“Technology enables us to treat patients over a video call”

Asian Institute of Medical Sciences provides comprehensive multi-speciality tertiary care facilities through its 14 centers of excellence. The hospital has been accredited with NABH and NABL accreditations and is equipped with state-of-the-art technology.

Vikaas Bhatnagar, Group- Chief Information Officer of Asian Institute of Medical Sciences, Faridabad shares details on hospital’s roadmap towards smarter healthcare.

Your views on the implementation of smart technologies in hospital settings? Key technologies being commonly integrated and how are these impacting operational efficiency?

There are several objectives behind implementing smart technologies in hospital settings including enhancement of patient care, operational efficiency, cost reduction, and data driven decision making. Smart technologies allow for monitoring of patient vital signs and conditions in real time which in turn results in faster response times and improved patient outcomes. Also, automation of administrative responsibilities such as making appointments frees up staff for other critical tasks. smart technologies allow for cost reduction by predictive maintenance, efficient resource allocation and reduced paperwork.

Some of the key technologies commonly integrated include Electronic Health Records (EHRs) which help in streamlining patient data, improving access, and reducing paperwork. IoT Devices like wearables and sensors monitor patient health remotely allowing early detection and reducing hospital stays. Telemedicine facilitates remote consultations and follow ups reducing the need for in person visits. AI and Machine Learning can be used for disease diagnosis along with predictive analytics and personalized treatment plans.

All these technologies have a positive impact on operational efficiency by improving patient care, reducing costs and enable data driven decision making ultimately improving the quality of healthcare delivery in hospital settings.

Any specific examples how your hospital has been taking initiatives to integrate smart technologies and how these have positively impacted quality of patient care?

While telehealth became a popular choice for patients and providers alike during the pandemic, the trend has continued even after the pandemic. Technology has allowed us to treat patients over video call, provide prescriptions and perform follow up visits and all this is possible without having the patient coming to the hospital. Telehealth has helped to decrease odds of ICU mortality.

Connected emergency response solutions improve the efficiency and response times of emergency care which can make a significant difference between life and death. This allows for faster communication and quicker hospital admittance with history and conditions already known. Doctors have patient data on arrival itself including vital signs, blood pressure, temperature, heart rate etc.

Furthermore, AI greatly helps improve patient care and make informed decisions with quicker data analysis, proactive care predictions and rapid diagnosis. Use of trained AI greatly increases the number of patients being processed and diagnosed, which in turn reduces wait times.

“AI and Machine Learning can be used for disease diagnosis along with predictive analytics and personalized treatment plans.”

Smart hospitals generate vast amounts of patient and operational data. How are data management and security addressed in these environments?

Data management and security are addressed in some of the following ways.

Access control, which makes sure that everyone attempting to access the data is verified in order to verify their identity and authorized to access just the data to which they are entitled. Data protection, which ensures that even if unauthorized parties gain access to the data, they are unable to read it or harm it. Encryption, which stops anybody from reading data if they do not have a secret encryption key, and data loss prevention techniques, which stop users from sending sensitive data outside the company, are two major components of data security methods.

Data Backup and recovery plans help to prevent data loss in case of cyberattacks or system failures. In addition, training the staff on data security best practices enables prevention of insider threats. Likewise, regular security audits and penetration testing help in the identification of vulnerabilities and weaknesses in the system.

*This interview was first published in September 2023 edition of the BioVoice eMagazine.