Digital Medicine

The Inside Story of National Health Portal of India

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 10:14:33 PDT

National Health Portal of India has been on our minds for a long time. This is the inside story of working for the national health portal of India which is scheduled for launch on 1st October 2013, almost four years after it first came under consideration. It’s a very optimistic project and a wordle created from the project report showcases that very well. First, some history and

Wearable Technology in Healthcare: Will It Take Root in India?

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 03:06:03 PDT

After self-quantifying apps, with the advent of Google Glasses, Wearable tech is soon going to be a big thing in healthcare. The movement for self-quantifying patients is not too old. Many experts believe that self-quantifying patients are the logical next step in evolution of person-centered healthcare. Physicians have found wearable self-quantifying by patients especially useful in

Indian Healthcare Industry in the 21st Century

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 06:48:20 PDT

You better start swimmin' Or you'll sink like a stone, For the times they are a-changin' - Bob Dylan Healthcare has been changing in drifts and shifts over the past few centuries and Nothing will ever be the same again. Tim Berners-Lee (father of Internet) made the biggest financial sacrifice in recent times when he refused to patent his hyper text transfer protocol and instead threw it open

Three Legal tips For Practicing Telemedicine in India

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 07:55:59 PDT

The Internet is now commonplace in India and Healthcare is set to benefit greatly by using internet for our huge and populous country. Telemedicine is one immediate aspect of the web which is set to take off because of the many benefits it provides in the Indian Scenario. A lot of deaths in India are because of treatable diseases like TB, Diarrhea, and Malaria. The doctor: patient ratio at

Social Media To Be The Commonest Source Of Continuing Medical Education

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 06:12:27 PST

Social Media is the commonest use of Internet. Everyone uses the internet to access their emails and Facebook accounts. A Google search engine is the gateway to all information for most of us. These platitudes of an everyday normal life also apply to physicians. Communication technology has made things easy for doctors. Keeping up-to-date with medical advances has become an easy part of everyday

Portable UV Disinfector To Control Hospital Acquired Infections

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 06:21:59 PST

Technology provides hospitals with tools which can greatly improve their quality of care. This small portable disinfector is one such tool. Hospital acquired infection is an age old problem which refuses to go away. Infections acquired during hospital stay still constitute one of the top 5 causes of mortality in patients. Antimicrobial solutions and fogging help in reducing the microbial burden

What doctors don't know about the drugs they prescribe : Video

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 22:15:51 PST

Medical Journalism and communication has become sensationalistic. Potentially beneficial results are overhyped and harmful possibilities simply brushed under the rug. Positive findings are around twice as likely to be published as negative findings. When a new drug gets tested, the results of the trials should be published for the rest of the medical world -- except much of the time, negative or

Freeing Medical Data: Video

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 22:00:35 PST

Technology has enabled us to collect vast amounts of medical data from myriad sources. But most of this data is locked in silos and unavailable for use by researchers. Performing a medical or genomic experiment on a human requires informed consent and careful boundaries around privacy. But what if the data that results, once scrubbed of identifying marks, was released into the wild? At

Benefits and Risks of Healthcare Social Media

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 00:17:03 PST

Social media includes all online tools and technologies which let people communicate and publish content easily. The most popular among them are Blogs, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Widely used for communications and marketing, these channels are considered as important (if not more important) as mainstream media channels like newspapers and television. The use of social media in healthcare

Top 10 Health Technology Hazards For 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 06:33:26 PST

The evolution of healthcare information technology systems such as electronic health records (EHRs) has definitely helped improve quality and efficiency in healthcare. At the same time, there’s a growing level of complexity and opportunity for error. With increasing use of technology in healthcare, healthcare providers need to be wary of the associated risks with its use. Now in its sixth year,

Ten Most Innovative Companies In Healthcare 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 09:01:30 PDT

Fast Company routinely publishes their list of 'Most Innovative Companies'. You can find their earlier list here. Here's their list of most innovative companies in healthcare for 2012. 1) National Marrow Donor Program Their use of technology shortens the 'Bone marrow transplant' time by using an online hub that helps keep donors and recipients on track during the steps before

Doctors in Australia Will Please Maintain Silence on Social Media.

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 11:09:56 PDT

The Americans never got it right in healthcare anyways. The Canadians have a beautified version of the same. The Europeans have their hearts in the right place and are still working on theirs. Now its Australia's turn. Healthcare social media is definitely the elephant in the room and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) has geared up to fulfill its mandate of “

Indians Expect To Lead The mHealth Revolution : PwC Survey

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 02:25:21 PDT

With large penetration of mobile phones in the country (close to 1000 million cellphone users, teledensity >79%), India has realized that mHealth adoption will play a very important part in improving access and quality of healthcare in the country. Countries like China, Brazil and the US have all turned to mHealth in varying degrees. There are significant differences in mhealth

Doctors on Google: Manhattan Research Survey 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 00:22:48 PDT

