Healthcare 2024 in Retrospect: Dr. Shashikant Pawar on AI, Preventive Care, and Redefining Patient Outcomes
By Arunima Rajan
In an interview with Arunima Rajan, Dr. Shashikant Pawar, Chief Operating Officer, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital Navi Mumbai talks about the transformative trends in healthcare in 2024.
The healthcare sector in India has undergone significant transformation in 2024. From your perspective, what have been the most defining trends this year, and how have they impacted hospital operations and patient care?
The healthcare sector in India has experienced transformative trends in 2024, significantly influencing hospital operations and patient care.
AI and Automation: The adoption of AI-driven tools has revolutionised diagnostics, patient monitoring, and hospital workflows. At Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, AI-powered diagnostics have improved accuracy and efficiency, while automation in administrative processes has reduced waiting times and enhanced patient satisfaction.
Telemedicine Expansion: With increasing digital penetration, telehealth services have expanded, providing accessible care to remote areas. Our telemedicine programs ensure continuity of care for chronic illnesses and reduce the need for physical hospital visits, easing the pressure on hospital infrastructure.
Preventive Healthcare Focus: Preventive healthcare has gained momentum with greater awareness and government support. We have introduced wellness programs, regular health screenings, and lifestyle modification workshops to encourage proactive health management among community.
Advanced Infrastructure for Specialised Care: With rising demand for specialised care, investments in advanced technology and multidisciplinary units have become essential. This ensures patients receive world-class treatment for complex conditions under one roof.
These trends collectively underscore the shift towards patient-centric, technology-enabled, and preventive healthcare, paving the way for a more efficient and accessible healthcare ecosystem.
Technology continues to disrupt healthcare, from AI in diagnostics to digital health platforms. How has Kokilaben Hospital embraced these advancements, and what challenges have you faced in implementing them?
Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, is at the forefront of technological advancements to enhance patient care and operational efficiency. The integration of AI in diagnostics has revolutionised disease detection, enabling faster and more accurate identification of conditions like cancer, sepsis, and heart ailments. Digital health platforms and telemedicine services empower patients to access medical records, schedule appointments, and consult with doctors remotely, ensuring convenience and accessibility.
The hospital has embraced automation through Laboratory Information Systems (LIS), which streamlines lab data collection and test result processing. Automated machines connected to LIS improve accuracy, reduce human error, and expedite results. The KDA Practitioners App enhances doctors' efficiency by providing real-time access to patient details, diagnoses, and test results, supporting better decision-making and patient outcomes. Additionally, systems like Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and Hospital Information Systems (HIS) digitise healthcare processes, ensuring seamless integration and continuity of care.
While the adoption of these technologies presents challenges such as ensuring data security, patient privacy, and cost management, the hospital remains committed to innovation. By continuously advancing its healthcare delivery systems, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital reaffirms its dedication to providing top-tier, patient-centric medical care.
With the rise of value-based care, there’s a growing emphasis on outcomes rather than volume. How is Kokilaben Hospital aligning its services to meet these changing expectations from patients and payers?
At Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, we are in a continuous process of transformation of our services towards the value-based health care principles and delivering treatment on the lines of outcomes instead of the number of services rendered.
Patient-Centric Approach: Implementation of a multidisciplinary team approach enables us to implement personalisation of care by designing and executing standard treatment protocols which ensure complete care of the patients and thus enhancing the clinical outcomes & the patient reported outcome measures.
Investment in Technology: The utilisation of sophisticated methods and techniques of diagnostics and therapeutics makes it possible to pinpoint and address the underlying problems without subjecting the respective patients to long stays in their first assigned facilities or coming back for the same care, this being part of value-based care model. Standard of care is given with latest technologies and needs, e.g. Robotic Surgery, ECHMO program.
Preventive Healthcare Initiatives: For understanding the need for progress in disease before they become chronic, we have instituted health check-up and lifestyle intervention workshops to ease the burden of chronic diseases. This has long-term ramifications on the health of patients.
Continuous Quality Monitoring: Quality audits for critical indicators like infections, readmissions, recovery of patients are monitored, reviewed periodically and maintained. These metrics guide us in continuously improving the processes along with responsibility in delivering the specific care.
Evidenced based standard treatment guidelines, clinical protocols, care pathways and benchmarking the outcomes with the national and international levels.
Preventive healthcare has gained a lot of traction recently. How do you see hospitals playing a larger role in this shift, and what initiatives has Kokilaben Hospital undertaken to support preventive and community health?
