Integrated Health & Wellbeing Council (IHW) concluded the 5th edition of the Patient First Summit & Awards 2026 alongside the 3rd edition of the Smart Hospitals & Diagnostics Summit 2026 at Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre. 

The event brought together healthcare leaders, policymakers, hospital executives, diagnostics experts, pharmaceutical companies, technology providers, and patient advocates to discuss the future of patient-centric healthcare in India.

Held under the theme “TENxCARE: Guiding Principles for a Patient-First Future,” the summit focused on embedding empathy, equity, safety, and accountability into healthcare delivery systems. Discussions highlighted the importance of moving beyond infrastructure and technology to place patients at the centre of healthcare design and innovation.

The co-located Smart Hospitals & Diagnostics Summit explored the growing role of digital technologies, AI, automation, and advanced diagnostics in improving connected and outcome-driven healthcare. Sessions also aligned with national healthcare priorities such as Ayushman Bharat, the Digital Health Mission, eSanjeevani, and the broader Health for All agenda.

During the event, IHW launched a white paper titled Amplifying Patient Voices in Metastatic Bladder Cancer, which examined patient experiences, quality of life challenges, delayed diagnosis, caregiver burden, fragmented care, and financial toxicity associated with metastatic bladder cancer in India. The report also outlined policy recommendations aimed at strengthening patient-centric cancer care.

Dr. Nikhil Ghadyalpatil, Director of Medical Oncology at Apollo Health City, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, said, “Cancer care today is no longer limited to treating the disease alone. Patients are increasingly becoming active participants in treatment decisions, especially as conversations around quality of life, treatment toxicity, survival, and organ preservation become more important.”

HW Council CEO Kamal Narayan Omer said, “India’s healthcare transformation can no longer be measured only by the expansion of hospitals or adoption of technology. The real benchmark is whether care becomes continuous, accountable, and genuinely centred around the patient’s lived experience. This platform intends to move beyond dialogue into defining measurable pathways where empathy, access, and outcomes are embedded into the system itself, not treated as outcomes of it.”