It is important for the healthcare industry stakeholders in India to keep a close watch on physician practices in the United States as the same behaviour is soon replicated in Indian metros because of a large proportion of US returned doctors. Google partnered with Manhattan Research to conduct a very revealing physician survey recently which also has implications for the Indian markets. A

Now Indians Can Compare Prices of Branded Drugs on Mobile Phones

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 22:37:13 PDT

Consumer mHealth is here. There has been a spurt of entrepreneurship in this field and some Indian phone/ mobile based start-ups have been launched over the past couple of years. Mainly, they have been services meant to connect healthcare consumers with doctors via phone (like Ask a Doctor from Vodafone, Mediphone by Religare technologies, Dial UR Doctor and Mera Doctor). Most of these tools

Crowdsourcing Supervision Of Healthcare Delivery Services in India

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 06:18:25 PDT

Hello ? Where is the Doctor ? The days of free lunches for doctors in government services will soon be over, if this attendance crowd-sourcing becomes the norm all over India. Thousands of Indian primary health centers (PHC) work without doctors because there are none posted. Thousands more remain idle because the doctor and other medical staff simply remain unavailable. Absenteeism is

How Doctors Use Smartphone Apps

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 06:15:37 PDT

There is an increasing use of smartphones by all sections of society in India. Villagers and city dwellers alike are hooked onto many multimedia apps, the most popular being Facebook and Youtube. Doctors, too, are avid users of smartphones and medical apps like Epocrates and Medscape. See:5 Useful and Free Android Medical Apps It is always informative to look at trends among doctors

Social Media in Healthcare: A Collective Presentation from HealthWorks Collective

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 07:26:48 PDT

Cleveland Clinic ( in partnership with Johnson and Johnson) recently organized the third annual Patient Experience Empathy and Innovation Summit on May 20-22 at the Inter-Continental Hotel & Conference Center on Cleveland Clinic's campus in Ohio. The attendees (from 34 states and 28 countries) represented hospitals, healthcare systems and businesses.This physician/hospital led event strives

Download Free eBook: Internet For Doctors

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 07:03:08 PDT

Over the past 2 decades, the internet has changed the way the world functions. This is specially true for knowledge intensive professions like medicine. From emails to news alerts, networking to evidence gathering : Medical practice is no more what it was 20 years ago. For newbies, here's our effort to make your first steps online easier. Just fill out the form below to download our latest

Financial Malpractices and Ethics among Doctors in India : A Survey

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 05:18:23 PDT

It's now slightly more than a week, 8 days in fact, since the scathing interview of the Medical Council of India chief by Aamir khan on national television. The 4th episode of Satyamev Jayate targeting corruption and malpractices amongst doctors in India has ruffled quite a few feathers in the medical profession. While many have praised the show for daring to take on the 'mighty' doctors,

Why Doctors Love To Hate Electronic Health Records

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Fri, 11 May 2012 07:13:00 PDT

Doctors love to hate electronic health records. Over the years, many surveys have tried to pinpoint the physicians who are more likely to be satisfied by their EHRs. Surveys have found that those in primary care or Internal medicine are generally more satisfied with their EHRs than their colleagues in Oncology or Ophthalmology. Also, solo physicians were the most satisfied and that

The Medscapeindia (MSI) Awards 2012 Nominations Are Open

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Fri, 11 May 2012 07:02:11 PDT

The Medscapeindia was established as an "foundation pursuing a socio-scientific aim" in the year 2010. Medscapeindia serves as a platform that unites doctors for discussion and debate on relevant subjects. And now the inaugural MSI Awards "Recognizing excellence in Healthcare" nominations are open. Today, the healthcare and medical sector faces myriad problems unique to this niche in

The Evolution Of Health 2.0 As A Fundamental Human Right

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 23:57:59 PDT

Healthcare has changed, but this was not a sudden shift. This change from traditional healthcare to Health 2.0 has been a slow drift and it has been creeping on us since 30th April 1945. When the Allies defeated the Axis powers at the end of World War two, a fundamental shift occurred in prevalent human thinking. Power ceased to remain just in a few powerful hands. There was a universal push

3 Reasons Why Healthcare Professionals Cannot Afford To Give #hcsm a Miss

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:39:40 PDT

Practicing medicine is a very personal experience. Patients don't go to hospitals to buy medicines but to access healthcare services. Healthcare professionals don't deliver a product, but a high quality personalized service. Current hospital practices have resulted in patients in India classifying any contact with a hospital / Healthcare delivery institute as an anxiety-inducing

Health Tablets Proposed For Public Health In India

noreply@blogger.com (Neelesh Bhandari) — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 04:26:41 PDT

India has increased planned expenditure in healthcare to 2.5 % . While this is a big jump from the previous 1% of GDP, do note that it is about 5% to 10% in most civilized countries. The Indian government is now betting big on technology and eHealth. Faced with shameful data collection practices, health ministry officials are now looking at using Tablets to improve collection of health data