| | October 20218PANDEMIC IMPACT & SOLUTIONS - HEALTHCARE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGYBy Mohanachandran, Healthcare Information Technology Specialist, Head Information Technology, Meitra Hospital, CalicutAbstractTechnology in healthcare has been in its transformational phase for the last two decades, but the same was pushed quickly due to the rise of the covid-19 pandemic. We should say that the technologies which could have been taken another 10 more years to get implemented, was put in place urgently due to the change in conventional patterns in people's movement and connectivity. I would like to brief some of the healthcare technologies which came up and sustained through this period, and which could continue in the future even if life is back into normal. Adoptability of the clinical/non-clinical fraternity on these new technologies should be applauded with great pleasure, as this was the concern at all times in the Healthcare IT world.1.Tele-ConsultationsA consultation methodology that wasn't even thought out or accepted by the world before the pandemic. People always believed in direct doctor consultation which only given them the comfort level of communicating to a doctor in person and feeling his support. When the people were forced to sit at home and medical practitioners were out of reach, many organizations started teleconsultations, which eventually changed like a regular practice today.Platform independent TeleconsultationWhen the requirement hit immediately, the Healthcare IT world recognized that there are very few well-built solutions for providing teleconsultations to people. Many of them started the process using globally accepted video platforms such as skype, zoom, and teams which were built in for serving another purpose. Due functionally it did its job, there was a gap in the process such as scheduling, intimating, and monitoring. Later on many of the healthcare IT software solutions came up with proper video solutions integrated with the existing HIMS software and the same are accepted worldwide currently. This was a game-changer. Device Assisted TeleconsultationEven though the above-mentioned teleconsultation did its job partially, still the common man's need wasn't fully addressed. This is because of the lack of proper technology add-ons in the patient end which couldn't convey any of the medical conditions to the doctor except a normal video of them. Here came the role of device-assisted teleconsultations, which would transmit the patient vitals, videos, and parameters such as ECG, SPO2, etc. This was widely accepted, but due to the cost of the devices, this couldn't scale up to homes of the patients, but restricted to some of the spokes/clinics of some major hospitals in the remote areas.Although the concept and technology were adequate to replicate the physical consultation, this hasn't got the wider adoption due to the increased cost of devices, setup, and other portability issues.2. Tele - MedicineTelemedicine is an extended version of device-assisted teleconsultations, which enables the patient to broadcast his clinical records to consulting physician. This is normally carried out from facility to facility for expert opinion, follow-up visits, surgery follow-ups, chronic disease management, etc. Remote areas with the country have been enabled with expert medical care using this methodology and have proven records in the remote villages in India.Preventive healthcare support is one widely accepted usage of telemedicine, as it supports people to take support and be successful in leading a healthy lifestyle. Privacy in telemedicine was a concern to the people all the time, hence the solution providers have built-in robust solutions to ensure patient privacy and security of data with modern technology implementations. IN MY OPINION
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