Indian Healthcare Sector Research Articles

Impact of adapting Cloud Computing Technology in hospital for patient care and service

This paper deals with the impact of cloud computing in the group of non-adopted and adopted hospitals for patient care and services. In hospitals working hour means 24 x 7 and not 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Giving access to the consumer on his demand whenever/wherever required and pay as per the usage will be the mantra. That is expected from the cloud computing approach which gives accurate and quick access to required personal data, which can replace the usual trend in hospital’s hospitality. Advancement in technology is always required to give vast information for every healthcare professional to give the best quality of the patient care and hospital management. Cloud computing is providing services to web based technology clients as and when required by storing information in servers. In cloud computing, Virtual Machines (VM) will be running different software in parallel instead of having to run only one application leading to higher efficiency and better utilisation of computing resources. This technology drives down costs and increases resources utilisation by delivering resources for the period of requirement only and hence reduces the ICT capital budget reservation. By giving additional support to the user for getting vast information through the existing support of Google Cal,Docs,Sites, Zoomerang, YouTube etc, cloud computing also adds value. It is already used successfully in the library information systems. In a group of hospitals having cloud computing infrastructure encourage and promote the advantages available to the user community. This research is also highlighting the issues related to security of patients’ data especially related to medical reports. But only security may not be a constraint. Following a case study approach the author is studying the impact of cloud computing adoption in the context of Indian healthcare sector.

Service Quality in Health Care Organisations

In today’s customer-driven market, it is being felt increasingly that it is quality that will ultimately decide the value of the services. With in-creasing awareness among consumers about their rights, the patient, as a consumer of health services, expect and demand quality health care. The health care customer is changing qualitatively. The rising literacy rate, higher levels of income and increasing awareness through deeper penetration of the media, has brought the Indian consumer closer to demand quality health care. All these factors have not only contributed to the growth of health care sector in India but also for quality health care services. In the light of these developments, health care providers need to have a closer look at the perception of their patients and try to provide quality medical and health services to meet their expectations. It is the professional excellence, personal-touch-in-service, humanitarian approach and ethical values of the employees that play a significant role in the satisfaction of patients. The study of service quality perceptions from the patient viewpoint provides a basic feedback to the hospitals in the light of their patient-oriented and patient-centric efforts in attracting and satisfying the patients. In view of the above, an attempt is made in the study to examine how well the corporate hospitals in the private sector in Hyderabad are meeting the customers’ expectations on the service quality dimensions.

India-EU relations in health services: prospects and challenges

BackgroundIndia and the EU are currently negotiating a Trade and Investment Agreement which also covers services. This paper examines the opportunities for and constraints to India-EU relations in health services in the context of this agreement, focusing on the EU as a market for India's health services exports and collaboration. The paper provides an overview of key features of health services in the EU and India and their bearing on bilateral relations in this sector.MethodsTwenty six semi-structured, in-person, and telephonic interviews were conducted in 2007-2008 in four Indian cities. The respondents included management and practitioners in a variety of healthcare establishments, health sector representatives in Indian industry associations, health sector officials in the Indian government, and official representatives of selected EU countries and the European Commission based in New Delhi. Secondary sources were used to supplement and corroborate these findings.ResultsThe interviews revealed that India-EU relations in health services are currently very limited. However, several opportunity segments exist, namely: (i) Telemedicine; (ii) Clinical trials and research in India for EU-based pharmaceutical companies; (iii) Medical transcriptions and back office support; (iv) Medical value travel; and (v) Collaborative ventures in medical education, research, training, staff deployment, and product development. However, various factors constrain India's exports to the EU. These include data protection regulations; recognition requirements; insurance portability restrictions; discriminatory conditions; and cultural, social, and perception-related barriers. The interviews also revealed several constraints in the Indian health care sector, including disparity in domestic standards and training, absence of clear guidelines and procedures, and inadequate infrastructure.ConclusionsThe paper concludes that although there are several promising areas for India-EU relations in health services, it will be difficult to realize these opportunities given the pre-dominance of public healthcare delivery in the EU and sensitivities associated with commercializing healthcare. Hence, a gradual approach based on pilot initiatives and selective collaboration would be advisable initially, which could be expanded once there is demonstrated evidence on outcomes. Overall, the paper makes a contribution to the social science and health literature by adding to the limited primary evidence base on globalization and health, especially from a developing-developed country and regional perspective.

