A connected health ecosystem is not only good for the patient but also good for the healthcare providers. In other industries there have been many attempts to connect the ecosystem…
About 18 years ago when P&G launched Whisper with Wings through a TV Ad, there was an awkward moment in our house. My mother was angry, I was embarrassed and my younger brother (around 11 years old) was supremely alert and curious. Now with two daughters of my own and a doctor husband, we don’t even react to such ads (or even more outrageous ones). My daughter, aged 5, has happily assumed that the sanitary napkin is a diaper for mummies. She also sees older people buying adult diapers with bladder control issues at our local pharmacy and has assumed this is generally the way of life.
In the ancient times India had family healers that were called upon to combat disease and improve the standards of care. These medicine men of the old not only had knowledge of fields like Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani but also had knowledge of family history that used to help in their diagnosis. After the coming of the British though traditional medicine got supplanted by modern allopathic treatment the role of the family physician continued. So family history and your own medical history was known to these physicians. In a sense we had an efficient system for Big Data and Analytics though it was not system driven. But healthcare till then was the privilege of a few and not easily available to all.
How often do you check the cover of packaged food items for their nutritional value? Most people usually toss it in the shopping cart without thinking twice about what they are about to consume.
Given that Indian food is generally high on carbs and there is increasing preference for fatty junk foods, the nutritional value of a meal is not only diluted but the required daily nutrient intake too suffers leading to various lifestyle disorders such as diabetes and hypertension.
The internet has revolutionized consumer choices like never before. Traditional retail stores have discovered the potential of online shopping. Taxis are booked through apps and food is ordered over a click of a button. One can compare products, prices and the best stores in a blink. And in Bengaluru, services such as Medyog are extending the consumer experience from everyday lifestyle choices to critical sectors such as affordable healthcare. Last week I had written about Hospital Ratings, but did you know that you can rate diagnostic labs as well ?
How often have we been advised tests to be conducted at a lab referred by the doctor, irrespective of the cost or the quality? And if left on their own, patients are hounded by questions like where do they go to conduct the test, which diagnostic center is better, how much would it cost and so on.