Smart Diagnosis, Safer Outcomes: Experts Discuss the Next Frontier in Precision Medicine
New Delhi: Imagine a future where diagnostics are not only fast and accurate but also mobile, patient-friendly, and deeply integrated with artificial intelligence. At the inaugural edition of Future MedX, The Smart
Patient Care
Summit, a panel of leading experts came together to explore exactly that possibility in the session titled "
Smart Diagnosis
: The Next Frontier in Medical Accuracy & Patient Safety."
The discussion, moderated by Dr. Shweta Prabhakar, Medical Superintendent, Paras Health brought together perspectives from laboratory science, public health, microbiology, and hospital administration to examine how technology can be harnessed without compromising safety, equity, or trust.
The panel consisted of Dr. Raj Shankar Ghosh, Senior Advisor-Environmental Health, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI); Dr. Bhupendra Kumar Rana, Chief Executive Officer, Quality & Accreditation Institute; Arpan Malhotra, Director & Chief Operating Officer, Max Lab Limited; Dr. Sonal Saxena, Director, Professor & Head, Dept. of Microbiology, Maulana Azad Medical College.
Rethinking the Meaning of 'SMART'
The session opened with a foundational question: What exactly makes a diagnosis "smart"?
Dr. Sonal Saxena began the discussion by setting the tone. 'SMART, we are interpreting here as something which is specific, measurable, accurate, reliable, and time-bound and traceable,' she said. She noted that smart diagnostics must be 'patient-centric' and emphasized the importance of information systems. 'Lab information systems go a very long way in making a smart diagnosis.'
Arpan Malhotra offered a broader take. He said, 'A diagnosis or diagnostics is SMART if it enables the objectives of diagnosis to be done better. It's an acronym, but it is also anything which is relatively better than what it was before.'
Meanwhile, Dr. Raj Shankar Ghosh introduced an alternative definition tailored for public health delivery: 'We look at SMART as something which is safe, mobile, affordable, rapid, and transparent.' He added, 'The patient does not have to travel a long distance in order to access that technology.'
Smart Diagnosis Begins Before the Lab
A recurring theme throughout the panel was the importance of pre-analytical quality. According to Arpan Malhotra, 'The most important piece is the pre-analytics, which accounts for maybe two-third of all the problems that occur.' He discussed innovations like geotagging, barcoding, and sample temperature monitoring, and emphasized that patient feedback must be integrated into the diagnostic process.
Dr. Bhupendra Rana echoed this, stressing the need for individualized care. 'Patient safety is the right results at the right time to the right patient.' He warned against a one-size-fits-all approach: 'One single diagnostic test should not be applied to all.'
He also highlighted how fragile and complex newer diagnostic tools can be. 'They need more than what traditional equipment needed because they are very fragile.' Maintenance and calibration are no longer optional; they are essential. 'Even software is a medical device,' he reminded the audience.
AI: The Double-Edged Sword of Diagnosis
Artificial Intelligence took center stage as a key enabler—and challenge—in modern diagnostics.
Dr. Raj Shankar Ghosh called AI 'inevitable' in
healthcare
, adding that it improves 'efficiency,' 'evidence quality,' and 'equity,' while also empowering both patients and providers. However, he issued a caution: 'We need to do a lot more work around the ethics of technology.'
Arpan Malhotra shared how AI tools are already improving decision-making in labs. 'The algorithms and the decision algorithms—whether it is moving averages or delta checks—are telling us that something is wrong even before we've actually entered the result.' These systems, he said, can catch errors early and make diagnostics safer.
But AI comes with its own risks. Malhotra warned about over-reliance: 'We just have to be very careful that we don't become lazy. MIT did a study, and they said that AI is making us dumb.' He emphasized that tools like ChatGPT should be 'a second brain, not the only brain.'
Dr. Sonal Saxena shared her early experience with AI in microbiology, particularly during COVID-19. 'I wished I had this kind of technology when I was a student. It really changed the way I looked at things.'
She expressed concern that over-reliance on AI in medical education may be eroding students' conceptual understanding, turning learning into blind instruction-following rather than critical thinking.
Dr. Raj brought the discussion back to patient safety, noting a critical issue in India: 'Interpretation is the biggest roadblock today,' especially in cases like antimicrobial resistance (AMR), where accurate decisions are crucial.
Operational Realities and Ground-Level Solutions
The panelists didn't shy away from highlighting operational gaps. Arpan Malhotra spoke about fragmentation across diagnostic chains: 'The biggest problem is that all the equipment companies have proprietary systems, so they do not talk to each other.'
Dr. Bhupendra Rana emphasized the need for nationwide minimum standards in diagnostics, suggesting that their implementation would significantly enhance patient safety across the country.
This need for simplicity was echoed in a powerful story shared by Dr. Sonal Saxena. A woman whose child had dengue got confused amid multiple conflicting reports. 'In the whole process, she lost the idea whether her child's NS1 is positive or negative.'
Dr. Raj also emphasized that the end goal of diagnostics must remain focused on the patient: 'If the diagnostic system is not able to translate into good decision-making for the community or the health system, then it is of no value.'
A Path Forward
In the closing phase of the discussion, Dr. Shweta Prabhakar, summarized the solution ahead: 'The solution approach is that we need to be simple.' The panel agreed the importance of integrating technologies, ensuring standards, and keeping the patient at the center of every innovation.
As the diagnostic ecosystem in India grows increasingly digital, mobile, and AI-integrated, the conversation reminded us that smart diagnosis is not just about speed or accuracy—it's about trust, transparency, and thoughtful application.
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