Shuvankar Pramanick

Shuvankar Pramanick

Shuvankar Pramanick, Chief Information Officer, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital

With the help of latest innovative solutions, we are providing affordable and cost efficient healthcare facilities to people. Out of huge number of people treated in OPD on a daily basis, 20-25 per cent are being provided the service free of cost, says Shuvankar Pramanick, Chief Information Officer, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, in conversation with Elets News Network (ENN).

Q How has the hospital evolved in terms of technology and innovative solutions to become a leading healthcare provider?

Our hospital is one of the top most hospitals in the private category and all the doctors and consultants have been working here from 30 to 32 years. They are eminent experts of the medical field. They always strive for innovative technology in terms of clinical procedures. Here, Information Technology (IT) is not only to facilitate the non-clinic operations, finance, back office, billing, inventory , but to help all the clinical modules like robotic surgery and telemedicine to enhance patient care. We have one of the best IT set-ups in India.

Q Tell us something significant about your services in terms of quality, accessibility, and cost efficiency.

Our healthcare facility is a very much affordable. In terms of our contribution to create healthy society, we extend our minimum cost healthcare facility to low income groups. Out of 6,000 people who are treated in OPD on a daily basis, 2,000 are being provided the services free of cost. Cost-affordability is always there in our hospital.

Q Digital tools like Artificial Intelligence driven devices and wearables/apps could be a game-changer for Indian healthcare industry. But we dont have trained manpower to handle these devices. Being an expert, how do you analyse this?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has two parts, first one is hardcore clinical decision-making and the second is related with patients only. As far as clinical decision-making is concerned, it can be easily handled since experts are always available for the regular treatments. There are many applications on the AI part as well. It is also used extensively at Sir Ganga Ram in Radio Technology. For patients, we havent used AI directly yet, but it has been introduced through smart OPD. With availability of such kind of disruptive technology, patients can have all their digital data in their pocket.

As patients are more concerned about their health and want to be in constant touch with their consultants, we should implement AI for them.

Q How distinctly your hospital is catering healthcare services to the people at large vis-a-vis the market?

From the cost perspective, we are charging quite low in comparison to other private healthcare providers. We are already an established player in terms of latest technology and catering patients very efficiently.

Q A few years ago a Smart OPD project was launched at Sir Ganga Ram hospital, tell us how is it helping you to manage the patients data?

Smart OPD was launched two years back at Sir Ganga Ram. To get patients demographic data into their card, a basic structure of smart OPD was implemented at that time. Now it is helping us to incorporate all the patients records into the card. Through QR code, patients record can be accessed on a consultants phone. In a true manner, the Smart OPD has been implemented from this year only.

Q Amidst growing cyber threats in the healthcare sector, what steps have been taken to ensure data security at your healthcare facility?

The threat is always there but we have taken many internal measures to contain this. We are trying to handle patients data with much compliance. So our data is secure and there is not even a remote possibility of data leak.

Q How do you rate Indian healthcare ecosystem in terms of technological advancement and innovations?

Technology advancements have enriched Indian healthcare industry. With initiatives from the Government side, healthcare delivery has improved in an unprecedented manner. One can notice a lot of technological advancements at every stage of treatment, enhancing patient care.

Q Having smart OPD option and lots of data at the hospital, are you planning to implement EMR?

We are basically following policy directed by National Accreditation Board for Hospitals (NABH), an accredited government body. It has certain rules and regulation on how to handle patients data. EMR is the most sensitive data, so obviously there are certain rules and regulation how to use it. We are focusing on Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliances as well.

Be a part of Elets Collaborative Initiatives. Join Us for Upcoming Events and explore business opportunities. Like us on Facebook , connect with us on LinkedIn and follow us on Twitter , Instagram.

Related July 2018


whatsapp--v1