Healthcare in the Era of Digital Convergence

Digital convergence promises to redefine the way healthcare sector operates today D igital transformation over the past decade has resulted in a major overhaul in healthcare industry. Care delivery and system performance are the areas that have best reflected transformation aided by innovation and integration. Today, as digital convergence enables the seamless integration of data, audio and video, the next generation of revolution in healthcare is already setting the stage for a consumer-driven business set up. This paper discusses the need for innovation in healthcare sector as digital convergence promises to usher in a better life for everyone and not just a better lifestyle for the affluent. Though healthcare sector has seen a lot of progress in the last few years, healthcare solutions are yet to reach the common man in significant terms. Many a times, rapidly booming innovations have been delivered to medical practices in a disorganized and chaotic fashion that defy the very purpose of innovation. Additionally, diffusion of IT into different stakeholders/parties has not achieved the same level of signifi cance. While the payer has made maximum investment in managing the vast pool of administrative and fi nancial information, the patients and healthcare providers lag far behind. So what is the most effective way to reach out through innovation in healthcare sector? There are three primary driving forces that can change the way of innovation – consumer focus, technology and new business models [1]. Though technology is the enabler and efficient business models are as much important to ensure a sustainable platform, consumer leads business. It is imperative to engage the consumer to address soaring costs of healthcare – a malaise that has paralyzed the entire sector. In the next stage, knowledge empowered consumers will defi ne the demand for a seamless collaboration and information sharing – quite similar to the way their participation has transformed social media. The power of today's internet is a small glimpse of what is in store for the future.