By: IPP Bureau
Last updated : September 03, 2026 7:07 am
The panel discussion also marked the launch of Dr. Neeraj Dhabhai’s new book that examines how AI and clinical decision support systems can help address some of the critical challenges facing healthcare
As artificial intelligence moves rapidly from experimentation to practical applications across healthcare, the critical question for hospitals is no longer simply how to adopt AI, but how to ensure that it contributes to safer clinical decisions and better patient outcomes.
Leading healthcare experts came together for a panel discussion titled “Patient Safety in the Age of AI: Are Indian Hospitals Ready for Intelligent Clinical Decision Support?”, examining the opportunities, risks and readiness of Indian hospitals as AI increasingly becomes part of clinical and healthcare decision-making.
The panel featured Dr. Neeraj Dhabhai, author and VP, Supply Chain, Rainbow Children’s Hospital; Dr. A. Ramkishan, Deputy Drugs Controller (India), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India; Dr. N. Venkatesan, Sr. Director & Chief Procurement Officer, Max Healthcare; and Mr. Arvind Sivaramakrishnan, Group CTO, Asia Healthcare Holdings.
The discussion was moderated by Dr. Vikram Venkateswaran, Founder, Healthcare India and Medbyte.
The discussion focused on how hospitals can move beyond simply accumulating and digitising data to ensuring that the right information reaches the right healthcare professional at the right time.
The panel discussion also marked the launch of Dr. Neeraj Dhabhai’s new book, Clinical Decision Support Systems: Transforming Patient Safety Through AI in Indian Healthcare.
The book examines how AI and clinical decision support systems can help address some of the critical challenges facing healthcare, particularly around patient safety and timely clinical decision-making.
At the heart of the book is a fundamental question: if the information required to prevent patient harm already exists somewhere within the healthcare system, why does it so often fail to reach the right person at the right time?
“AI’s value in healthcare will ultimately be determined not by how much technology we deploy, but by whether it helps healthcare professionals make better and safer decisions at the point of care. Clinical decision support provides an opportunity to connect fragmented information with clinical context while keeping patient safety and professional judgement at the center," said Dr. Neeraj Dhabhai.
Dr. A. Ramkishan, Deputy Drugs Controller (India), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, said: “For India, the opportunity is to create an ecosystem where innovation and patient safety advance together. The focus should therefore be not only on adopting AI but also on ensuring that these technologies are reliable, transparent, evidence-based, and integrated responsibly into healthcare systems.”
Arvind Sivaramakrishnan, Group CTO, Asia Healthcare Holdings, said: "As Indian healthcare moves from digital adoption to intelligent healthcare, the focus must be on deploying AI responsibly, with clinical oversight and measurable outcomes. The goal should ultimately be simple: use technology to help healthcare professionals make better, faster, and safer decisions for patients.”
Dr. N. Venkatesan, Sr. Director & Chief Procurement Officer, Max Healthcare, said: “Clinical Decision Support Systems have the potential to fundamentally transform healthcare by bringing the power of AI, data, and evidence closer to every clinical decision. In India, the real opportunity is to use AI-enabled decision support not to replace the clinician, but to augment clinical judgement, reduce variability, improve patient safety, and enable better outcomes at scale.”
Dr. Vikram Venkateswaran, Founder, Healthcare India and Medbyte, said: “An average patient generates 80 MB of data per year. All this data is captured electronically. There is a need for a technology-enabled intelligence layer that looks at insights from the data not only to promote clinical outcomes but also to enhance patient safety. Clinical Decision Support System is that layer that can help translate that data into insights that create better decisions for the physicians and clinical outcomes for the patients."