The game-changing thrust in India’s digital ecosystem has been the COVID-19 pandemic stretching limits across sectors. But the wellness sector comprising the healthcare and fitness industry has proven crucial during the forced lockdown. The tumultuous times wreaked by the Coronavirus compelled the wellness industry to reposition its existing processes. And the industry’s accelerated digitalization was the only recourse to comply with the imposed restrictive protocols. The vortex drew the entire healthcare industry covering Hospitals, Diagnostic Centers, Pharmacies, Paramedics, and Gyms. A quick look at some stats is revealing:
How India’s Digital Payment Transformation Panned Out?
Social distancing norms to arrest the infection spread drew away patients from hospitals and clinics looking for an alternative. The immediate outcome witnessed a surge in digital modes of remote consultation, online pharmacy purchases, and payments, including contactless.
- Over 5 Cr Indians resorted to Tele-consultation services across 2000 towns and cities.
- The main Open Digital Ecosystem (ODE) is projected to unchain economic value above US$ 200 billion by 2030, according to the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) report.
- An ever-evolving technological advance driving the digital ecosystem is projected to save US$ 40 to 50 billion, riding on higher efficiency due to the adoption of standardized practices.
The fast-tracking of digital penetration is accelerated partly by the government’s push and partly due to customer demand. The outcome spawned the best payment gateways in India to grab the opportunity to usher in merchant services tailored for every sector on the online platform. For example, Zaakpay offers a one-stop destination for a packaged digital ecosystem, including payments.
Understanding Digital Transformation in Healthcare
The pandemic has shown that digital transformation will be critical in the already large and expanding healthcare industry. Moreover, healthcare organizations adopting digital transformation will likely enjoy a competitive edge, apart from assuaging customer sensitivities in service essential to their wellbeing. Accordingly, digital transformation can benefit the healthcare industry in critical aspects.
- Healthcare service delivery through new models like Telemedicine.
- Enhanced efficiency in healthcare facilities and services.
- Aid improved collaboration between healthcare providers.
- Optimal engagement of mobile apps for patient interactions and monitoring.
- Enhanced data management supports personalized services, improves treatment, and engender predictions for preventive medicine.
Digital Transformation Highlights in Indian Healthcare Industry
One of the critical elements in India’s healthcare digital transformation has been the online payments methods. While promoting contactless transactions, technology innovations have accelerated streamlined processes minimizing discrepancies and better customer experience. And payment gateway providers like Zaakpay are at the forefront of driving this transformation. So, let us dive deeper into the areas where the penetration has been the most noticeable.
- Online Pharmacy:
The booming online pharmacy sector received a massive fillip during the lockdown, with patients weary of in-person medicine purchases and cash handling to minimize the risk of infection. According to a FICCI report, nearly 8.8 million Indian households purchased medicines online, signifying a 2.5-time surge during the pandemic. Internet penetration and smartphone usage backed by a robust digital infrastructure for payments are behind the success story.
- Seamless Billing:
Healthcare providers on the digital platform and portals have automated their software aligned with the requirements of integrated digital payment systems, omitting extensive paperwork prevalent in the healthcare industry. On the contrary, the best payment gateways in India have converted the billing process into a cakewalk. In addition, the patient footprint stored in the database saves the hassle of time-consuming over-the-counter billing for customer satisfaction.
- Transparent Ecosystem:
The paperwork hitherto generated in the billing process was heavy, confusing the customers with irrelevant information. On the other hand, digital payments are precise, leaving no room for the customer to get baffled. In addition, every transaction can be tracked real-time without any scope for misappropriation, besides ensuring business proficiency.
- Promoting Telemedicine:
While virtual consultation is nothing new, the pandemic-induced restrictions boosted the facility manifold. Today, various portals push digital consultations as healthcare providers are the most vulnerable to contract COVID-19 infection. In addition, digital payments adoption across all cross-sections of society, whether urban or rural, has promoted its growth.
Digital Transformation Technology Factors Impacting Healthcare
The healthcare industry has leapfrogged in the recent past embracing cutting-edge technology. The digital transformation riding the pandemic wave is no less emphatic in harnessing the technology advancements. So, let us look closely at the impacting factors.
- Healthcare Delivery:
Physical clinics and hospitals have yielded technology-driven healthcare delivery signifying a paradigm shift. The digital infrastructure now supports remote collaboration between medical specialists, including assistance in critical surgeries. Thus, hospitals are now equipped with telemedicine computer systems.
- Data Analytics:
The healthcare industry thrives on massive amounts of data collected and stored incessantly. Therefore, data analysis leveraging the enormous storehouse is vital for diagnosis, disease prevention, treatment, and personalized services, to name a few. So, let us probe further how it aids the process.
- Cloud Systems: Facilitates storage, retrieval, sharing, and interoperability between medical systems, applications, and IoT devices.
- Artificial Intelligence (AI): Human specialist intervention is redundant for diagnosis and interpreting images, besides providing predictions and trends.
- Big Data: Monitors public health records, social media, and similar data sources to review disease outbreaks and healthcare services.
- API driven Interoperability: Application Programming Interface (API) organizes effective data exchange between medical devices and integrated services.
- Wearable Technology Integration: Wearable devices have travelled far beyond tracking human fitness and are securely integrated with EHR. It helps monitor patient metrics remotely, displaying predictive capabilities for preventing health hazards.
Healthcare Digital Transformation Challenges
Although digital transformation in healthcare allows harnessing tremendous potential, it is not free from challenges. Some of the critical impeding its assimilating in healthcare services are:
- Data Management: Healthcare generates vast data, challenging to manage without AI. In addition, it proves a deterrent for delivering personalized services due to flawed data analysis.
- Cybersecurity: Healthcare organizations are not insulated from cyberattacks compromising their store data integrity. Thus, the integrated payment gateway must secure the parameters besides countering cloud security challenges.
- Data Privacy: Collaborative healthcare is hazardous for patients’ data as they are available across medical environments in multiple devices and locations. Despite the benefits of improved patient care, privacy controls need strengthening to prevent compromise.
Future Portends
Digital transformation has overturned healthcare delivery concepts, and it is not the end. The post-pandemic scenario is slated to be customer-centric, with online portals vying for a piece of the healthcare pie. Resultantly, Zaakpay’s digital capabilities will oversee a highly empowered digital payment ecosystem benefiting healthcare employees and customers alike by delivering streamlined, frictionless, personalized medical care workflows.