APAC CIOOutlook

Advertise

with us

  • Technologies
      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Big Data
      • Blockchain
      • Cloud
      • Digital Transformation
      • Internet of Things
      • Low Code No Code
      • MarTech
      • Mobile Application
      • Security
      • Software Testing
      • Wireless
  • Industries
      • E-Commerce
      • Education
      • Logistics
      • Retail
      • Supply Chain
      • Travel and Hospitality
  • Platforms
      • Microsoft
      • Salesforce
      • SAP
  • Solutions
      • Business Intelligence
      • Cognitive
      • Contact Center
      • CRM
      • Cyber Security
      • Data Center
      • Gamification
      • Procurement
      • Smart City
      • Workflow
  • Home
  • CXO Insights
  • CIO Views
  • Vendors
  • News
  • Conferences
  • Whitepapers
  • Newsletter
  • Awards
Apac
  • Artificial Intelligence

    Big Data

    Blockchain

    Cloud

    Digital Transformation

    Internet of Things

    Low Code No Code

    MarTech

    Mobile Application

    Security

    Software Testing

    Wireless

  • E-Commerce

    Education

    Logistics

    Retail

    Supply Chain

    Travel and Hospitality

  • Microsoft

    Salesforce

    SAP

  • Business Intelligence

    Cognitive

    Contact Center

    CRM

    Cyber Security

    Data Center

    Gamification

    Procurement

    Smart City

    Workflow

Menu
    • Healthcare
    • Cyber Security
    • Hotel Management
    • Workflow
    • E-Commerce
    • Business Intelligence
    • MORE
    #

    Apac CIOOutlook Weekly Brief

    ×

    Be first to read the latest tech news, Industry Leader's Insights, and CIO interviews of medium and large enterprises exclusively from Apac CIOOutlook

    Subscribe

    loading

    THANK YOU FOR SUBSCRIBING

    • Home
    Editor's Pick (1 - 4 of 8)
    left
    Technology’s Role in The Care and Quality of Life for The Aged

    Jose A Perez, Chief Information Officer, Hammondcare

    Digital Transformation - The Right Way

    Amit Goel, CIO, Metropolis Healthcare

    The (E-) Doctor Is In: What Trends to Spot in Healthcare Technology Today

    Dickon Smart-Gill, CIO, Bumrungrad International Hospital

    Analytics and AI in Healthcare

    Steven Parrish, CIO, Taranaki District Health Board

    Document Management in the Cloud

    Alex Choy, EVP R&D CIO, Change Healthcare

    China Embracing Connected Health

    Geoff Feakes, Group CIO, Tunstall Healthcare

    How Healthy is Your IT?

    John Sutherland-CIO-Ramsay Health Care

    Enterprise Architecture - An Extremely Valuable Discipline for Great Businesses

    Ken Spangler, SVP & CIO FedEx Ground and FedEx Freight, FedEx Services IT

    right

    Why the Digitization of Healthcare is an Unavoidable Imperative

    Tirupathi Karthik, Chief Executive Officer, Napier Healthcare Solutions

    Tweet
    content-image

    Tirupathi Karthik, Chief Executive Officer, Napier Healthcare Solutions

    In a recent article, I wrote about the problem of the healthcare industry in India being relatively miserly where investment in IT is concerned. Sadly, this problem is not unique to the Indian healthcare sector. I am convinced that this is a sector-specific ‘malaise’ rather than a geography-specific one.

    On the face of it, growth figures in annual IT spend by the healthcare sector seem very impressive and show encouraging signs that things are headed in the right direction. However, look a little deeper and you realize that the level of IT investments by healthcare providers are not nearly enough to realize the full transformational potential of IT for the sector.

    Consider the US healthcare sector. The US devotes anywhere between 16 and 20 percent of its GDP every year to healthcare, making it one of the biggest spenders on healthcare in the world.Yet it shows poorer outcomes in its citizens’ actual health overall in comparison with many of the advanced economies they surpass in healthcare expenditure.

