In the era of rapid technological advancement, India’s healthcare sector faces a pivotal challenge — preparing its workforce for a digital-first future. The third edition of the Tamil Health Skills Summit 2025, held at the Anna Centenary Auditorium in Chennai, brought together healthcare experts to address this very issue. The Federal was the official digital partner for the event.

A key panel discussion, titled New Age Technologies in Healthcare: Training the Digital-First Workforce, explored how India’s healthcare system must evolve to keep pace with artificial intelligence (AI), digital systems, and data-driven decision-making.

Digital skills are essential

Professor Prabdeep Kaur opened the discussion by underlining the urgency of equipping healthcare workers with digital skills.

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"Today we are going through times when AI and digital is unavoidable... You need to develop some skills in this area to stay competitive," she said. Highlighting the success of a short AI for Health course, she added, "For 80 seats, we had 600 applications. People are willing to invest their time and effort."

According to her, the real challenge lies in creating a variety of interdisciplinary programs tailored to different roles in the healthcare sector.

Need for grassroots training

Dr Ganesh Kumar emphasised the importance of training public health staff at all levels — not just district epidemiologists or program managers.

"The true skilling of what's the importance of getting the right data from the ground level matters a lot," he noted. He advocated continuous skilling to ensure the protection of public health through accurate data collection and interpretation.

He stressed that technology alone won’t suffice; field workers need to be constantly trained to adapt to changing tools and platforms.

Hospitals need team-wide upskilling

Dr. Lallu Joseph of Christian Medical College shed light on the challenges within hospital ecosystems.

"Healthcare is not one set of people... So it's not a uniform solution that we can look at," she explained, pointing to the diversity of roles — doctors, nurses, technicians — all requiring role-specific training.

She underscored the need for both skilling and upskilling, calling for hospital-wide coordination in digital literacy initiatives.

Bridging the competency gap

Experts also highlighted the need for digital competency mapping.

"We all know there is a knowledge gap, a skill gap, and a competency gap when health professionals have the least digital literacy," said one panelist.

A major concern was that many still view digital health as a siloed vertical, rather than a foundational enabler of healthcare delivery. Without integrated understanding, even routine Health Management Information Systems (HMIS) remain underutilized.

Digital competency mapping, they suggested, could help identify and fill gaps in skills across the healthcare workforce.

Way forward: Innovation with empathy

The panel concluded that while investing in cutting-edge technologies is vital, the success of digital transformation in healthcare ultimately hinges on how well human expertise is blended with tech-driven innovation. Training programs, they said, should be inclusive, continuous, and interdisciplinary.

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As summed up in the session: Health is invaluable — and preparing a digitally ready workforce is no longer a choice, but a collective responsibility.

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