TY - JOUR
T1 - Digital Inequalities in Cancer Care Delivery in India
T2 - An Overview of the Current Landscape and Recommendations for Large-Scale Adoption
AU - Venkataramanan, Ramachandran
AU - Pradhan, Akash
AU - Kumar, Abhishek
AU - Purushotham, Arnie
AU - Alajlani, Mohannad
AU - Arvanitis, Theodoros N.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 Venkataramanan, Pradhan, Kumar, Purushotham, Alajlani and Arvanitis.
PY - 2022/6/27
Y1 - 2022/6/27
N2 - Introduction: COVID-19 pandemic has caused major disruptions to delivery of various cancer care services as efforts were put to control the outbreak of the pandemic. Although the pandemic has highlighted the inadequacies of the system but has also led to emergence of a new cancer care delivery model which relies heavily on digital mediums. Digital health is not only restricted to virtual dissemination of information and consultation but has provided additional benefits ranging from support to cancer screening, early and more accurate diagnosis to increasing access to specialized care. This paper evaluates the challenges in the adoption of digital technologies to deliver cancer care services and provides recommendation for large-scale adoption in the Indian healthcare context. Methods: We performed a search of PubMed and Google Scholar for numerous terms related to adoption of digital health technologies for cancer care during pandemic. We also analyze various socio-ecological challenges—from individual to community, provider and systematic level—for digital adoption of cancer care service which have existed prior to pandemic and lead to digital inequalities. Results: Despite encouraging benefits accruing from the adoption of digital health key challenges remain for large scale adoption. With respect to user the socio-economic characteristics such as age, literacy and socio-cultural norms are the major barriers. The key challenges faced by providers include regulatory issues, data security and the inconvenience associated with transition to a new system. Policy Summary: For equitable digital healthcare, the need is to have a participatory approach of all stakeholders and urgently addressing the digital divide adequately. Sharing of health data of public and private hospitals, within the framework of the Indian regulations and Data Protection Act, is critical to the development of digital health in India and it can go a long way in better forecasting and managing cancer burden.
AB - Introduction: COVID-19 pandemic has caused major disruptions to delivery of various cancer care services as efforts were put to control the outbreak of the pandemic. Although the pandemic has highlighted the inadequacies of the system but has also led to emergence of a new cancer care delivery model which relies heavily on digital mediums. Digital health is not only restricted to virtual dissemination of information and consultation but has provided additional benefits ranging from support to cancer screening, early and more accurate diagnosis to increasing access to specialized care. This paper evaluates the challenges in the adoption of digital technologies to deliver cancer care services and provides recommendation for large-scale adoption in the Indian healthcare context. Methods: We performed a search of PubMed and Google Scholar for numerous terms related to adoption of digital health technologies for cancer care during pandemic. We also analyze various socio-ecological challenges—from individual to community, provider and systematic level—for digital adoption of cancer care service which have existed prior to pandemic and lead to digital inequalities. Results: Despite encouraging benefits accruing from the adoption of digital health key challenges remain for large scale adoption. With respect to user the socio-economic characteristics such as age, literacy and socio-cultural norms are the major barriers. The key challenges faced by providers include regulatory issues, data security and the inconvenience associated with transition to a new system. Policy Summary: For equitable digital healthcare, the need is to have a participatory approach of all stakeholders and urgently addressing the digital divide adequately. Sharing of health data of public and private hospitals, within the framework of the Indian regulations and Data Protection Act, is critical to the development of digital health in India and it can go a long way in better forecasting and managing cancer burden.
KW - cancer care
KW - digital divide
KW - India
KW - pandemic
KW - policy
KW - technology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85133906193&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fdgth.2022.916342
DO - 10.3389/fdgth.2022.916342
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85133906193
SN - 2673-253X
VL - 4
JO - Frontiers in digital health
JF - Frontiers in digital health
M1 - 916342
ER -
