AI-assisted health risk assessment, preventive care now a reality in India

Chennai: Master health check-ups at hospitals generally require a range of tests to be performed irrespective of the conditions of the patient. But what if an AI program analyzed one’s medical data, history and later suggested only the required tests. The tests suggested by the AI-program would also be verified by experienced physicians to suggest if any tests could be added or removed, thus making the process less cumbersome.

The Apollo hospitals have launched Apollo ProHealth, a special personalized health risk assessment program that is touted to be conceptualized from the experience of over 20 million health checks that were done by the hospital.

Speaking about the ProHealth program, Dr Prathap C Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “World is facing a tsunami of Non-Communicable diseases that is evening threatening out younger generations. An economy like ours, which is both ambitious and aggressive, needs healthy citizens to realise its true potential. This is not possible with the growing menace of lifestyle diseases or NCDs. Cancer, Diabetes, Strokes, Obesity, Smoking are increasingly impacting our capability, which in turn impacts our productivity & economic growth. Apollo ProHealth is an innovative giant step towards changing the way we treat our health.”

"I think the government should increase its healthcare spending from 1 per cent to 3 per cent so that the public expenditure can be around 5-7 per cent to take the overall healthcare spending to 10 per cent of GDP," he added.

Preetha Reddy, Vice Chairperson, Apollo Hospitals Group said, "The WHO has emphasized that chronic lifestyle ailments are best managed via preventive measures. Preventive healthcare in the form of personalised and health management programs can play a vital role in detecting diseases in their early stages. Apollo ProHealth is designed on the three principles of Predict, Prevent and Overcome to ensure tangible, measurable changes in the lives of people."

Speaking on ProHealth and its approach Dr Udhaya Balasubramanian, Group Director, Preventive Health Checks said, “This is a three year programme that can be taken up by anyone over the age of 18 and after the first health check, a health mentor is assigned to guide regarding the diet, lifestyle, yoga, sleep management. At the end of every year, there will be follow-up checks to track the progress made. By continuous monitoring of the progress via a mobile application, we can provide personalized preventive steps and one can expect significant improvement by the end of three years.”