Impact of Social Media on India Healthcare-Neeraj Kakkar,Manish Shyam Nachnani

8/3/2019 Impact of Social Media on India Healthcare-Neeraj Kakkar,Manish Shyam Nachnani

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Ne eraj Kakkar

M anish Shyam nachnani

Impact of Social Media onIndia Healthcare

October 19th 2011



Social media has varying definitions; the simplest is―Content for the people, by the people‖.

Social media is available in multiple forms for varying enduse, but with the same intent of sharing user generatedcontent with the user communities. Face book, Twitter,LinkedIn, YouTube, RSS etc., the list is endless.

The inroads into healthcare are being made recently.WebMD , Mayo Clinic , ZocDoc and many more services are

helping people collaborate and connect, with a simple motto,to help solve their medical problems and leveragingtechnology to provide better connect and care .

Social media is not an extension of the website or onlinepresence; it’s an interaction and discussion not just thepresence.

The relationship between Doctors and patients have beenpersonal, but with globalization and urbanization the connectis being lost, and social media can restore it.

Health 2.0

Health 2.0 is a term coined to integrate healthcare, web2.0and ehealth. Health 2.0 focuses between collaborationbetween patients, doctors, government agencies etc.

Developed nations have taken a huge leap in health 2.0space with care coordination, Health Information exchanges,Electronic Medical Records etc.

India with its unique demographics and healthcare deliverysystem can leverage the Health 2.0 features ofcollaboration.

Social media is meant for collaboration and makingaudience participatory, Health 2.0 does the same.

Social Media for Healthcare “As patien t b ecome

consumer’s use of social

media becomes necessary”

Referral Management usingsocial media

Referral management is the biggpart of our healthcare value chain.

With no referral managemesystem a patient has to queue and go through the ent

registration process at the referrhospitals (State run agencies)

This has caused excessive patieloads at the district level hospitals.

A referral management systebased on social media principwhere everyone participates chelp solve this problem.



Healthcare in India is skewed in favor of urban population;over 700+ millions of people are deprived of primary

healthcare. Over 70% of specialist healthcare providers are

located in urban areas thus depriving rural areas of

specialized services. Social media can help bridge this gap byenabling virtual presence.

Social media can be used for non-invasive and non-surgicaldiagnosis and treatment. Multiple doctors from across the

nations can collaborate and share their expertise to diagnose

the rural population.

Social media can substantially reduce the cost of healthcare

for rural population. More over with advent in ICT (Information

and Communication Technology) and freely available socialmedia platforms the initial setup cost is negligible.

Rural population also faces the larger challenges in terms ofepidemics and disconnects occurring during natural

calamities, social media can answer these challenges.

Impact of Social media on Rural India Wellness Management

Growing middle class and risinincome are the biggest drivers othe healthcare IT market.

Young Indian consumer needaccess to their data on the go.

With the advent of 3G and smamobile devices, healthcarapplications – apps are finding way to Indian consumers.

Wellness management via socia

media is primary restricted toUrban Indian, but with rapid

urbanization wellness

management will be the key.

Social Media has proved its mer

in developed nations as a

wellness management tool. Social media is for Masses as well as Classes

Social media fits the Indian healthcare pyramid from rural to urban healthcare system. It findseffective usage in primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare system. Social media can fills in the

gaps and address challenges that exist in Indian Healthcare , below is a quick snapshot of the

same.



Indian Population

Government HospitalsMedical education providers

Healthcare Providers / DoctorsMinistry of HealthDepartment of ITState Governments

Heath Insurance companies

Once all these stakeholders are on a single platform,along with regulatory body, access to healthcare for

every citizen will become reality.

India can take a big leap forward and establish HealthInformation Exchange, leveraging programs like UID(Unique Identification).

Social media can play the role of facilitator andenabler in achieving this.

Adopting social media would need support fromregulators because of increased fear of legal

consequences arising from social media usage.

