Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital solutions and India has witnessed one of the highest adoptions of digital technologies by health and human services (HHS) organizations among the countries surveyed, revealed a new survey done by EY and Imperial College London’s Institute for Global Health Innovation– Embracing Digital: is Covid-19 the catalyst for lasting change?

According to the survey, phone and video consultations have seen a huge uptake across all technology solutions. Phone consultations are being offered by 81 per cent of Health and Human Services (HHS) organizations — up from 39 per cent before the pandemic. Similarly video consultations are available from 71 per cent of organizations — up from 22 per cent before the pandemic.

Compared to this, the uptake has been higher in India at 86 per cent for phone consultation — up from 48 per cent before pandemic and at 83 per cent for video consultations against 33 per cent in the pre-pandemic era.

Seventy-five per cent of respondents from India indicated that they plan to further invest in digital solutions and technologies over the next three years and that the level of investment will be more than 50 per cent as compared to the previous three years.

“The response to the Covid-19 pandemic has shown that data and technology can make a real difference to the work of health and human services professionals in India, who have worked tirelessly and heroically in the face of this dreadful disease. With adequate government support and incentives, India has truly set an example to the rest of the world that it can lead and pave the way for technology adoption in healthcare. The lessons learned during the pandemic must lead to continued technology investments in the healthcare sector,” Gaurav Taneja, Partner and Leader, Government and Public Sector, EY India said.