How has the healthcare industry seen a shift towards a patient centric ecosystem

The government's initiatives to transform India into a centre for health and wellness has boosted the country's healthcare ecosystem into one of the industries with the highest growth. Due to digitization, innovation, and novel hybrid business models that integrate traditional and technology companies, this sector has experienced substantial growth over the previous five years. The Indian healthcare sector is one of the successfully growing sectors that offers goods and services to treat patients with preventive, curative, rehabilitative, and palliative care.

Patient-centricity is one of the strategies that has gained popularity in recent years in healthcare services. As the name implies, it refers to creating a treatment plan, clinical trial, or other method of delivering healthcare services that is patient-centred. In patient-centred care, the patient's problem is given greater attention than the patient's diagnosis. In this model, patients and doctors share close and trustworthy connections. First contact, comprehensiveness, coordination, and continuity—the "4Cs"—are crucial for high-quality primary healthcare, and their accomplishment results in lower costs, less inequality, and better population health.

Many medical professionals agree that the patient-centric approach is a highly effective strategy with favourable consequences on both the medical and commercial fronts. From a commercial standpoint, patient-centric healthcare has been associated with engaging experiences and successful outcomes that result in patient retention and continuity of care. From a medical standpoint, patients benefit more from treatment, manifest fewer symptoms, and are less likely to relapse or require hospital readmission. For instance, research has demonstrated that heart attack patients treated at facilities with highly regarded patient-centric care present fewer symptoms and are more likely to live a year later. Hospitals that prioritise their patients' needs also had lower readmission rates for patients one month following discharge.

Additionally, technology plays a critical role in assisting the patient-centric methodology. Utilising cutting-edge software technologies enables healthcare providers to better meet patient requirements, maintain patient engagement, and grow their businesses. Today, it is common to use technology like wireless communications, video conferencing, streaming media, mobile solutions, AI, and IoT to give medical care that is centred on the needs of the patients. For instance, patients can now easily access health information online, taking a more active role in their health than ever before. This is made possible by applications and gadgets like social media, patient groups, health and wellness mobile applications, and wearables. The demand for virtual care like digital consultations and remote patient monitoring is continuously growing. It is crucial to have all the necessary tools for supporting various engagements with patients in addition to in-person appointments.

Nowadays, the shift to a patient-centric approach is primarily about changing the culture and mindset. The most significant problem is that current healthcare still frequently operates in a provider-centric manner. The shift means new experiences for the entire organisation, including healthcare practitioners and administrative staff. Therefore, everyone needs to be ready, trained, and have realistic expectations. Moreover, implementing this strategy frequently necessitates integrating new technology. It means that in order to support a patient-centric strategy effectively, the current healthcare ecosystem and IT infrastructure should be prepared to accept new built-in solutions.

With the combination of IT technology and medical care, contemporary startups have entered this industry with new solutions that serve healthcare needs. The improvement of patient safety should be a top concern for medical facilities and healthcare systems across the globe; while keeping this in mind, new-age health tech startups are coming up with many healthcare solutions based on artificial intelligence (AI) that have the potential to boost accessibility, enhance the patient experience, lower healthcare costs, and streamline clinical operations. New-age startups actively follow the patient-centric approach throughout the organisation to increase health outcomes while reducing expenses. Effective implementation of this strategy requires patient feedback, patient and employee education, and close staff and patient supervision. A patient-centric approach has enormous potential that, if properly tapped, may help the healthcare system address individuals' needs and wants. If healthcare providers can embrace the idea of patient-centricity and put this strategy into practice, they will survive.

Author: Vishal, Demand Head, Saveo Healthtech