The strike of the pandemic has cracked opened opportunities for a lot of countries to level-up more digitally especially in health and human services, with India having one of the highest digital technology adoption rates, according to a new survey by EY and Imperial College London’s Institute for Global Health Innovation.

The survey is titled, ‘Embracing Digital: Is COVID-19 the catalyst for lasting change?’ indicated that India scored 51 percent of respondents admitting to increased usage of digital technologies and data solutions ever since the struck of the pandemic. On second note, 74 percent have stated that these aspects have increased staff productivity and 75 percent reported that digital solutions gave better outcomes for patients and service users.

Whereas two-thirds of respondents globally had secured 62 percent claiming increase in the usage of data and technology solutions, as the health industry adapts to new ways of operating under pressure.

The survey regarded that phone and video consultations were the most used technology solutions, with phone consultations secured 81 percent from HHS organizations, which was 39 percent before the pandemic and 71 percent was secured by video consultations from HHS organizations, which was 22 percent before the pandemic.

Compared to India the response to phone consultations scored 86 percent which was 48 percent before the pandemic and at 83 percent for video consultations which was 33 percent before the pandemic.

More than 2000 professionals from HHS (Health and Human Services) from six countries namely India, Italy, Australia, UAE, the UK and the US were surveyed, which indicated that 359 respondents hailed from India.

“The response to the covid-19 pandemic has shown that data and technology can make a significant difference in the role of India's health and human services professionals, who have worked diligently and heroically in the face of this terrible disease. Lessons learned during the pandemic must contribute to continued technology investments in the healthcare sector”, Gaurav Taneja, partner and leader, Government and Public Sector.

In India, public sector organisations preferred digital tools for self-help (92 percent) and online self-assessment tools (89 percent) over phone consultation and video consultation. In addition, roughly three-quarters of respondents in India reported positive experiences with digital technologies and data solutions, which led to improved collaboration and efficiency in the operating model.

Nearly 40 percent of Indian respondents listed ethics and privacy concerns as one of the most prevalent barriers, significantly higher than the other countries in our sample, with only 11 percent of UK respondents and 20% of US respondents citing this as a major barrier, respectively.

In India, 75 percent of respondents indicated that they intend to increase their investment in digital solutions and technologies over the next three years, with the level of investment increasing by more than 50 percent over the previous three years.