The fourth edition of India’s largest confluence of digital-technology stakeholders, the IoT India Congress 2019 concluded its two-day event in Bangalore with a footfall of 1600+  participants  and 70+  speakers recently. 

The two-day session focussed on ten tracks, namely: Energy, Healthcare, Defence, Standards and Regulatory, Retail, Digital Communication, Skills and Development, Agriculture, Manufacturing and Smart Cities.

During the event, a whitepaper was launched emphasising on 'Why wellness centres are the key for the success of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Ayogya Yojana (AB- PMJAY)'.

The Primary Health Centers (PHC) have been the cornerstone of the healthcare delivery mechanism in the country. What the scheme needs is a robust mechanism by which not only can patients be monitored at large but also show the Primary Health centres are equipped with state-of-the-art facilties to make proactive intervention a reality.

"The 2019 budget again allocates close to Rs 62659 crores to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for ensuring health standards for the entire population. While it is a step in the right direction we still feel that the fundamental issues that lie with the Primary Health centres are yet to be addressed today. At best 20% of the Primary Health centres meet any government criteria for public health. More than 25 to 30% of them operate without equipment doctors as well as medicines. To bolster the presence of the Primary Health centres what we feel needs to be done is to create an ecosystem where private Health Services work with government supported by robust technology and program brought on from technology start-ups to ensure that 24 7 monitoring can be done", mentions Dr Vikram Venkateswaran Director – Digital Risk, Risk Advisory, Deloitte India.

According to the whitepaper, the most important ingredient for the success of the Wellness program is creating the right ecosystem that includes the provider of the PHC, the family, local physician, medical device provider, district hospital, the local health authorities, technology providers and the network providers. 

"The challenge in the past has been that the onus of Wellness has been put on the individual. Most care providers would not intervene post discharge and would pick up the onus of care only if the patient is admitted again. Given the lack of funds and lack of resources, the only way to ensure success is to monitor patients for Wellness. This would mean a change in philosophy from defence to attack. In other words the entire mechanism has to be cleared to be proactive in identifying monitoring and managing emerging disease conditions. As you can see, we need a complete ecosystem of constituents to come together and create a low cost solution to make this happen", points out Ajit Ashok Director, Marketing Solutions , Big Data & Analytics, Philips Innovation Campus

Wellness is a new concept in India. While healthcare standards have improved, wellness needs a change in policies, technology, processes and people. The correct approach to wellness would reduce the burden of admissions in the Ayushman Bharat Program.