74% facilities saw decline in patient procedures during pandemic: Wipro GE Healthcare study

New Delhi: Wipro GE Healthcare has announced the findings of its exclusive internal Covid Impact Assessment Survey, analyzing the effect of the pandemic on the sector. According to the study, 74% of healthcare facilities reported a decrease in surgical procedures and non-Covid diagnostic procedures amidst the pandemic as compared to normal times.

The study throws light on the challenges and impact that COVID-19 had on elective medical procedures and future trends in the medical technology sector. It was conducted between April and May during the peak of the second wave of the pandemic among hospitals and other healthcare providers across India.

There was a decline seen in procedures for most modalities, barring Covid modality procedures like CT, X-Ray, Acute monitoring etc. The study also highlighted some of the key trends over the next few years one of which was the rapid increase in the adoption of digital technology within the next one year. 60% of the respondents felt that there will be an increased focus on adoption of AI based solutions over the next 3 years, 48% felt that there will be an increase in adoption of cloud-based healthcare solutions while 66% said that there will be a rise in digital transformation initiatives.

Dr Shravan Subramanyam, Managing Director, Wipro GE Healthcare said, “Since the onset of Covid-19 in India, the core tenets of health have been fundamentally challenged for majority of the population. The entire healthcare industry including the providers, diagnostic and medical devices, pharmaceutical companies and other healthcare suppliers have faced a sudden shift. COVID-19 fast-tracked India’s digital health transformation in ways we could not have imagined. A more in-depth analysis of the situation through this study helped us understand what we can do to offer affordable, connected, personalized and outcome driven healthcare going forward’’.

The healthcare industry went through a major systematic shift in the past year due to the pandemic. While the realignment of task force to treat the Covid impact was a necessary step, this change also brought about ramifications which required to be understood. Hence, several online survey interviews were undertaken as part of the study comprising purchase decision-makers including Heads of Radiology, Heads of Other Departments, and C-suites. The scope of the study also extends beyond India to various other regions including United States, France, Germany, Italy and UK, considering that each country had their own dynamic challenges bound by the larger issue of COVID-19.