Data Revolution in Healthcare and Lifesciences Industry

Mobile Health is going to be a 3000 crore market in India by 2017. (Source PwC). M-health (use of mobile phones) and E-health are all set to make an entry into India's primary health centres (PHCs) and sub-centres as the health ministry plans to go hi-tech. Healthcare industry is expected to show a strong growth of 23% per annum to become a US$ 77 billion industry by 2012. One of the largest sector in terms of revenue and employment has grown at 9.3% per annum between 2000-2009 with a current size at par with fastest growing developing country like China, Brazil and Mexico.Driven by various catalysts such as increasing population, rising income levels, changing demographics and illness profile with a shift from chronic to life style diseases, healthcare industry is expected to move to levels of US$ 77 billion in next 3 years. (Source: ASSOCHAM). Empowering rural India is of utmost importance and the government needs to do so by provisioning for broadband penetration and ...

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 manageme...

There are two basic classes of population from the point of pharmaceuticals view. The attitude of these two classes is so divergent that the behaviour which they display towards consumption of medicine is very different.These two classes are sufferers and non-sufferers. Sufferers tend to become hypochondriac and they ensure that they comply with the medicines while non-sufferers believe that nothing is wrong with them and perhaps will go wrong to their health till they cross the border of sufferers. As demographics of India are creating a very powerful force for growth of every industry, pharma is not an exception. Healthy population as well as sick population is continuously getting updated on medical issues through Internet. Now the population who consumes medicine whether it pharma or nutraceutical consists of both sick and healthy patients. They exhibit their behaviour of exhibiting their choice in selection of medicines. Coupled with Internet education and their awareness, they fe...

In today's on-line environment, eCommerce is already changing the healthcare industry. Current business-to-consumer sites include Drugstore.com and PlanteRx , which provide sales of prescription and over-the-counter products to consumers. WebMD and drkoop.com provide information and product promotion to consumers and doctors alike. Non-contractual business-to-business healthcare web sites that provide sales of medical supplies to institutions are Neoforma and Medibuy . Chemdex and SciQuest are non-contractual in respect to the sales of lab supplies to pharmaceutical Research and Development companies. Ecommerce in Hospitals: eCommerce has been identified as a leading practice in the healthcare supply chain.The 'big things' hospitals include: Electronic requisitioning Electronic replenishment Electronic fund transfers Contract database management Implementing leading practices within the supply chain enables hospitals save on costs, allowing funds to be redirected int...

Smart card network is secure, convenient and reliable smart card technologies specifically designed to store and transport a patient's most clinically relevant medical records. The Idea is to incorporate smart card technology into the healthcare system as an instrumental component that protects and enables convenient access to patient data and delivers both clinical and administrative benefits. ALWAYS CHOOSE a high-capacity microprocessor smart card that is PIN protected to comply with HIPAA security requirements and also provides a feature-rich, flexible platform that addresses key healthcare issues. There are compelling benefits to the patient, healthcare provider and payors that partially include: � Support for privacy and security requirements mandated by HIPAA � Convenient way to carry secure data between systems � Streamlines administrative processes � Reduction in fraud � Rapid identification of patient � Information readily accessible in an emergency � Enables compliance w...

Many health insurers now are relying on magstripe card solutions. These cards are helping trim costs and inefficiencies in flexible spending accounts and health reimbursement accounts, said Beverly Kennedy, senior vice president, health care, of First Data, which recently introduced its Multipurpose Healthcare Card, designed to support FSA and HRA record keeping and claims administration. Health reimbursement accounts allow consumers to set aside pretax dollars to use for health expenses. Flexible spending accounts allow employees to place payroll-deducted pretax dollars in a special account to pay for insurance premiums, child care and unreimbursed medical expenses. Paying an FSA claim without the card costs approximately $5 to $10 per transaction, Kennedy said, and card technology is helping to reduce those costs. In January, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey rolled out debitcard technology to its entire book of business for administration of FSAs for unreimbursed medical ...