Kerala to complete digital shift of public health system in 2 years

To further improve the quality of services of the public health system by leveraging new-age tech

The digital transformation of the public health system in Kerala, which envisages connecting all government hospitals in the state through a user-friendly software will be completed in two years. This is expected to considerably improve the quality of healthcare delivery in the state.

Kerala’s Health Department, according to Health Minister Veena George, has created a globally-acclaimed brand due to the concerted efforts spanning decades, and the prime task now on hand is to further improve the quality of services by leveraging the modern technology.

The Minister said this while speaking at a hackathon organised by eHealth under the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Kerala, and Kerala Development and Innovation Strategic Council (K-DISC) in association with Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) to build technology-based solutions for health benefits.

Motivating startups to come up with public health solutions

The 48-hour virtual hackathon was conducted to get the best solutions for the eight problem statements identified by the Health Department. The Minister said the hackathon was held with the aim of leveraging technology to improve treatment facilities. The event will motivate many startups to come up with the best solutions for the benefit of the state’s health sector.

KSUM had shortlisted around 68 startups for the hackathon and eight of them emerged winners. Acutrotechnologies, EXPRESSbase Systems, Qkopy, Lares.AI, and Waggle LAB bagged the first five places respectively by scoring top marks in the evaluation. These five startups will be awarded a grant of Rs one lakh each. Linsys Innovations, Bagmo and AIMed Solutions are the other three startups.

Meanwhile, all the eight startups will get opportunities to associate themselves with the future activities of K-DISC, eHealth and KSUM. K-DISC will be taking the projects through the emerging technologies initiative and try to implement the projects in the Health Department.

Deployment of AI, ML, blockchain in pandemic era

Currently, K-DISC and eHealth are collaborating for three major projects: Real time retinal image quality assessment and feedback generation using artificial intelligence (AI), Blood bank facility in the General Hospital and associated blood storage centre, and blockchain-enabled vaccine coverage analysis. The hackathon is a continuation of that partnership.

It may be noted that the Kerala Health Department has been focusing on bolstering the healthcare system, and had made use of cutting-edge technologies like AI, machine learning (ML) and blockchain during the spread of pandemic.