AMCHAM’s 8th Healthcare Conference: Digital Health – Future of Healthcare was held via Webex on August 28th morning. The conference began with Mr. Prakash Bodla, Chairman – Hyderabad Chapter, AMCHAM, welcoming speakers and setting the scene on digital healthcare. Consul General Joel Reifman, U.S. Consulate General Hyderabad, spoke about the importance of health and how India and the U.S. are working together in bringing about quality healthcare. He highlighted American companies in India doing tremendous work in this space. Ms. Maryam Ghoulani, Chief Product Officer, Digital Innovation Group, Providence Health, spoke on the use of technology – smart assistance and trust which make caregiving easier. Dr. Vipul Aggarwal, Dy CEO, National Health Authority, spoke on what the government was doing in the space of digital health and making data driven decisions, reducing inefficiencies, optimizing costs, and improving access. The National Digital Health Mission, which looks at sustainable development goals in achieving Universal Health Coverage in an efficient, accessible, inclusive, affordable, timely and safe manner, while ensuring the security, confidentiality and privacy of health-related personal information.

Panel 1: Innovation & Technology focused on how remote monitoring, interpreting patient data and the right data were going to be the key to driving digital adoption and creating a digital framework. The session touched on how technology cannot function in silos and should blend with existing workflows and be able to integrate with hospital platforms for easier collaboration. Data security would be a critical factor. The moderator for the session was Mr. Ritesh Dogra, Founder, TalkDocAI, a start-up. The panelists were Dr. Divya Prakash Joshi, Site Director, Medtronic Hyderabad, Dr. Akhil Dadi, Ortho, Sunshine Hospitals, Ms. Laina Emmanuel, Co-Founder and CEO of Brainsight AI (which deals with AI in mental wellness) and Mr. Arun Sathiyamoorthy, Head R&D Medtronic Hyderabad.

Panel 2: New Normal Post COVID focused on cost efficiency. Efficiency has been the key to affordable health. If half of the country was covered by Ayushman Bharat and with a fixed price, managing costs would be essential. Patient centricity would also be of utmost importance along with measuring patient outcomes. Technology is only the enabler, the key would be interlinking it with the hospital platform to ensure data accuracy, patient satisfaction and improving outcomes. The moderator of the session was Dr. Ambuj Chaturvedi, Sr. VP, IKP Knowledge Park. The panelist included Mr. Kaustav Banerjee, President South Asia, Zimmer, Mr. Mudit D., Co-Founder, DOZEE, Ms. Srividhya, Sector Head Pharma & Bio Tech, Invest India, Mr. Ratan Jalan, MD, Medium Consulting and Mr. Prawal Kalita, President, Employee Health & Benefits, Marsh India. Mr. Jayesh Sanghvi, Vice Chairman – Hyderabad Chapter, AMCHAM and Partner, EY, summarized the proceedings and closed the conference thanking all the panelists and speakers.