In recent months India’s COVID-19 situation has worsened significantly, eclipsing other countries with the second-highest number of cases and, at the time this article was written, the third-highest number of recorded deaths on the planet. At the recent LEADx virtual roundtable discussion moderated by Dr Anil Handoo, Senior Lab Director at BLK Super Speciality Hospital, on 30 Apr 2021, Indian healthcare leaders from both the hospital and clinical lab community shared updates on the local response.

“The diagnostic community has perhaps never faced such a pressing challenge as we face today,” said Anand K, CEO of SRL Diagnostics. “It is our combined efforts which are playing a critical role in India’s fight back against COVID-19.”

Deploying diagnostic tests was a key theme in that roundtable discussion. At the Dr B Lal Clinical Laboratory, for instance, staff members realised that sample collection was a major limiting factor in increasing test capacity. They set up a sample collection booth in an open area, allowing people to walk up safely and submit their samples.

“We are now collecting more than 2,000 samples per day,” said Dr B Lal Gupta, Founder and Managing Director of the lab. Results are reported in 24 hours — and often even faster — thanks to IT and software changes that were implemented to help the lab scale up its services.

Meanwhile, the team at Medall, a chain of medical diagnostic service centres in India, embraced an integrated approach to try to diagnose patients where they are. They offer a combination of chest CT, PCR tests, and blood tests for possible COVID-19 cases. “We combine that with our teleconsultation platform because what we are finding is that many of the cases don’t actually have to go to the hospital,” said Arjun Ananth, CEO of Medall.

Integrating diagnostic results through a digital system has been important for hospital and other healthcare facilities as well. “When the monitoring and diagnostics come together on the same digital platform, we really get a very beautiful combination,” said Dr Tarang Gianchandani, CEO of Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital.

At the SDM College of Medical Services & Hospital, this kind of approach has made it possible for physicians to get test results much faster. “If you see the entire hospital spectrum, from admission to discharge to treatment, the fastest thing that happens is labs,” said Dr Kiran Hegde, Medical Superintendent. “The lab has gone way beyond [expectations]. When we get good results, we can take the appropriate course of action.”

Flexibility was another common thread running through the panel discussion. At Woodlands Hospital, Director and CEO Dr Rupali Basu worked closely with her team to build infrastructure and bring in diagnostic tests. “It’s been very stressful for us,” she said. People have been taking on whatever role is most needed at the time — including Dr Basu, who began working at the floor level with the medical teams despite her administrative position. “We’ve had to be very flexible and adaptable,” she added.

That rapid evolution has also meant creating entirely new facilities. Bomi Bhote, CEO of Ruby Hall Clinic, said his team scrambled to adjust when the government required hospitals to divert as many as 80% of their beds for COVID-19 patients. “We had already been running at full occupancy,” he said. In addition to increasing the number of beds with oxygen resources for COVID-19 patients, they also took over three hotels to use as step-down hospitals for patients who don’t need critical care. “That is how we were able to save about 200 beds and keep space for non-COVID patients,” Bhote said.

Without such dedicated healthcare leaders, no doubt India’s COVID-19 situation would be even worse. Broad use of diagnostic tools and digital platforms combined with a flexible, responsive approach will certainly make a difference in getting the pandemic under control.