Medical tourism: its potential impact on the health workforce and health systems in India

Globally there has been tremendous growth in the health service sector, catalyzed by inadequate national public health services, the spiralling cost of health services and the availability of cheaper alternatives in developing economies. This has led to the globalization of health care worldwide, illustrated by growing cross-border delivery of health services that is estimated to be in excess of US$140 billion (World Trade Organization 2001). In India, health care is one of the largest sectors, in terms of revenue and employment, and this sector is expanding rapidly. During the 1990s, the Indian health care sector grew at a compound annual rate of 16%. Today the total value of the sector is more than US$34 billion. By 2012, India’s health care sector is projected to grow to nearly US$40 billion (PricewaterhouseCoopers 2007). A major proportion of this growth is predicted to be attributable to the growth in the business of medical tourism. Medical tourism in India has gained momentum over the past few years. According to the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), approximately 150 000 patients arrived in India in 2005 from across the globe for medical treatment, and this is expected to increase by 15% each year (Confederation of Indian Industries and McKinsey & Co. 2002). The medical tourism market in India was estimated at US$333 million in 2004 and has grown by about 25%. It is predicted to become a US$2 billion a year business opportunity by 2012 (Ernst & Young 2006).

Configurable Politics and Asymmetric Integration: Health e-Infrastructures in India

Information Infrastructures typically evolve in an incremental fashion, through partly planned and unplanned processes. A significant mechanism of growth is when previously unconnected systems are integrated, facilitating the transition from networking to inter-networking. Conversely, failure to integrate systems contributes to the lack of evolution of the infrastructure. Integration seems crucial for evolving infrastructures; however, there is little consensus on what it entails, as can be seen when different connotations of ‘integration” are unpacked. In contrast to the dominant view of integration as a largely technical concern, our focus is on how political and institutional interests are embedded in efforts to achieve integration. More specifically, we explore strategies for institutional integration that take into account uneven distribution of political influence. The paper builds on empirical material from our ongoing (2001 – 2008) involvement with the problem of fragmented information systems in the health care sector in India. The case is seen from the perspective of one small actor offering free, open-source software that is already being used in several other developing countries. Choosing to focus on a small actor highlights the asymmetric power relations among the actors; our actor has no other option than to seek to align with bigger and more influential actors. We analyse the strategies, the configurable politics, and the outcomes of the distinct configurations that emerge from this form of asymmetric integration.

Provider‐perceived dimensions of total quality management in healthcare

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to highlight key dimensions of provider‐perceived total quality management (TQM) in the healthcare sector in India. Further, the impact of the dimensions of provider perceived TQM on hospital performance is examined.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire has been developed based on an extensive literature review of research in service quality and based on responses of the pilot survey among medical professionals. The instrument thus developed has been examined for its psychometric properties using tests of reliability and validity. Multiple regression analysis has been used to examine the impact of the dimensions of provider‐perceived TQM on hospital performance.FindingsFindings highlight 14 distinct dimensions of provider‐perceived TQM and the relationships among them. Positive and significant relationships among the dimensions and hospital performance have been found.Research limitations/implicationsContribution to research on healthcare quality by the development of a comprehensive instrument of provider‐perceived healthcare quality.Practical implicationsThis instrument would enable hospitals to examine the quality of care being delivered by them to the patients. Hospital administrators and medical professionals could use this feedback to assess hospital performance, and benchmark their performance against that of other competitive hospitals.Originality/valueComprehensive instrument of provider‐perceived healthcare quality

Factors influencing the intention to use wireless technology in health care: A study in India

Both qualitative and quantitative techniques were used to examine the factors influencing the adoption of wireless technology in the health-care sector in India. A qualitative approach was used to collect a set of themes relating to the adoption of wireless technology by 30 physicians in India. The themes were then used to design a questionnaire which was distributed to 300 physicians in India. A total of 200 surveys were returned (67% response rate). Both types of data (qualitative and quantitative) showed that technology factors, clinical factors, administrative factors and communication factors played a crucial role in determining the intention to use wireless technology. These factors were further validated using a second order regression model to ensure their validity and reliability. The fitted model explained 97.6% of the variance. The results showed that the clinical usefulness of wireless technology influenced its adoption.

The great legitimizer

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how and why information and communication technologies (ICT) are enrolled in the Indian healthcare sector for reasons over and above perceived efficiency gains.Design/methodology/approachThe paper explores qualitative field data collected in the Indian states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, and the city of New Delhi from an epistemological perspective of interpretivism. New institutional theory is employed to illustrate the mythical and ceremonial roles that ICT for development play in legitimizing development initiatives.FindingsThe analysis challenges the simplistic view that implementing health management information systems will translate directly to efficiency gains.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper furthers the theoretical understanding of how ICT, as social and material phenomena, function empirically beyond instruments of technical rationality. One limitation of the research is the relatively short duration of the fieldwork. A wider scope in the metrics used to evaluate success in development initiatives that implement ICT is called for.Practical implicationsPractical implications of this paper focus on the need to move away from simple deterministic visions of ICT for development towards an approach based on acknowledging outcome indeterminacy with regard to the consequences of ICT implementation in the Indian healthcare sector, and thus the need for genuine feedback loops.Originality/valueThis paper will be valuable to institutional and information systems theorists, and development practitioners. A framework is provided to unpack the institutional context that drives some of the inefficiency in the Indian healthcare sector.

