Research study on Risks in Healthcare Tech

Risks in Healthcare Tech

By Saurav Nath and Mayank Kothari (PGDRM July’21-22)

INDIAN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM AND CHALLENGES

Home to some Poorest health indicators.
7 Physician per 1000 people (per PWC report 2014)
Disparity in the distribution of healthcare infrastructure and resources in rural and urban areas.
66% of India’s population lives in rural areas, they have access to only 33% of the doctors.

Crux of the story:

The hospitals are understaffed and under-financed, forcing patients to visit private medical practitioners and hospitals, consequently leading to high out of pocket expenditure.

A new health index launched at the UN General Assembly ranks India 143 out of 188 countries and 10 out of 11 in Asia Pacific countries.
23% of the population resides in urban India with exposure to 75% Dispensaries , 60% Hospitals and 80% Doctors with Rural India.

Crux of the story:

Rural India always takes a backseat. People Lack adequate access to primary healthcare service.

What is Telemedicine and its objectives

Telemedicine is the distribution of health-related services and information via electronic information and telecommunication technologies.
Independent of the distance between the health care expert and patients.
Solves the issue the country has been facing pertaining to distance and accessibility in distant Rural and Urban section.
Recently, telemedicine has widely taken assistance in handling critical care procedures as well.

UNDERSTANDING THE OBJECTIVES

Overcome Geographical Barriers
Clinical Support
Use of ICT
Improve Health Outcomes

Benefits of Telemedicine

Access to primary healthcare
Access to specialists
Regular monitoring
Reduced cost of healthcare

TELE-MEDICINE – PILLARS OF SUCCESS

Technological developments and changing digital landscape.
Increased YoY usage at 20-30% CAGR, (India most likely to surpass US in coming few years in terms of smartphone population).
Growing awareness, particularly with the younger and middle age of Indian demographics.
Due to easy accessibility, convenience, reduced travel time, and affordability several patients are opting for telemedicine and online healthcare services.

BUSINESS MODEL – APOLLO TELEHEALTH SERVICES

FOUNDED YEAR: 1999

HEADQUARTER: HYDERABAD

OUTREACH: 115 telemedicine units across 13 countries including India, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Oman, UAE, Uganda, Yemen among others

SERVICES: Tele-consulting, tele-radiology, Telecardiology, Tele-emergency, condition management, Tele-home care and Tele-ICU

SOLUTIONS: Mobile medical units for disaster management. Kiosks are equipped with medical instruments such as digital ECG, body scale, enabled & printer, digital BP monitor, digital stethoscope, video conference.

REVIEW OF THE MODEL

WEIGHING THE ASSOCIATED RISKS

DATA SECURITY AND PRIVACY

Data security and privacy are among the challenges that happen to be at top of the heap.
Private health information outvalues financial data.
Patients give consent for having a device implanted or sensors embedded, or for using a health app. However, overreliance on consent too often results in weak privacy protections. Patients frequently do not read or fully understand privacy policies, and consent shifts the burden of privacy protection to the patient, who may not be able to make meaningful privacy choices.
Historical examples: In 2011 the popular fitness device Fitbit inadvertently exposed users’ self-reported sexual activity, failing to acknowledge that some forms of physical exertion may be sensitive information.

CONTRACTUAL RISKS:

Providers may work with various organizations to provide telemedicine services. These can include the companies that provide the platform or software necessary for the appointments.
Having weak contracts / agreements will lead to ambiguousness pertaining to ownership of equipment, data, TAT.
If a malpractice claim or payment dispute arises, the details of the contract become essential. For this reason, providers should seek legal advice before entering into a binding agreement.

STATE LAWS AND LICENSING:

In advanced healthcare setting such as Telehealth, The patient and the provider are most likely to work out of different geographies implying, laws and licensing requirements of multiple states may be relevant.
Compliance with different state laws will be imperative.
Involving a legal attorney to comply with ever evolving state laws becomes important.

DATA ACCURACY AND MISDIAGNOSIS RISK:

Potential barrier to effective telehealth practice is the accuracy of data transmission.
As per study, the accuracy of physical function measurements revealed that Internet bandwidth affects the validity and reliability for fine motor task measurements.
Can be mitigated by complying to Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine format, which is an international gold standard for medical images and associated information.

SECURITY RISK OF VIDEO CONFERENCE:

Video conferencing software tends to be unavailable for software code inspection to confirm security and compliance to high quality encryption standards. It therefore, cannot be audited from outside, so there is no way of finding out if a security breach has occurred or not.

Overview

Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate and a focused technology corporation headquartered in Munich and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe[6] with branch offices abroad.
It was incorporated in the year 1847.
Siemens AG is subdivided in the business units of power and gas, wind power and renewables, energy management, building technologies, mobility, digital factory, process industries and drives, financial services and healthcare.
The former businesses are managed under the Siemens AG conglomerate, Siemens Healthineers is managed separately as “a company within a company” to enjoy greater freedom in its market development, strategic direction and resource allocation to be able to better react to changes in the external environment.
Siemens Healthineers accounts for approximately 1/9 of the company’s revenue and hence takes a major role in the risk management of the company.

Business Model

Risks faced by Siemens Healthineers

Internal Risk

Skilled Labor

Structured succession planning
Retention and career development
Training opportunities
Employer branding

Mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic alliances

Standardized processes.
Dedicated roles and responsibilities.
Claim management.

Weak internal controls

Standardized procedures and uniform standards for evaluating internal controls.
Internal Control Officer and Corporate Risk and Internal Control Committee.
Regular evaluation and review of internal controls by management and internal auditor.

External Risk

Government laws and regulations

Use of quality management tools
Use of measure of quality improvement and claim prevention

Technology

High focus on innovativeness
Corporate Technology department
Collaboration with start-ups, leading universities and research institutions.
Next47

Price competition

Quality of products
Brand image

References

Siemens Healthineers – A Risk Assessment (hilarispublisher.com)

Risk Management Considerations in Telehealth and Telemedicine | NSO

Siemens – Wikipedia

Telemedicine – Wikiversity

Disclaimer
This report has been produced by students of Global Risk Management Institute for their own research, classroom discussions and general information purposes only. While care has been taken in gathering the data and preparing the report, the student’s or GRMI does not make any representations or warranties as to its accuracy or completeness and expressly excludes to the maximum extent permitted by law all those that might otherwise be implied. References to the information collected have been given where necessary.
GRMI or it’s students accepts no responsibility or liability for any loss or damage of any nature occasioned to any person as a result of acting or refraining from acting as a result of, or in reliance on, any statement, fact, figure or expression of opinion or belief contained in this report. This report does not constitute advice of any kind.

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