New Delhi: The Global Digital Health Summit 2024, held on October 4-5 at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai, concluded successfully. A key highlight of the summit was the launch of the world’s first Patient Centricity Index, a tool designed to transform how healthcare providers assess patient-centered care, enhance healthcare marketing, and improve the evaluation of care quality.
Dr. Rajendra Pratap Gupta, Chairman of the Global Digital Health Summit, emphasized, “Digital and health are not separate. It should be considered a force and should not be feared. Currently, we have finite time and hence, it’s crucial to bring help directly to patients through innovative means. Expanding digital solutions is key to improving patient engagement, but trust and privacy must be at the forefront. Therefore, these digital tools must also ensure the highest levels of security to protect patients and their data.”
He added, “Patients always need to come first. Moreover, with this proliferation of the internet, geography has become history. To further this vision, we introduced the Patient Centricity Index—a groundbreaking, world’s first initiative designed to put patients at the centre of healthcare advancements.”
The summit also addressed the need to expand digital health solutions to rural India. Dr. Rajeev Raghuvanshi, Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), noted, “Currently, most Digital Health solutions are concentrated in urban areas and corporate hospitals, which limits affordability and access for those in remote areas. Digital Health is meant to bridge the gap in accessibility and affordability, but we have yet to fully realize that potential. If profitability is the primary driver, we will never reach the last-mile beneficiaries. It is crucial to develop models that ensure Digital Health solutions extend to rural India, truly benefiting the people who need these innovations the most.”
The summit featured a diverse range of discussions on topics such as AI integration in healthcare, privacy and security in digital health, digital hospital transformation, and the role of the Ayushman Bharat Scheme in driving industry collaboration.
Bharat Lal, Secretary General of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), stressed, “The right to healthcare is inseparable from the right to life. This makes improving access, affordability, and quality of care essential. It’s vital to ensure that everyone in the country has access to basic healthcare services. In this regard, Digital Health has the potential to drive progress in the right direction. Therefore, embracing technology should be done with confidence and without hesitation.”
Other notable speakers included Dino Cataldo Dell’Accio, CIO of the UN Joint Staff Pension Fund, who emphasized the importance of digitalization in achieving true patient centricity, and Amitabh Nag, CEO of the Digital India Bhashini Division, who discussed the role of language technology in improving healthcare access across India.
Sudarshan Jain, Secretary-General, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA), shared perspectives on how digital technologies are reshaping the pharmaceutical industry and N. Nawin Sona, IAS, Secretary, Public Health Department, Govt. of Maharashtra, spotlighted the state’s Digital Health initiatives and the crucial role of government in advancing the efforts.
The event culminated in the Global Digital Health Innovation Awards, celebrating outstanding contributions to the digital health sector. Attendees left with new insights, strategies, and collaborations that promise to accelerate the adoption of digital health solutions globally. With over 16.30 CPD credit hours by the CPD Standards Office, UK and 10 CNE credits by the Indian Nursing Council, the Global Digital Health Summit 2024 set the stage for a more connected, efficient, and patient-centric healthcare future.