Guidelines on using social media for healthcareneeds to be formulated for levera in the true

Stakeholders for Social Media



Enabling education for Health Workers

Rural India is highly dependent on health workers withmajority of doctors located in urban India, providing righteducation to healthcare workers is the key to improvehealthcare outcomes.

Social media today is the best tool available to provideeducation to these health workers. Social media is able toshare rich media content and ability to share videos, imagesand live chats and video conferencing.

Education provided via social media is highly interactive andis in a conversational mode rather than a printed textbook.

So a doctor sitting in Mumbai can start a hangout in Googleplus and health workers from across the country join in tolearn about their relevant topics.

Social media is highly cost effective; all it takes is aninternet enabled computer for health workers.

Social media for DoctorsThere are a number of social networking sites such

as Sermo, Ozmosis and SocialMD that offer physicians thechance to connect with others in their profession for

knowledge sharing, networking and support.

These sites present safe communities for physicians to

share opinions and interact in a guarded environment.

Improving access to Information

“ Social media is about

conversation “

Diseases Management using

Social MediaAs Indians live more affluent livesand adopt unhealthy western dietsthat are high in fat and sugar, thecountry is experiencing a rise inlifestyle diseases such ashypertension, cancer, and diabetes,which is reaching epidemicproportions

Over the next 5-10 years, lifestyle

diseases are expected to grow at aFaster rate than infectious diseasesin India, and to result in an increasein cost per treatment.

Wellness programs targeted at theworkplace, where many sedentary

jobs are contributing to an erosion ofemployees’ health, could help toreduce the rising incidence oflifestyle diseases.

Employers need to adopt socialmedia to promoted wellness bycreating challenges and adoptinghealthy lifestyle behavior before thedamage is done.

Diabetes is growing at rapid pace. Itis estimated that almost 41 millionIndians are diabetic, and that figureis expected to reach 73.5 million by

2025 and estimated cost of $ 30billion in 2025. This could beprevented if we adopt diseasemanagement principles.

Numerous social media games andphone applications address theseissues.

http://www.sermo.com/

http://www.ozmosis.com/

http://www.socialmd.com/

http://www.socialmd.com/

http://www.ozmosis.com/

http://www.sermo.com/



Private hospitals drivers for adoptions

Private healthcare groups are early adopters of technology and socialmedia.

Indian healthcare system is based on Out of pocket system hence theusage of social media will grow exponentially as Indian consumerslook for the best possible treatment.

Early adaptation will help maintain the competitive advantage to thesecompanies.

Indian government has no clear policy to promote Health 2.0 (socialmedia) , even the basic Health Information Technology policy is not inplace.

The government sector lacks computer literacy leading to adoptionproblems.

Even though private players are adopting these new technologies theyare skeptical as Supreme Court of India has not addressed thespecific right of privacy.

The focus of private players revolve around extending brand image,creating awareness and engaging consumers by helping them adopthealthy lifestyle.

With most of the patents records being paper based adaptation of ITtechnologies and social media will need a lot of ground work and firmcommitment from all the stakeholders.

Leading brands and wellness products are creating awareness by creating challenges to help consumstay fit and healthy. Some of the key examples of such challenges include ―Healthy Heart CompetitionMax Hospital.

The wellness game is focused on helping consumers understandheir heart. Cardio vascular diseases are the major cause of deathn India. Hence such initiatives are the need of an hour.

The challenge focuses of helping members learn what’s good forheir health.

Traditionally gaming has been used in villages and ruralSector to help them understand importance of sanitation,cleanliness and basics of healthcare .

Social media is emulating our grass roots.



Emotional Connect - Past and Future

Healthcare ecosystem has survived on emotional connectbetween doctors and patients. In rural India doctors havebeen considered next to ―God ―.

With growing consumerism and education levels, consumersare now taking charge of their health and don’t blindly trustdoctors. They ask proactive questions.

