NASSCOM partners NATHEALTH to boost digital health in India

Bengaluru: India’s National Association of Software and Services Companies, also popularly known as NASSCOM, has announced its collaboration with apex healthcare industry body NATHEALTH. The partnership is with NASSCOM’s Center of Excellence for the Internet of Things (CoE IoT) and will leverage the benefits that IoT and AI can bring to the healthcare sector. They aim to deploy emerging technologies, to ensure better delivery of healthcare.

The healthcare sector is at the cusp of a transformation in terms of digital adoption and through robust policy advocacy initiatives. Speaking on the collaboration, Debjani Ghosh, President, NASSCOM, said, “This partnership would coin the two bodies as pioneers in the healthcare space, and with our combined resources we hope to witness a significant contribution and development in the healthcare systems accessible in our country. Through such collaborations, we can strengthen our potential as an innovation hub and bring about a transformation in varied sectors across industries. With technology permeating through all verticals today, we are confident that we see advanced healthcare facilities that provide easily accessible and affordable services to the citizens of our country.”

Through this collaboration, NATHEALTH and CoE have identified five major areas of collaboration, which would promote efficient, accessible and easily available technology-enabled products and solutions for the citizens of India.

Digital Adoption by Healthcare Industry: Work with members and member organizations of NATHEALTH to improve technology adoption through co-creation programs. Especially focus on IoT, AI/ML/DL, Robotics, AR/VR and Blockchain technologies that have a positive impact in improving healthcare in India.

Universal Healthcare:  Jointly work with Central and State Government Organizations, NGOs and Corporate CSR Teams to identify healthcare projects that have a significant impact on public health. Work towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and support the Government in achieving Healthcare Goals.

Policy Advocacy Initiatives: Jointly work on collecting the voice of the Industry on various policy and regulatory topics that directly or indirectly impact healthcare delivery in India. Where needed and feasible, represent the industry voice with the policy makers in the Government, with a view to improve the regulatory environment in India. Examples include DISHA, EHR2016, National Healthcare Blueprint etc.

Thought Leadership: Collaborate on joint health-tech events across India to drive change management across the healthcare delivery industry, enable peer group collaboration, panel discussions, special workshops, presentations and recognition of success stories etc.

Tech-Enabled Innovation: Jointly work in curating and seeding tech-enabled innovations to accelerate India’s drive towards universal health coverage and also create pathways for scale.

The joint initiative will collectively act as an interface between the industry and government on various policy and regulatory topics with a view to improve the regulatory environment in India. Through this agreement, health start-ups can leverage access to capital, mentorship, industry partnerships and technology support. The collaboration will also help them scale newer markets.

“We agreed to form a partnership to equip the future of Indian healthcare through effective usage of technology enabling growth and advancement in Healthcare industry. The initiative will be supported by our members, networks, and brand. NATHEALTH aims to provide support to innovation through co-creation program with specialized focus on IoT, AI, Robotics, AR/VR, Blockchain technologies that have a positive impact,” said Dr H. Sudarshan Ballal, President, NATHEALTH.

“NATHEALTH and NASSCOM have come together to innovate and create scalable models for healthcare delivery. This is an area where India can truly excel and be a model for many countries. Healthcare is ready for technology disruption and the time is now,” said Mr Siddhartha Bhattacharya, Secretary-General, NATHEALTH.