Making Health Healthier, with Technology

Pic : Mr. Arnab Basu,Chairperson, IT Committee, The Bengal Chamber and Managing Partner, Mr. B B Chatterjee, President, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Rabin Chakraborty, Sr Vice Chairman &  Director, Medica Institute of Cardiac Sciences and Chairperson, Health Committee, The Bengal Chamber and Dr Alok Roy, Chairman of Medica Group of Hospitals and Former President, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry during the panel discussion at the Health Tech 2020 conference.

Medica Hospitals and The Bengal Chamber organizing Health Tech , 2020 from 21-22 February, 2020  at Vivanta, Kolkata

Kolkata, 21^st February, 2020: The coming of age of Technology era is redefining the landscape of almost all sectors. It is dynamically reshaping and reinventing the way the healthcare sector operates, be it through processes, diagnosis, management , finances and ultimately how it provides delivery of  services to  the end users. Technology has seeped in to our lives to such an extent that we can literally monitor our own health status  by technology aided devices fitted inside  wrist watches which now functions  as a tool to monitor and measure heart and pulse rate, count movements. The time we are living in, technology is all pervasive. Technology is transforming healthcare diagnosis, delivery and management. This is being featured globally. In the process, many disruptions are also reshaping the industry and newer ideas and innovations are also creating buzz especially by participation of Start Ups. A recent media report mentioned Health Tech Startups has  huge potential of a $370 billion healthcare market in India by 2022, with returns up to 35-40%

Health Tech, or digital health, uses technologies like databases, applications, mobiles, wearables to improve the delivery, payment, and/or consumption of care, with the ability to increase the development and commercialization of healthcare related products. Creating a definition for Health Tech is proving difficult as the sector offers endless opportunities for application of technology.  The sub sets may include: hospitals and practitioners; insurance; consumer-facing services; pharmaceuticals; and government – and even as consumers and businesses alike are beginning to realize the potential of the partnership between technology and the health industry, reports suggest that its trajectory is brighter still.

With this backdrop Medica Hospitals, with The Bengal Chamber, is organizing the third edition of Health Tech 2020 from 21-22 February, 2020  at  Vivanta, Kolkata, EM Bypass. On this occasion PricewaterCoopers Pvt Ltd will release a Thought Paper on "A technology boost for achieving universal health protection".

"Today our lives are majorly technology driven. Even far flung areas are well connected with deep mobile penetration, which makes it easier for healthcare to make the much required inroads. Adoption of digitally enabled tools for diagnosis and treatment will make healthcare delivery faster and bring it right to the doorstep of the patient. Digitization will get us increased efficiency, and that will reduce costs and create an environment of transparency. Digital transformation has already started and this shall further accelerate in the next 5 to 10 years", stated Dr Alok Roy, Chairman, Medica Group of Hospitals and Former President, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

This programme aims to bring together the healthcare industry with doctors and healthcare delivery professionals, administrators; technology providers and related stakeholders like policy makers, financers start ups, academia, research institutions to name a few.  Efforts will continue beyond the event.

Mr. Arnab Basu,Chairperson, IT Committee, The Bengal Chamber and Managing Partner, East; Technology Consulting Leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers Private Limited stated, “Be it ensuring a seamless experience for the citizens by monitoring real time bed availability, efficiently tracking claim lifecycle, robotised surgery and responding to health disasters – digital adoption will play a pivotal role in improving the last mile delivery. PwC is glad to partner with The Bengal Chamber and Medica in setting up an IT Advisory Committee that will drive digital transformation in East. More such initiatives where the Government, insurance players, startups and healthcare providers come together will be needed to deliver quality healthcare for every citizen. Towards this we will also do a Health Perception Study together in the region."

Mr. B B Chatterjee, President, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry said, “As one of the oldest Chambers of Commerce, we believe it is our mandate to update our stakeholders on the latest technology developments especially in a critical subject like Healthcare. The objective is also to showcase West Bengal, a medical tourism destination for patients from neighbouring countries, as we have senior and capable doctors, state of the art healthcare institutions which are technology oriented.”

Key areas that would be addressed are Role of doctors in changing landscape of healthcare with technological advancement, Potentiality of start-ups in health tech sectors with special reference to West Bengal, Health insurance, pharmaceuticals, funding for start-ups in health care technology, latest technological initiatives by Government and private players in Health care sector.