Migration has resulted to emergence of social media basedemotional connect. With urbanization on the rise, wheredose a common consumer find “Who is the good doctor in

this locality?”

Online tools, listing and social media basedrecommendation works and help establish emotionalconnect and trust with the new doctors.

Patients share their stories and experiences at particularfacility and rate the services of doctors. In absence ofindustry ratings, social media based recommendation will bethe only source for doctor selection for a new consumer.

Hence medical professionals in urban areas are proactivelyworking on creating their ―Social Media Image‖

Smart Apps and medical equipment for socialhealthcare

With the emerging use of smart phones, healthcareapplications have gained momentum.

Healthcare applications are available across the spectrumranging from scheduling application, disease managementapplication, symptoms checker.

Smart medical equipment’s with capability to integrate withthe web, smart phones will help sharing of medical data withconsumers and between hospitals.

Smart medical pill boxes, fit bit , nike shoe chip , sleepingbands are all exam les of smart wellness devices.

“ Social media c an

revolutionize the prevent ive

car e ecosystem “

Population Management

Population management is one ofthe key focus areas of Indiangovernment.

With geographical barriers healthdata usually does not reach I timetill key decision makers.

Social media can help in predictingspread of specific diseases over theregion.

Patients and doctors can shareinstances of diseases and patternscan be identified using Googlemaps and spread of suchcommunicable diseases can bearrested.

Social media is of great use wheninformation needs to be shared withhuge audiences. H1N1 awarenesscampaign was the leading examplehow social media can be used tospread preventive healthinformation and spread awareness..



Emerging Health Insurance Market andproblems

While the liberalization of the healthcare sector will increase

the penetration of insurance policies, the widespread use ofhealth insurance in India could take many years. Onereason is that insurance companies lack the data they need

to assess health risks accurately. In addition, today’s

insurance products work on an indemnity basis—that is,

they reimburse patients only after they have paid theirhealthcare bills. Since many people cannot afford such large

payments, even if they are subsequently reimbursed, they

will not choose to purchase medical insurance.

Social media can help in increasing awareness on

necessity of health insurance, changing the mindset ofIndian consumers on their attitude towards health insurance.

Social can also provide lifestyle analytics and behavioral

data, although this is not of much use today the futuredefinitely holds promise.

Convergence of Health IT and Social Media

Most patient records are paper based and very difficult toconvert to electronic format.

Lack of standards, local HIT system that do not adhere tostandards for information representation and exchange. Thiscould be further complicated because of the use of multiplelocal languages by patients and health workers

India has the larger challenge to migrate from paper basedsystem to HIT and integrate it with social media to

address the demographical and geographical challenges.

Marketing Platform

Social media has replaced traditionalprint and display media as the leading

marketing platform.

Social media engages consumers. It’sbased on the concepts of pullmarketing rather than a traditionalpush mode.

We rarely trust ads when it’s a concern of health, but we trustopinions and advice.

Did we ever visit a doctor or hospitalbecause of advertisement?

Social media is being used to markethealth insurance andWellness products but the emotionalchord has not struck yet.

Lack benchmarking and ratingfeatures like developed nations areyet not available to comparephysicians.

Social media has achieved greatersuccess in marketing ―MedicalTourism “ primarily because ofextensive use of social media indeveloped nations and rising cost ofhealthcare is develo ed nations.



[email protected]

[email protected]

Neeraj KakkarNeeraj has over 10 years of experienc e in the field of HIT .Managing large healthcare

products and projects, with expertise in the SOA based architecture.

Manish NachnaniManish has over 7 years of experience in the field of HIT with focus on innovative

healthcare consumer products and leveraging health 2.0 and soc ial media capabilities for

disease and wellness management.

“ Social media provides ordinary patients an doctors powers to do extraordinary things “

mailto:[email protected]




Impact of Social Media on India Healthcare-Neeraj Kakkar,Manish Shyam Nachnani

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