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June - 2013 issue

Providing More than Just Healthcare

By Girish Koppar, Manager-IT, Lilavati Hospital and Research Centre

Lilavati Hospital and Research Centre is a private hospital located in Mumbai, India, established by the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust in 1978.

Being At the Edge of Technology

Being tech savvy is a critical need today in the healthcare industry. Hence, it is of top priority to be on a constant lookout for newer technologies which are available in the market. It is also important to ensure that these are strategically implemented in the hospital. These are the methodologies applied to keep Lilavati Hospital and Research Center updated and armored with the latest technology available today.

No Standard Software Can Be Developed For the Industry

The major pain point seen within the industry is that there is not a standard software that can be developed for the sector as every hospital has its own policies based on its management and legal entities. Hence, the customization level in the software becomes high in order to meet the requirements of the organization resulting in higher costs not getting the desired result. To counteract this inconvenience, Lilavati has tied up with a third party vendor to get the software customized as per the hospital's policies and requirements.

Customization to New Technologies Poses a Challenge

Coming to the technological challenges, it is extremely important for the Healthcare Sector to maintain the confidentiality of the data and provide an easy access of the data to the authorized personnel. This will always be a challenge to any organization in the Healthcare Sector. Having a skilled and dedicated internal IT team played an immense role in overcoming this challenge.

Moving forward, Cloud Computing will play a major role. Additionally, many healthcare apps will be freely available in the market for latest information relating to health.

The rapid advancements in technology in the Healthcare Sector are posing as a great challenge as there are a lot of biomedical and diagnostic equipment that need to be purchased. Interfacing of these equipments with the existing software poses as a tough case to solve. Additionally, there are a lot of changes in the statutory norms which needs to be addressed in the desired timeframe. However, with the tried and tested internal IT development team, Lilavati is poised to continue with the tradition of being one of the most technologically advanced hospitals in the world.