Systematic Upgradation of IT in Healthcare Division of Ambuja Neotia Group

Neotia Healthcare Initiative Ltd. [NHIL] a public holding company, was formed to consolidate all healthcare activities of Ambuja Neotia Group under one corporate division. NHIL was also established to bring affordable and world-class health care facilities in the country. The company is growing under the leadership of its founder Chairman Mr Harshavardhan Neotia, Vice chairman and MD Mr. P.L. Mehta & Vice President Ms. Ruma Banerjee and a well charted out plan is on card for its future expansion.

In this article, you will find out the technological evolution we have brought into our healthcare system and how this can change the way healthcare functions in this fast age of technological adoption. Technology Upgradation is a process where huge scope of work is involved and the same can be adopt by proper plaining. We have planned to rollout the process phase wise manner by prioritizing various services for easier implementation without huge commercial effect.

Not long ago, in July 2017 the IT Department of NHIL initiated the first technological upgradation across our healthcare facilities. We started with a good selection of Health Management Information Systems (HMIS) coupled with back office software to support planning, management, and decision making processes in our healthcare facilities. Yet we were always evolving our technologies and subsequently transferred most of our databases to a stronger and advanced version of data-storage - Cloud, which henceforth, has eased organizational decision making in these facilities.

Other technological improvements the IT wing undertook and integrated into our healthcare systems are implementing Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) & Internet Leased Line (ILL) Bandwidth upgradation as well as Security system (Firewall & Anti-virus) upgradation. Since a dedicated bandwidth connection can send and receive data at the same high speed, once implemented our NHIL healthcare units started getting the same high data throughout and there was no drop in data even at peak times. Beside our healthcare units have numerous data and the databases needs to be stored in real-time and backed up regularly. Through MPLS & ILL connectivity, along with registering faster connectivity facilities (like faster backup windows, and enough network capacity to backup data more often) we have made our systems strong and efficient.

A laboratory is a crucial place where a lot of research and analysis takes place 24*7 and to make it even more advanced and facilitate the lab researchers, we have also inducted Radiology and PACS services which is not only bi-directional but are also integrated with HMIS while maintaining the internationally acclaimed industry standard of HL7 (Health Level-7).

Apart from the above technological upgrading we have more innovative technologies planned for the near future. Some of them are Snomed CT compliance EMR, Doctor App, in App Radiology services on App and Cloud backup with data retrieval facilities.

Our latest addition is NeoHealth - a medical app to boost the hospital-patient relationship. NeoHealth is a one-of-a-kind mobile application that guides patients to access all the services of NHIL’s healthcare units at finger-touch. The NeoHealth app is available on Google play store and iStore free of cost. Through this app, patients can add all their family members and update their health records. Other features of this app include download facility of the lab reports, discharge summary and other treatment-related documents which are available in PDF format. The patients/ family members wouldn’t require visiting the hospitals in person for collection of medical records and reports and can access and print copies of the same from the app itself! NeoHealth app is currently rolled out for BNWCCC, NGHC & MEDIPLUS Units.

The contribution of the IT department is almost invisible yet contributes immensely to the success of any healthcare unit, as they stay afloat in the background. Although quite surprising to receive appreciation during the hassle-free day-to-day operation of the systems, the value and support of the IT Department can only be felt and recognized when something goes wrong. Our healthcare IT department has made continuous improvements over the last 2 years in building a robust IT platform enabling efficient healthcare delivery & continues to do so.

Do not forget to share your opinion and suggestion for the IT Department of NHIL (which you might have) to bibhas.c@neotiahealthcare.com. We would appreciate your valuable input.