Analytics is driving the next level of transformation for healthcare in India. With increase in digital adoption, organizations now have the option of using the data to run analytics and power programs for patient engagement, health education and process improvements. In Healthcare data is the new oil.
The major milestone in the transformation of healthcare in India would be giving individuals tools to manage their own health. With a dismal doctor-patient ratio, I think the key to improved health standards would be placing digital health technology in the hands of the individuals. There are many organizations that have adopted digital empowered by analytics, but let me give two examples in two different ares of the healthcare value chain.
Healthifyme is a comprehensive lifestyle tracking platform which is powered by India’s top nutritionists, trainers and yoga instructors. HealthifyMe uses big data and analytics to help individuals keep track of their health by providing personalised diet and workout plans anytime.. They have digitized the records from national institute of nutrition to break down traditional Indian food into its calorific value. This helps individuals to keep track of their calorie intake and manage their health better.
This initiative is definitely one of the largest Big Data projects in India. Now they have gone a step ahead and introduced analytics and machine learning to help their in house nutritionists, fitness coaches and yoga Experts to help give effective fitness recommendations to the users.
“Machine learning helps individuasl to receive healthy suggestions and alternatives to their diet in order to help them achieve their fitness goals” says Nikhil Moorjani, Marketing head for HealthifyMe “Applying analytics, the platform is able to suggest next best action to the individual ”
HealthifyMe today has more than a million users across India and continues to add new features based on analytics and insights on their user base.
Nutrition and fitness are not the only areas where analytics can be applied. India’s largest TPA, Medi Assist works on making health insurance benefits hassle-free, accessible and affordable to every Indian citizen. Operating in a highly regulated industry Medi Assist has to comply with healthcare regulations, Insurance regulations in addition to corporate policies. Despite this Medi Assist has been on the fore front of digital, adopting analytics to improve the standards of care and get better clinical outcomes.
“As the custodians of data in the health benefits ecosystem, we endeavour to empower our stakeholders to make data-driven decisions” Says Prashant Jhaveri, Head Products & Strategy, Medi Assist
Most healthcare organizations are now using Management Information Systems (MIS) reporting and data analytics at the heart of informed decision making. So decisions are more data driven and not left to intuition or the experience of the individual. At Medi Assist there are two aspects to how they approach analytics.On one hand they ensure that the systems constantly evolves to provide deeper insights to insurance partners and corporate decision makers.
“From performance tracking over multiple years, to portfolio analysis based on multiple parameters and predictive modeling for portfolio management, we continue to invest in technology that helps us stay ahead of the curve in the industry ” continues Prashant
On the other hand there is increased focus to simplify consumption and analysis of big data.
“We invest in tools that shield users from the complexities of big data analysis and empower them with easy-to-use handles that do not require any technical expertise.” concludes Prashant “Decision makers are, therefore, able to view, drill-down and glean insights from large data sets with great ease and minimal learning curve.”
Clearly as demonstrated by Medi Assist and HealthifyMe, there has been considerable progress made in the adoption of analytics for healthcare in India. This is definitely a step in the right direction and would lay the foundation for a digital driven healthcare model for India.
