The healthcare scenario in India is not really up to the mark when compared to the developed countries in the West- a possible reason for this inadequacy is the doctor population ratio which stands at 0.62:1000- this is quite less when compared to the value recommended by the World Health Organization (1:1000). The shortfall in numbers will gradually be increased, but it is going to take some time. In the meantime, the medical professionals who are already established in India can improve their overall workflow to make up for the lack in numbers.
Productivity can be increased with consistent efforts on different levels as there is a lot to be addressed. That will help in improving medical practice productivity.
The first thing to do is to reassign any non-specialized job scheduled to a different resource. This allocation of tasks needs to be done after considering the skills of the person, the type of task being assigned and its complexity. Doing so frees up the time available for the doctor so that he/she can attend to the patients better.
Automation of certain tasks can help in saving time as well as resources and also in increasing efficiency of the workflow. Whether it is with recording patient data, creating databases for medical reports for patients and for communication- automation is a great solution to reduce costs as well as human errors. There are medical software and online tools such as voice recognition systems, patient portals, cloud storage and Electronic Health Record (EHR) that help increase revenue and decrease cost overheads.
Of late, telemedicine and e-health are becoming a part of mainstream health care practises. These are Information Technology (IT) tools that enable medical professionals to provide diagnostic services remotely. This could be in terms of real time video chat using audio visual tools for patients located at inconvenient, far off locations.
From a patient’s point of view- telemedicine provides them the opportunity to access quality healthcare services from experts who are located elsewhere. Since a majority of India’s population resides in rural areas, this can be a boon for them as well as for the overall healthcare scenario of our country.
Having said that, acquiring hi-tech gadgets, software, tools and medical equipment can be a cost intensive prospect. This could necessitate a loan for doctors, which is a tailor-made debt instrument for qualified doctors having relevant professional experience in their field.
