The Elder Health Information Technology Framework for Geriatric Care in Rural India: A Policy Initiative

Abstract

Healthcare monitoring and analysis of healthcare parameters is a reality \nto reduce costs and increase access to specialist and experts that holds the \nfuture for geriatric care in India. This paper proposes distinct methods \ntowards the implementation of rural elder health information technologies (IT), \nwhich includes electronic medical records, clinical decision support, mobile \nmedical applications, and software driven medical devices used in the diagnosis \nor treatment of disease for the older adult population in the villages of \nIndia. The purpose is online patient \nsatisfaction at the microlevel (village panchayat) through methods accessible and affordable by \nestablishing a common standard of operations at the village primary care units \ngiving way to early disease detection and routine screening among the aged \npopulation avoiding institutionalization. The rural elder health IT framework \nis of great interest for all stakeholders in the field, as it benefits the \ninvestors and the consumers, adding to the technological infrastructure, \nthereby opening new avenues of research in health informatics, telemedicine and \nenhancing the scope of geriatric research, which in turn enhances the \nhealth-related quality of life for the rural older adults in the remote \nvillages of the nation.