It is the role of hospitals to create a change towards a system that emphasises on awareness, detection and lifestyle changes, loss, and other forms of prevention. This is the same philosophy that drives us at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, in ensuring that we create a preventive care culture.
Health Screening Programs: We now have packaged routine health check-up for early management of diseases including diabetes, hypertension, and cancer among others. These programs enable patients to have themselves looked after much more regularly.
Community Outreach: Basic health camps wherever we feel it is the most neglected area where without such camps people need to be screened and consulted. Our satellite medical centres in corporate and community has taken these services at places which are underserved.
Wellness and Lifestyle Workshops: Workshops on nutrition, fitness, health talks by specialist doctors and psychology in Chronic diseases are organised, aimed at increasing the adherence rate among diabetics, hypertensive etc, so they develop healthier behaviour’s and have a lower risk of chronic diseases.
Corporate Wellness Programs: Stress management and wellness programs for employees wherever possible in collaboration with industries wellness for the employees is promoted.
Vaccination Drives: Immunisation campaigns for adults, senior citizens and children are regularly conducted for the community to make sure that they are protected against diseases that can be avoided.
By prioritising accessibility and convenience, we are redefining healthcare delivery to align with the expectations of the patient needs.
The post-pandemic era has redefined patient expectations, particularly around accessibility and convenience. How has Kokilaben Hospital adapted to the growing demand for telemedicine, outpatient services, and home care?
The post-pandemic age has changed the way the patients thought about such factors like convenience and accessibility. The Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital located in Navi Mumbai managed to anticipate the evolving needs of patients and has undertaken strategic steps to address them.
Telemedicine Services: Our patients can consult with us via our telemedicine platform in cases where they are unable to travel to a medical facility. This serves the purpose of ensuring the patients receive uninterrupted treatment, especially for chronic illnesses and post-operative care.
Outreach Clinics: The evolution in the understanding of health care has enabled us to create outreach clinics for patients located in the peripheral parts of Maharashtra. The clinics offer specialised consultative and diagnostic services and significantly improve the availability of quality healthcare services.
Enhanced Outpatient Services: We have incorporated simple web telephony in booking outpatient appointments thereby speeding up the booking process and cutting out telephone calls that lengthen the appointment booking process.
Community Engagement: Conducting health awareness programs in tier- 2 and tier-3 cities are essential due to the negligence that these regions face. It builds awareness and provides communities with the necessary guidelines on basic medical services.
India’s tier-2 and tier-3 cities are becoming critical markets for healthcare providers. How does Kokilaben Hospital view its role in expanding access to high-quality care in these regions, and what strategies are you exploring?
It isn’t an understatement when we say that the increasing population and the lack of infrastructure are among some of the biggest hurdles when it comes to addressing basic healthcare needs in
countries like India. We understand the challenges that people must face when infrastructure isn’t present, and that’s why at our hospital branch located in Navi Mumbai, we actively seek out solutions that expand access to medical care.
Outreach Clinics: Highlighting underserved communities, we are genuinely filling necessary gaps. Our outreach clinics provide the specialised medical assistance that certain communities otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to access. These clinics allow us to ensure that basic medical care is easily available to even the farthest of areas.
Corporate Tie-Ups: Working with corporates allows us an opportunity to expand on the scope of medical care. With our partners, we have established working relationships that allow us to connect with employees and staff members on a broader scale. This gives us an advantage as we not only offer consultations, but we can also integrate medical screenings and other wellness programs.
Medical Centres in IT Parks and Crowded Localities: Setting up medical centres in IT parks and other high-density localities allows us to cater to patients who are employees and reside in nearby areas. This in turn allows us to help people in that locality in terms of providing them with the medical assistance they need.
Community Engagement: Conducting health awareness programs in tier- 2 and tier-3 cities are essential due to the negligence that these regions face. It builds awareness and provides communities with the necessary guidelines on basic medical services.
Workforce challenges, including burnout and shortages, remain a pressing issue for hospitals globally. How has Kokilaben Hospital addressed these challenges, and what do you see as the key to building a resilient healthcare workforce?
The constraints of shortages and exhaustion of workers are emerging issues in the healthcare system. At Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, we make a commitment to focus on initiatives that would ensure the availability of a strong and capable workforce across our facilities.
Staff Housing and commute: We also provide boarding facilities to our employees to avoid tedious commute and ease outdoor work for better coping with employees’ daily life out of work.
Fun Events: Structured social engagement among employees through team’s fun events like sports and entertainment monthly or quarterly and cultural events on important holidays enhances team spirit and creates attachment among employees.