BioBoard

Australia — New Federal Research Money for Plant Genomics. Australia — New Clinical Trial Facility Under Construction in Western Australia. Australia — New Blood Test to Check for Parkinson's Disease. Australia — Australian Prime Minister Discusses Possibility of Stricter Immigration Rules for HIV-Positive People. Australia — Murdoch Study Shows Positive Results for Rockeby. Australia — Biotech Companies Benefit from Australian Government's Marketing Grants. China — Chinese Project to Help Prepare for Flu Pandemics. China — China Experts Identify Cancer-Preventing Gene Type. China — China Plans On-the-Spot Checks of Drug Manufacturers. China — HIV/AIDS Victims in Henan Get Free TCM Treatment. China — WHO Calls for Human Bird Flu Samples from China. China — Sino-Swiss Center for Cassava Technology Opens in Shanghai. Hong Kong — HK and Australian Experts to Launch Trials on New Therapy for NPC. India — NGOs in India Protest Abbott's Decision to Withhold Essential Medicines from Thailand. India — Global AIDS Research Body CAVD Keen on India. India — Torrent Pharma Launched the World's First Polypill. India — India and Germany to Set up Joint Group on Agriculture. India — India Among Six WHO Developing Nations to Receive Grant for Influenza Vaccine Technology. India — NHS of Britain to Make Huge Investments in Indian Healthcare Sector. India — ICMR's HIV Vaccine Showing Positive Response in Clinical Trials. India — Dr Reddy's Laboratories Cuts Costs of Cancer Therapy. India — Indian Herbal Remedy Cancer Hope. Indonesia — Indonesia to get Influenza Vaccine Technology from WHO. Indonesia — US Sets Up Jakarta Office to Boost Bird-Flu Fight. Singapore — TNT Appoints New Managing Director. Singapore — Cancer Research Gets Boost with US$20 Million Donation. Taiwan — Research Brings Hope for Alzheimer's Cure. Taiwan — Researchers Demonstrate Cost-Effective Platform for Producing Blood Clotting Proteins. Others — Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer Announce Worldwide Collaboration to Develop and Commercialize Anticoagulant and Metabolic Compounds. Others — WHO's 9-Point Plan will Protect Patients from Medical Errors.

Scaling of health information systems in India: Challenges and approaches

This article addresses the issue of scaling of information systems (IS) in both theoretical and empirical terms. Scaling is an important issue in IS, especially in the contemporary context of globalization, as attempts are ongoing to expand IS in the same context as well as take it into other contexts. Theoretically, an information-infrastructure (II) perspective is drawn on to analyze the challenge of scaling, viewing it not merely as a technical problem, but as a socio-technical one involving a heterogeneous network constituted of technology, people, processes, and the institutional context. Empirically, scaling is analyzed based on experiences from an ongoing project to implement health information systems within the primary health care sector in India. The theoretically informed empirical analysis leads to some preliminary insights relating to the questions of what is being scaled and how it is being scaled. Some conclusions are drawn on theoretical and practical challenges related to scaling, and on implications for human-resource capacity development. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Private initiatives and policy options: recent health system experience in India

In the recent past the impact of structural adjustment in the Indian health care sector has been felt in the reduction in central grants to States for public health and disease control programmes. This falling share of central grants has had a more pronounced impact on the poorer states, which have found it more difficult to raise local resources to compensate for this loss of revenue. With the continued pace of reforms, the likelihood of increasing State expenditure on the health care sector is limited in the future. As a result, a number of notable trends are appearing in the Indian health care sector. These include an increasing investment by non-resident Indians (NRIs) in the hospital industry, leading to a spurt in corporatization in the States of their original domicile and an increasing participation by multinational companies in diagnostics aiming to capture the potential of the Indian health insurance market. The policy responses to these private initiatives are reflected in measures comprising strategies to attract private sector participation and management inputs into primary health care centres (PHCs), privatization or semi-privatization of public health facilities such as non-clinical services in public hospitals, innovating ways to finance public health facilities through non-budgetary measures, and tax incentives by the State governments to encourage private sector investment in the health sector. Bearing in mind the vital importance of such market forces and policy responses in shaping the future health care scenario in India, this paper examines in detail both of these aspects and their implications for the Indian health care sector. The analysis indicates that despite the promising newly emerging atmosphere, there are limits to market forces; appropriate refinement in the role of government should be attempted to avoid undesirable consequences of rising costs, increasing inequity and consumer exploitation. This may require opening the health insurance market to multinational companies, the proper channelling of tax incentives to set up medical institutions in backward areas, and reinforcing appropriate regulatory mechanisms.