Challenges & Advances in Healthcare Technology

Dr Suvin Shetty MD
Laboratory Director
Dr L H Hiranandani Hospital
Introduction
• Mayo Clinic
• Legacy in medical innovation
• Pioneered “safe surgery” for the world by combining anesthesia and sterilization
• Created the first centrifuge for testing G force tolerance in fighter pilots
• A structural support for innovation at Mayo is the Department of Engineering
— the modern iteration of Dr W Mayo’s “instrument shop”, created in 1915
• Quickly perceived how collaboration between engineers, scientists, and
physicians created phenomenal new things
Challenges in Healthcare Technology
• Data security & privacy
• Interoperability
• Regulatory compliance
• Cost
• Limited access
• Adoption of technology
Data Security & Privacy
• Challenge: Healthcare records contain
sensitive and private information, making
them prime targets for cyber-attacks
• Impact: Breaches can lead to identity
theft, unauthorized access to medical
history, compromised patient trust
• Solutions: Robust encryption, secure
access controls, regular cybersecurity
audits
Interoperability
• Challenge: Incompatibility between different healthcare systems and
devices, hindering the seamless exchange of information – HMIS & LIS
• Impact: Fragmented data can result in errors, delays in treatment, and
reduced efficiency
• Solutions: Standardization of data formats, development of
interoperability standards, adoption of Health Information Exchanges
(HIEs)
Regulatory Compliance
• Challenge: Stringent regulations such as HL7 FHIR, HIPAA and GDPR
require healthcare providers to adhere to strict data protection and
privacy standards
• Impact: Non-compliance can result in legal consequences, fines, and
damage to the reputation of healthcare organizations
• Solutions: Robust compliance programs, regular audits, staying
updated on changing regulations
• Indian legal framework – Digital Information Security in Healthcare
Act 2018 (DISHA), Telemedicine Practice Guidelines 2020, Information
Technology Act 2000, Data Protection Rules 2011
Cost
• Challenge: High initial cost of implementing advanced healthcare
technologies can be a barrier, especially for smaller healthcare
facilities
• Impact: Limited access to cutting-edge technologies, hindering
progress and innovation
• Solutions: R&D for cost-effective solutions, government incentives,
collaborative partnerships
Limited Access
• Challenge: Limited resources and infrastructure in developing nations
hinder the adoption of healthcare technologies
• Impact: Disparities in healthcare services between developed and
developing regions
• Solutions: International collaborations, philanthropic initiatives, and
the development of affordable, scalable technologies
Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission
• ABDM aims to develop the backbone necessary to support the
integrated digital health infrastructure of the country
• It will bridge the existing gap amongst different stakeholders of
healthcare ecosystem through digital highways
• Components of ABDM
1. Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR)
2. ABHA Mobile App (PHR)
3. Health Facility Registry (HFR)
4. Unified Health Interface (UHI)
5. ABHA Number
Recent Advances in Healthcare Technology
• Telemedicine
• AI in Healthcare
• Wearable Health Tech
• Robotics in Surgery
• Cloud Computing
• Electronic Health Records (EHR)
Telemedicine
• Problem – Use of telemedicine soared during the height of the
pandemic but has since plunged, owing to regulations, payments
regimes, and patient’s and providers’ long established preferences
• Missed opportunity – Virtual care can be much more than an add-on
to conventional medicine and can play a central role in diagnosis and
treatment, raising quality of care, increasing access, lowering costs
• Solution – Care delivery model could be revamped to tap
telemedicine’s full potential. Kaiser Permanente and Intermountain
Healthcare are examples
• Source: Robert Pearl & Brian Wayling. The Telehealth Era is Just Beginning.
Harvard Business Review. May-June 2022
AI in Healthcare
• Impact: Empower patients, saves time by reducing paperwork, enhanced
precision in disease detection, quicker turnaround times, and improved
patient outcomes
• GPT-4 is about as correct as a human doctor's answers, but by a factor of
almost 10 to one, answers from GPT-4 were deemed to be more
empathetic
• Source: Peter Lee. Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare. Institute for Healthcare
Improvement. Oct 2023
• Using AI to process data like medical images, and develop disease models
can potentially help clinicians make diagnoses with more precision
• AI can be used to recognize & interpret brain activity patterns in MRIs to track the
progression of neurodegenerative illnesses, such as Huntington's disease
• Medical Imaging – Identifying high-value findings & bringing out anomalies
• Risk prediction (gene mapping)
Wearable Health Tech
• Advance: Wearable devices monitor health metrics in real-time
• Impact: Enables continuous patient monitoring, early detection of
health issues, and facilitates preventive care
• CGM for ambulatory glucose monitoring by Abbott
• Smart watches for personal health and exercise monitoring
• Wearable ECG or BP monitors
Robotics in Surgery
• Advance: Integration of robotics for precision and minimally invasive
surgical procedures
• Impact: Reduced recovery times, fewer complications, increased
surgical precision, better flexibility
• Prostate cancer, orthopaedic surgery, oncosurgery – Da Vinci®
Future Trends
• Gene editing
• Trend: CRISPR and other gene-editing technologies for targeted modifications
of the human genome
• Potential Impact: Personalized medicine, treatment of genetic disorders,
breakthroughs in disease prevention
• Nanotechnology in medicine
• Trend: Use of nanoscale materials for targeted drug delivery and diagnostics
• Potential Impact: More effective and precise treatments, reduced side effects,
advancements in personalized medicine
• Artificial Intelligence
Conclusion
• Digital health market size – USD 195 billion in 2021, expected to grow
at CAGR of more than 16% till 2030
• While challenges persist in healthcare technology, recent advances
and future trends hold tremendous promise for improving patient
care, enhancing efficiency, and addressing global health disparities
• Engineers will play a crucial role in overcoming these challenges and
driving innovation in the healthcare technology landscape