Optimising Indian healthcare delivery with standard treatment workflows

Abstract

Background: Standard treatment workflows (STWs) indeed play a crucial role in enhancing healthcare delivery by providing structured guidelines for managing prevalent diseases. These guidelines are particularly beneficial in primary and secondary healthcare settings, where they help standardize treatment protocols, streamline referrals, and ultimately improve healthcare efficiency. Methods: Indian Council of Medical Research, in collaboration with the National Health Authority and the World Health Organisation India country office developed the STWs. The broad medical specialities were identified and speciality expert groups each of 5–12 experienced members led by an eminent chairperson were constituted. Priority disease conditions were identified and the speciality experts deliberated on the evidence available for various recommendations and developed the content for the STW. These were then converted to a one-pager infographic. The draft STWs were reviewed by relevant experts for internal and external validation of content. Results: 125 STWs in 23 specialties have been developed. Conclusion: STWs are one-page summaries of clinical guidelines designed to improve healthcare delivery in India. Training healthcare profesionals and collaboration with medical bodies are crucial for successful implementation. This can ensure standardized, evidence-based care throughout India's healthcare system.

Keywords

• Standard treatment workflows (STWs)
• Patient-centered care
• Healthcare resource optimisation