An ideal healthcare portal
India’s huge population poses problems for the nation’s healthcare sector. E-health is a solution that can bring together all the major sectors such as development agencies, health industry experts, public health specialists, policy makers, academicians, technology developers and civil society practitioners to provide schemes that are useful to common people.
Aims of an Indian health portal
Ambulatory care
One of the most profound changes seen in many countries around the world is a shift from a hospital based healthcare system to a more ambulatory system with home care, day care clinics and same day surgeries. We are now treating patients in ways that were thought impossible a few years ago. It is now possible for a patient to come to hospital in the morning, have a coronagraph and be home that same day! You can also have your intravenous antibiotics at home or have adjustment to your anticoagulation regimen on an out patient basis.
Chronic diseases management
The incidence of chronic disease is rising in part due to an aging population and more efficient treatment.
With chronic diseases, our management aims to stabilize the patient, keeping him in that state while also slowing/stopping more functional deterioration and preventing further complications. To achieve these goals it is mandatory to have a high level of coordination in the care team, but it is also important to actively involve the patient himself.
Knowledge management
The healthcare sector is one of the most information driven industries and the amount of information that must be dealt with on a regular basis is growing every day. Also, with the advent of the internet, access to information is easy. It is now usual to have patients come to their appointment with printed documents found online.
Classical Electronic Health Records approach
Most of the Electronic Health Records available on the market today are not patient-centered but rather ‘hospital-centered’. As such they were not designed to easily address the challenges raised by the new paradigms found in the healthcare sector today. One of the consequences is that the care activities delivered outside hospital walls are difficult to integrate. Another major consequence is that no tools or functionalities are available to integrate the patient as an active member of the care team.
Evidence based medicine
The e-health system enables the doctor to check international research and data to confirm their diagnosis. This helps reduce confusion in a patients treatment, especially in developing countries.
Virtual healthcare team
The most important benefit of e-health in India is that it has enabled several patients to discuss their problems online, i.e. through the internet.
Benefits
For patient
Improved information about their disease/illness
Access the internet from anywhere and get updated reports
Not restricted to keeping prescription details with a hospital
Online medical advice available from renowned doctors
Reduced travel expenses for treatment
For doctors
Improves the healthcare system
No manual writing of prescriptions
Time saving and efficient
For government
Able to monitor the healthcare system of the country
Get to measure the number of patients examined by a doctor daily
Data captured for various regions
E-health services are gradually being adopted by healthcare provider organizations in India. The growth of e-health services has given rise to the need for a new breed of healthcare professionals, healthcare administrators and healthcare technologists.
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