Awards and Celebrates Hard Work: We have recognition and appreciation programs for the employees every month and annual awards who have been performing exceptionally throughout the year, motivating other employees in the process. This helps to improve the objectives output.
Extra-Curricular Activities: Employees are allowed to participate in any creative extracurricular activities like organising cultural programmes and other competitions which encourage them to showcase their talent apart from focusing on work only.
Provision of Counselling Support: As professionals working in the healthcare institution, our employees are exposed to a lot of pressure. Through counselling and stress management workshops, we take care of their mental and emotional wellbeing.
Looking at 2025, what technologies or innovations do you believe will define the next wave of transformation in healthcare, and how is Kokilaben Hospital positioning itself to stay ahead of these trends?
Emerging technologies touted as game-changers for the healthcare ecosystem seem to be a reality by the year 2025. Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Navi Mumbai, is working on adopting these trends through advanced technologies and new approaches to patient care.
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: We are focusing on investing into AI based imaging diagnostic tools mainly in radiology and pathology with a view to enhance accuracy and treatment planning.
Robotics and Minimally Invasive Surgery: Introduction of robotic surgeries and laparoscopic surgeries will enhance postoperative recovery time and outcomes. We are in the process of enhancing our surgical technologies and training teams in these technologies.
High-End Technology for Lab, Diagnostics, and Treatments: With the introduction of next-gen lab apparatus's advanced imaging systems and next generation molecular diagnostics, it will be possible to conduct accurate and faster diagnostics. This encompasses the implementation of digital pathology and advanced markers for improving treatment of cancers and infectious diseases.
Specialised Diabetes Foot Clinic Equipment: The diabetic foot clinic has modern devices which help in the early diagnosis and management of diabetic foot disorders to save limbs from amputations and other severe complications.
Advanced Radiology and Laparoscopy: We are investing in MRIs CT scanners, along with advanced laparoscopy techniques, providing minimally invasive options for faster recovery and improved patient outcomes.
These innovations position Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital to lead healthcare transformation in 2025.
Data is becoming increasingly central to healthcare, from improving patient outcomes to optimising hospital operations. How is Kokilaben Hospital leveraging data analytics, and what do you see as the biggest opportunities and risks in this space?
At Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, we recognise the transformative power of data in healthcare. We leverage data analytics to enhance patient outcomes, optimise operations, and drive informed decision-making.
Enhancing Patient Care: We monitor patient progress in real-time using data, enabling timely treatment adjustments. Predictive analytics helps identify at-risk patients for early intervention, improving outcomes.
Optimising Operations: Data analytics allows us to optimise hospital operations, from resource allocation to staff scheduling, reducing wait times and improving patient flow. We also use data to track and lower readmission rates and boost patient satisfaction.
Personalised Medicine: By integrating data from patient history, we deliver personalised care, tailoring treatment to individual needs for better outcomes.
Biggest Opportunities: The ability to predict and prevent diseases using data-driven insights is a key opportunity. AI and machine learning can analyse large volumes of data for early detection, personalised treatments, and improved healthcare outcomes.
Biggest Risks: Data privacy and security are primary concerns. Protecting sensitive patient information from breaches is crucial to maintaining trust and compliance with regulations.
At Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, we are committed to responsibly harnessing data analytics to advance healthcare while addressing associated risks.
As we move forward, collaboration between hospitals, technology companies, and policymakers seems inevitable. What role do you see Kokilaben Hospital playing in shaping the
future of healthcare in India through such partnerships?
We believe that collaboration between hospitals, technology companies, and policymakers is key to shaping the future of healthcare in India. We are actively engaging in such partnerships to drive innovation, improve patient care, and contribute to the overall advancement of the healthcare ecosystem.
Collaborations with Hospitals: We are taking steps to get in touch with major technology firms to promote education of the staff, patients and doctors. These collaborations allow us to bring cutting-edge technology into the medical field, including AI diagnostics and telemedicine, so that our team has both the resources and the knowledge to perform effectively.
Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital serves as a tertiary and quaternary referral care centre, supporting other hospitals for managing critical and complex cases. This collaboration ensures that advanced treatments and expertise is available to the primary and secondary referring care givers.
Engaging with Policy Makers: Working with the policy makers, we hope to refine our strategies and approaches on healthcare related policies move with an objective of improving health outcomes, enhancing class of technologies to be adopted and making healthcare services more easily available to patients.
Through these collaborative efforts, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital is playing an active role in shaping the future of healthcare in India, driving innovation, and enhancing care for all.