Round table on enhancing patient safety with technology held

CHENNAI: A private healthcare leaders' round table was organised to address how technology can enhance patient safety and quality at the point of care. The discussion focused on the importance, benefits, preventive healthcare and challenges of implementing technologies such as the Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) at the hospital-level.

Voice of Healthcare and Wolters Kluwer hosted the roundtable that was moderated by Dr Girdhar Gyani, Director General, Association of Healthcare Providers India (AHPI), and several prominent leaders from the medical fraternity and health industry.

Setting the context of the roundtable, Dr Girdhar Gyani, highlighted the key challenges of the healthcare industry. According to Dr Gyani, negative perceptions about the private healthcare sector versus irrational regulations, lack of focus on promotive - preventive care, non-communicable disease burden, medico-legal cases, shortage of healthcare workforce, financial sustenance, quality and patient safety, and use of technology are some of the main challenges that need attention.

He added that technology will not only offshoot the shortage of resources, but will also improve accuracy in diagnosis, operational efficiency - financial sustenance leading to overall patient safety.

Digital tools such as the Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) which are now widely being adopted in the healthcare sector, are known to enable clinicians to deliver improved patient care as they provide relevant and evidence-based information to clinicians and healthcare teams at the point of care.

Speaking on how CDSS adoption can enable patient safety, Harish Ramachandran, Country Head of Clinical Effectiveness, Wolters Kluwer said, "More than one hundred independent research studies concur that when clinicians use UpToDate, a CDSS tool, patients receive better care and hospitals show improvement in quality measures. Three main pillars where it adds value are changing and improving medical decisions, reducing medical errors, and enhancing the quality of care."

Experts said that consistent approach to the deployment of technology in all healthcare institutions and an evidence-based strategy for patient management will pave the way for improved clinical outcomes and patient care.