives

By Vignesh Anantharaj

compliance to regulations is a big cause for concern in both government as well as private-run organizations. Owing to which systems suffer due to a lack of a quick response and redressal system, with matters related to medical negligence and failure largely relegated as consumer affairs troubles. The need of the hour is hence an effective mechanism to address the ever increasing demands for safe, affordable and quickly available healthcare for all towards which IT vendors are working towards tirelessly.
With the rising trend of collecting data for bettering health processes, both clinicians and administrative leaders are hungry for data to make decisions and guide correct planning in the right way. Yet, there always seems to be a missing piece of information, a little fact such as which small clinic a patient was discharged to. For this example, providers either have to make assumptions based on unreliable data or try to get the necessary data through cumbersome processes.
An enterprise data warehouse (EDW) is hence the key to overcome the current data challenges which enables users of all backgrounds (both technical and nontechnical) to analyze near real-time data easily through analytics applications. As demands for access to high-quality, accurate data continue to grow; workers will want better analytics tools, such as EDWs, to accurately increase efficiencies and reduce costs.
Another new developing area of interest is that of population health management which is a proactive application of strategies and interventions to defined sets of individuals across the continuum of healthcare delivery in an effort to maintain and improve the health of the individuals within the cohort at the lowest necessary cost. As the risk for a population of patients shifts to the provider, Indian health systems need to know more about the patients they serve.
As we charge forward into 2015, those in the healthcare industry are striving to create a better system that achieves higher quality at lower costs. The formula to get there is simple: value equals quality over cost. The effort required to get there, however, is anything but simple and that is something the Indian healthcare vendors have understood and are working towards about.

Do let us know what you think.

Vignesh Anantharaj
Managing Editor
vignesh@cioreview.in