With all that has happened over the last year, healthcare workers and organizations have felt the need for information technology like never before. The pandemic has emphasized the need for automation in healthcare organizations yet there are many challenges faced by the healthcare IT industry. Many patients are not fully engaged in digital healthcare and remain unaware of their services and their benefits. We, at Medicircle, have brought a new series on the healthcare CIOs and IT Managers where we are talking to the eminent IT personnel of healthcare, and discussing the challenges and opportunities that healthcare shall bring about the world post-COVID.

Ameen Reddy is the IT Manager at Herbertpur Christian hospital, A unit of Emmanuel Hospital Association, which is a charitable and nonprofit organization with around 20 hospitals and 50 projects in seven states in the north and northeast India. He is dedicated healthcare IT professional with over a decade of experience. His expertise lies in hardware and software management, troubleshooting, and providing IT support to all the hospital staff. He also provides training to end-users, including a medical and non-medical staff of ERP software, as well as teaching the nursing students too. 

Challenges of healthcare sector 

Ameen informs, “There are many challenges in the healthcare sector. 

Major infrastructure: This is especially observed in rural areas. During my struggling years, the networking and software were not adequate for the hospitals and the healthcare. There was a need to provide better services to the patients.  

Implementing the software: Proper knowledge of software was very important. Many people were illiterate about software and I had to train them to give proper support on the technical side. 

Finances: We had minimum resources to give the best of services. We need to cooperate with the management to bridge the gap between the fundings.

So slowly, I overcame many things. Now, we are doing good with better software running. Our network is good and we are able to provide services to 300 patients in a period of 50 -60 patients. I can see good patient satisfaction and work with a dedicated spirit. 

Patient satisfaction is very important 

Ameen states , “Patient’s satisfaction is very important and the backbone of the healthcare industry. It is not only facilitating EMRs, patient records, seamless information flow, but also making sure that the patient is getting happily discharged from the hospital. It is important to make sure about each and every paper, document or report is accessed online with regular alerts on the phone. This is the beautification of technology post COVID.”

Going paperless is the new trend for the healthcare 

Ameen says, “Tuition and training are very important because now we are going ahead with cloud technology and a central database. Everything is going to be paperless. A lot of modules are going to be through digital education like providing reports online. A lot of healthcare care setups are going digital now especially by being paperless. When I joined, there was a lot of paperwork. Now, we can see all areas without paper and getting computerized. During the last two years of the pandemic, many people cannot travel. So, in many areas of healthcare, we can see it is mandatory to know the system and adapt to the system.” 

IT technology is the need of the hour for healthcare sector

Ameen informs, “The situation is changing now. The medical teams were not earlier interested in IT technology. Now, after seeing this situation, we have started with the AI system. A lot of softwares is connected to the studying of reports and giving feedback which is research based. So the physical is now digital. Everything is online now. Many patients are consulting telephonically and as per the guidelines of emergency, else they are not willing to visit hospital.” 

Personal journey of Ameen Reddy 

Ameen says, “I am glad to share my experience. For the last decade, when I joined, I was new to the system because me being an engineer. Now, I am sure that I can help with healthcare.

So, when I joined and looked back, I am very glad that I could spend time doing hard work and trust in God to achieve success. So, by the grace of God, I am a stable, happy, and satisfied person. I have joy with helping patients on the technical side who need moral support. So, there are a lot of challenges and struggles. It’s a huge job satisfaction giving joy and happiness to patients who are thanking you. As an IT Manager, helping patients out in this need where nobody wants to come to the hospital.”

(Edited by Dr.Rati Parwani )