International Seminar On The “Role of IT in Healthcare”
Diwakar Raman, vice-president, United Health Group, the U.S., addressing students of Avinashilingam University in the city. Information Technology has revolutionised healthcare. Medical devices such as pacemakers are an example, said Diwakar Raman, vice-president, United Health Group, the U.S. Inaugurating an international seminar on the “Role of IT in Healthcare” at Avinashilingam University, he said IT had played a very important part in disease management and health and wellness. Information Technology has revolutionised healthcare.
Smart health cards and digital patient health records had helped doctors provide timely medical information to patients. In the U.S., patients could make appointments online, look for doctors online and even check the credentials of the doctor who wanted to consult. They could also order prescriptions and estimate healthcare costs from home. They could even chat with a nurse or a doctor online and consult them without actually visiting the hospital.
The public could be informed of their medical records and the available treatment options and the cost. They could carry out a detailed research online and choose a treatment method most suitable to them. IT helped patients make informed choices, Mr.Raman said. India was beginning to be recognised as the leader in healthcare. And, it was the global service provider in IT. Thus the possibilities of utilising IT facilities in healthcare in India were endless, he said.India had to strengthen the key requirements for enabling technology, which were data collection, analysis, storage and sharing.
Saroja Prabhakaran, Vice-Chancellor of the university, said that very few healthcare providers in the country had fully adopted IT. However, given the developments in IT in the last decade, it would not be long before the health care scenario in India was taken over by IT. Every participant in the healthcare delivery system would be benefited from IT’s influence on healthcare.
