Strengthening Healthcare Workforce for AI and Digital Revolution
Dr. Shubnum Singh, Principal Advisor, Health Policy, CII, at a conference on the Future of Jobs organized by CII, emphasized the need for a robust healthcare delivery system to support growth and the importance of addressing workforce challenges, such as the shortage of nurses and allied health professionals. She also highlighted the growing role of AI and digital health in shaping the future workforce.
The healthcare workforce is expected to grow by seven to ten percent over the next 10 years. In India, medical technology is worth about two billion dollars. By 2030, it is projected to rise significantly to 50 billion dollars. The pharmaceutical industry is the strength of India. However, the pharmaceutical industry needs a strong healthcare delivery system to function effectively. Manufacturing technologies, such as smart manufacturing, face challenges similar to those in medtech and pharma. The delivery aspect suffered during COVID and continues to struggle due to a tightening job market and workforce shortages. That has been a significant challenge. This is going to materialize in another five to six years.
Healthcare Workforce Challenges and Skill Development
The concern lies at the level of nurses and allied health workers. While the number of doctors will improve and reach 2.6 per thousand population, the current ratio of 1.7 nurses per thousand population will not grow exponentially, nor will the number of allied health workers. The success of developed countries is based on healthcare workforce ratios ranging from 12.8% to 13.4%. Unless nursing and allied health professionals keep pace with technological advancements in healthcare, alignment will be difficult.
The community has to be energized to take responsibility for their health. CII is working actively with its membership to bring up a cadre of health managers for companies to become cognizant of the role of preventive healthcare at the community level. There is a lot of capital and value in working with the village council and empowering and training them to be health managers for the villages and their constituencies and stakeholders. Capacity building has to be done. It has to be supported not only by the industry but by everybody in general to be able to actualize it.
AI and Digital Health in Workforce Evolution
Key job roles, such as short-term and emerging roles, are declining. Administrative roles are being taken over by artificial intelligence. While there is a trust deficit in the medical community, the community is very comfortable knowing that this is going to be an augmented role. AI is expanding as an augmented tool, well-suited to the rapidly evolving technological landscape. However, it's important to move forward slowly and steadily. Digital health, as well as hospitality sector skills, is transferable. If a child does not want to continue with healthcare, they can transition to other sectors easily if they have been trained in digital health as well as in soft skills. A 10-year-old child asking for a Fitbit illustrates the growing awareness of health and wellness from a young age. If a child can adopt such practices, the transferability of these skills across the value chain is evident.
Strengthening digital skills in healthcare is critical due to the vast volumes of existing data and the large projected volumes. If the workforce feeding in the data is not attuned to its accuracy and sanctity, the effort becomes negated. Many cities are expected to play key roles not only in medical value tourism but also in manufacturing. Significant interest has been expressed by neighboring and developed countries to collaborate with India in genomics, proteomics, and basic value-added technologies for the masses. Pandemic preparedness and accidents such as the California fires highlight the critical role of healthcare workers.
India is perfectly poised to service this as well as participate in a very large endeavor worldwide. The use of Artificial Intelligence in pharma for drug development and accelerating research is well known. The use of AI in pharma for drug development and research is increasing rapidly. However, emerging technologies in genomics and digital health can empower the existing workforce to go up the value chain and promote this, as well as ensure that the entire community gets access to better healthcare. This requires partnerships and data-driven decision-making.
