Global Capability Centers (GCCs) in India are uniquely positioned to lead healthcare innovation by leveraging cutting-edge technologies, fostering collaboration, and tapping into the country’s strong talent ecosystem, according to top executives from leading healthcare companies.
Speaking at the Machine Con GCC 2024 event, a panel of industry leaders discussed the critical role GCCs will play in shaping the future of healthcare through preventive, predictive, personalized solutions aimed at improving patient outcomes.
The panel featured Rajesh Puneyani, VP Technology & Site Leader at Kenvue GCC, Prasanna Kumar Subbanna, VP of Global Safety at Novo Nordisk, Pawan Sachdeva, Managing Director of Technology at Carelon Global Solutions India, Hari Atmakuri, Group VP of Healthcare Data + AI Products at Providence, and Raja Jamalamadaka, Managing Director at Roche Information Solution.
“Technology has already started working on personalized and customized healthcare for the individual, based on the genetic structure of the individual,” said Rajesh Puneyani of Kenvue GCC. “If there are customized solutions for my healthcare, putting predictive modeling on top, what potentially could happen. It’s all about proactively what you can do – a customized treatment for you, based on what will specifically work for your body.”
GCCs Evolving from Cost Centers to Value Creators
The panelists emphasized that GCCs are evolving from mere cost centers to value creators and innovators. Prasanna Kumar Subbanna of Novo Nordisk noted that while GCCs in the banking and financial services industry may be ahead in terms of maturity and innovation, healthcare GCCs are catching up fast.
“When I look at the next five to seven years horizon, I think we will be there,” he said. “GCCs which are based out of India are now part of the whole drug discovery and development value chain. It’s the end-to-end that we are doing. And pharma companies are also becoming more open to adopting these technologies end-to-end.”
Raja Jamalamadaka of Roche Information Solution outlined four key trends that will define the future of healthcare: preventive, predictive, personalized care along with providing peace of mind to patients. “A lot of people don’t want to fall sick to get the best medicine.
They would rather prevent the disease itself,” he explained. “If preventive fails, you would like to predict it five years prior. Your lifestyle is telling you, you will get into a situation. And when you personalize care, it’s much more effective for the individual.”
Collaboration Key to Overcoming Data Security, Privacy & Ethical Challenges
However, the panelists cautioned that realizing this vision of technology-enabled, patient-centric care will require overcoming challenges related to data security, privacy and ethical usage.
Recounting an example from Novo Nordisk’s experience of setting up an innovation lab in India, Prasanna Kumar Subbanna said, “We spent a considerable amount of time, effort, everything. Then we realized that their quality systems are not enough, especially from a data security perspective, for us to implement it company-wide, and we had to call off that project.”
The key to addressing these challenges lies in greater collaboration between GCCs, technology partners, startups, and academia, the panelists concurred. “In the past, GCCs were sort of evolving and transforming. It was all about work moving to India,” observed Rajesh Puneyani.
“Now, more and more GCCs are opening up in similar domains. The domain knowledge which is being created by GCCs over the last one or two decades is starting to show. Platforms like this are bringing people together to co-create.”
Pawan Sachdeva of Carelon Global Solutions India stressed the importance of leveraging the startup ecosystem in India, which he described as the “recipes for great solutions” in areas like AI, AR and automation. “You put together the skill, the workforce, the talent and the startup ecosystem – that is driving GCCs uniquely to take healthcare innovation forward,” he said.
Hari Atmakuri of Providence added that engaging with consumers and caregivers is equally vital to create solutions that truly add value. “These are research mindset people, people with a lot of passion and energy, new way of thinking. And these are the consumers of a lot of those innovative products as well,” he pointed out.
The panelists also advised healthcare GCCs to prioritize their innovation initiatives based on potential impact and return on investment, while adopting a lean, iterative approach. “Do that in a proof of concept or POC kind of a way, and then build on top,” recommended Rajesh Puneyani. “Once you start to show that value, then obviously getting funding for the larger part is important.”
Balancing Cost & Value Creation Critical for Healthcare GCCs
Ultimately, the success of healthcare innovation driven by GCCs will be measured by improvements in patient care and outcomes, the panelists emphasized. Prasanna Kumar Subbanna gave the example of how data from glucose sensors and insulin pumps, enabled by algorithms, can help physicians make better dosing decisions leading to improved diabetes control for patients.
Raja Jamalamadaka summed up the opportunity and imperative for GCCs succinctly: “You probably can have an innovation team and it makes its way to the product backlog. But if you want something more than that, like an insulin pump, this is adjacent innovation. You need a bigger ecosystem – startups, academia, government support, IP providers to create it very quickly. And the most advanced is disruptive innovation, completely linked together, like CGM devices that check your glucose every minute and pump insulin without you knowing. This is where we are heading towards in healthcare innovation.”
The 5 Ps That Will Define Healthcare’s Future
The panelists also highlighted some innovative solutions on the horizon that could be game-changers:
- Wearables that provide preventive health nudges and alerts
- Personalized medicine based on an individual’s genetic makeup
- Automation and streamlining of the drug discovery process using AI/ML
- Point-of-care diagnostic tools that enable faster decision-making for physicians
As healthcare companies continue to ramp up their investments in innovation, the role of GCCs is poised to become even more prominent and strategic. “Funding is obviously not there, but there will be, of course,” acknowledged Pawan Sachdeva, speaking about his experience of setting up a new GCC. “The first priority is setting up GCC capabilities, and the rest of the required stuff that needs to happen. But having an innovation charter is important.”
The panelists were unanimous that the future of healthcare will be defined by the 5 Ps – preventive, predictive, personalized, peace of mind, and point of care. And GCCs will have a pivotal role to play in turning this vision into reality by combining India’s technology talent with a vibrant innovation ecosystem.
“Nobody can take the points away from the strong collaboration and startup ecosystem which exists in India,” concluded Rajesh Puneyani. “You put together the skill, the workforce, the talent and the startup ecosystem – the recipes for great solutions in the area of AI, AR, automation. This is what is driving GCCs uniquely to take healthcare innovation forward.”
In an interesting analogy, Rajesh Puneyani described how future healthcare systems enabled by technology could work together to proactively look after an individual’s well-being, much like how a pizza delivery service might use customer data to advise against ordering an unhealthy meal.
“The customer still wants to place an order and after some time he says, you know, Pepsi and Coke. No, absolutely, you can’t because you are diabetic, of course,” he explained.
He further added, “What the person who’s taking the pizza order is trying to do is caution this person that you should not eat this because of healthcare. This is where we are heading towards healthcare innovation – how the systems are integrated and technologies are going to be playing out in future.”
As healthcare GCCs in India chart their innovation journeys, striking the right balance between cost and value creation will be key, the panelists said. “Frugality in innovation and using the money in the most efficient way is a crucial step,” noted Raja Jamalamadaka.
“Here’s where GCCs play a role. One of the reasons you start GCCs amongst many others is the cost benefit that it provides. The presence of GCCs provides that kind of benefit in ensuring that cost management comes in.”
With the healthcare industry at an inflection point and the demand for accessible, affordable, quality care higher than ever, GCCs have their task cut out. But with their unique combination of talent, technology capabilities and ecosystem partnerships, they could well be the shot in the arm that the sector needs.
As Hari Atmakuri put it, “The technology has already started working on this, but what exactly we are seeing is that there is a personalized and customized healthcare for the individual, based on the genetic structure of the individual. That is where we are heading. But all of this will make sense only when the data is in the right hands. We are using the data in the right context.”
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