Innovation in home healthcare: key to addressing demand-supply gaps in healthcare

Innovations in home healthcare often integrate technology in the delivery of medical care and services thus making it possible for regular monitoring of healthconditions; facilitating doctor-patient interactions based in real time data and making changes to the lifestyle so as to achieve optimumhealth. While COVID-19 exposed the lack of preparedness of the industry, it also ushered in a new era of medical treatment and care where every home can be turned into a healthcare facility, if the need arises and where quality of care can be integrated into our daily lives. Not just testing, home healthcare is seeing a big jump with nursing and physiotherapy services for recuperating patients now being made accessible to people at home. With trained healthcare personnel, nurses, caregivers and physiotherapists being made available, many of our senior citizens are now receiving care at home.

Innovations in home healthcare often integrate technology in the delivery of medical care and services thus making it possible for regular monitoring of healthconditions; facilitating doctor-patient interactions based in real time data and making changes to the lifestyle so as to achieve optimumhealth. Home healthcare, as per recent research reports, can reduce unnecessary hospital visits by over 65% and the overall operational costs of hospitals by about 20%.2 It also improves quality of care as patients can receive individualised treatment designed to meet their specific needs, besides recuperating from the comforts of their homes. While home-based health care is quickly evolving as a new normal along with technology-assisted healthcare delivery, it is also reinforcing the World Health Organization’s basic approach – health is not just absence of disease, it is a state of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being.