How AI-Powered High-Tech Tools Are Transforming Indian Healthcare Industry?

Whenever a person is detected with some medical condition in India, most of them tend to dodge the treatment process either due to lack of time to go through such lengthy procedures or inability to fulfill the demanded expenses. This, in turn, leads to a greater spread of diseases. However, with the advent of artificial intelligence, the scenario is about to change. The technology is becoming an integral part of the healthcare industry globally. In India, it is dramatically transforming the space of diagnostics. Multiple healthcare startups have been established in the past few years and some have already come out with AI tools to screen the disease through non-invasive methods with great accuracy in a few minutes. These startups are attracting great funding intending to thrust speed and accuracy. Through the combination of computer engineering and medical sciences, these tools can perform without human support and are able to catch the anomalies that even a human-eye can miss. The use of data, algorithms, patterns, deep learning and cognitive computing can save a lot of time from visiting doctors and healthcare center repeatedly. In a country with 1.3 billion population and acute shortage of doctors, AI is no more a luxury rather it has become essential for daily life. In fact, Niti Aayog has placed healthcare as one of the prioritized focus areas for AI intervention. As of present, India only produces 50,000 doctors a year and WHO recommends that the country will need around 2.3 million doctors by 2030. As aforementioned, start-ups are the ones who are pushing healthcare in India into the future lessening the burden of the country’s healthcare system.  

AI as Doctors’ Assistant

AI and healthcare is a holy combination which can bridge the doctor to patient ratio in India. According to Manish Singhal, founding partner at AI-focused venture fund Pi ventures, solutions for public health need an approach which is platform-based and AI-based solutions can provide that. He quoted – “AI replacing doctors is not going to happen and that is what it is intended. AI, which can bring in human-like perception, is an ideal middle layer to bridge the demand-supply gap between patients and doctors. What is important is how you can make quality healthcare available to the masses at scale. That is what is important and AI can help with this.” As the benefits of AI and ML technology are huge, it can lower the cost of healthcare by providing the best treatments at the lowest possible cost. Although Indian companies have made some progress in embedding AI/ML capabilities to diagnostics systems and treatment protocol, yet these are confined to high-end hospitals. Their use has not been adopted in healthcare infrastructure completely. According to some experts, more funding is required in this field to curb such issues. Additionally, due to constant changes in the medical industry, AI may not replace doctors in the near future but can be an assistant to doctors to overcome the shortage of doctors in the country.