    I can’t help but ask if greater and more prudent investment in IT–more specifically on electronic health records, analytical systems and interoperability solutions–couldn’t better address this issue, which primarily stems from problems associated with the operational, resource management and coordination aspects of healthcare delivery in the country.

    At present, according to market research firm Gartner, US healthcare IT spend will soon reach about US$40 billion. Compare that to Malaysia’s US$126 million and the Philippines’ US$75 million (according to another research firm, IDC), and it sounds like a lot. But if you do the math and realize that it accounts for a little more than 2 percent of the US GDP for 2014—the US$40 billion figure is diminutive. It is a paltry sum to devote to making your national healthcare system work for a population of 320 million!

    Healthcare has to just look at some other large industries to see the business case for investing in IT. The retail sector was due to spend about US$190 billion on IT globally in 2015, while the financial services sector was expected to dole out about US$461 billion (admittedly, this includes hardware, software and related services). Obviously these industries have recognized the potential and even the indispensability of IT for their businesses. Why then is the healthcare sector not fully awake to the possibilities?

    Digitization is the present and the future

    The reasons may liepartly in the five myths that McKinsey consultants Stefan Biesdorf and Florian Niedermann highlight in an article published a couple of years ago (Healthcare’s Digital Future, July 2014). The biggest myths that the authors dispel in their article are that patients don’t want to use digital technologies for healthcare or that these are only used by youngsters.

    Using data from different countries, the authors show the mismatch between what the healthcare industry perceives as expectations and what patients actually want.  Healthcare providers don’t need to be paralyzed by worries of huge expectations from users. They need to take the important step of getting started, staying committed and then enhancing the patient experience with added features and functionality.

    While I believe that getting started on the digital route may not be as much of a problem now than it was a few years ago, there is certainly some reluctance and, dare I say, resistance to be fully committed to the IT transformation.

    Benefits far outweigh the costs

    To think that embarking on the digitization journey or using more IT alone will solve all of healthcare’s problems would be naïve. There will be people, process and technology challenges as one moves forward with IT-driven healthcare delivery.An example, are hospitals doing enough for their future? Napier’s view (consequently our product strategy) is that the Acute Care sector will be called to do a lot more and will have to significantly enhance its community outreach and project services well beyond its four walls. That is an area ripe for investment in technology as it can and should be designed to be technology centric from day one. Holistic case management of Chronic Illnesses’ and Smart Health technologies need to be in place. A recent study by DesignSingapore Council has showed that our seniors are quite savvy with WhatsApp, Viber and Skype. Why not integrate those in our process flow and deliver a great Patient Experience?

    I’d like to conclude by pointing to a recent piece by Rebecca George, the Vice Chair and Public Sector Health Lead of Deloitte UK where she makes a strong case for IT transforming the National Health Service (Can IT transformation deliver a cost-effective 21st Century healthcare service? February 19, 2016). As she says:“Done correctly, digital services can ensure…world-leading universal care, overcoming financial challenges, supporting advances in research and improving patient outcomes. There are inevitably risks…but the reward is a cost-effective, 21stCentury healthcare service.”

    tag

    Financial

    Weekly Brief

    loading
    Top 10 Healthcare Solutions Companies- 2022
    ON THE DECK

    Healthcare 2022

    I agree We use cookies on this website to enhance your user experience. By clicking any link on this page you are giving your consent for us to set cookies. More info

    Copyright © 2025 APAC CIOOutlook. All rights reserved. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy and Anti Spam Policy 

    Home |  CXO Insights |   Whitepapers |   Subscribe |   Conferences |   Sitemaps |   About us |   Advertise with us |   Editorial Policy |   Feedback Policy |  

    follow on linkedinfollow on twitter follow on rss
    This content is copyright protected

    However, if you would like to share the information in this article, you may use the link below:

    https://healthcare.apacciooutlook.com/cxoinsights/why-the-digitization-of-healthcare-is-an-unavoidable-imperative-nwid-1847.html