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Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly transforming the healthcare industry by enabling early disease detection, personalized treatment, and continuous health monitoring. As lifestyle-related conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension become growing concerns, the need to shift from reactive treatment towards preventive healthcare is gaining importance. Digital health platforms, wearable devices, and AI-powered applications are creating new opportunities for individuals to understand their health and act early before conditions become serious.
In the latest episode of the Analytics Insight Podcast, Priya Dialani interviews Saloni Paliwal, Founder of Voy India, on the evolving role of AI and technology in preventive healthcare, personalized weight management, and India's digital healthcare landscape. Saloni Paliwal shares insights into AI-powered healthcare applications, GLP-1 weight loss treatments, smart health devices, continuous health monitoring, telemedicine, digital health infrastructure, and the importance of early intervention in improving long-term health outcomes. Here are the excerpts:
Technology is playing an increasingly important role in preventive healthcare by helping identify potential health concerns before they develop into serious medical conditions. AI can support early detection, improve health monitoring, and help individuals make more informed decisions about their well-being.
In medical weight management, AI-powered tools can improve tracking, treatment adherence, and access to timely support. For instance, Voye's GLP-1 companion app helps users manage different aspects of their weight loss journey, including medication reminders, dietary tracking, and guidance on managing common side effects such as nausea and constipation.
The companion app is available free of cost to individuals following a GLP-1 journey, whether through Voye or independently. It also provides guidance on medication storage, dietary requirements, and other aspects of treatment. However, responsible AI adoption remains important, particularly for protecting patient information, maintaining data privacy, and ensuring sensitive medical records are accessible only to authorized professionals.
India's healthcare system has traditionally focused on treating conditions after they become serious. Obesity is a significant example of this approach, as people often consider excess weight a lifestyle concern and postpone seeking medical assistance.
However, untreated obesity can increase the risk of developing conditions such as type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, and hypertension. Saloni believes addressing obesity earlier can help individuals avoid serious health complications and improve their long-term quality of life.
Preventive intervention is not simply about adding more years to life but also about maintaining independence, mobility, and overall well-being. She also highlights the need to change perceptions of medical weight-loss treatments. GLP-1 medications require appropriate medical supervision, but they can become part of a structured approach to managing obesity when prescribed to eligible individuals.
Digital health technologies are making weight management more data-driven by helping individuals understand changes in their body composition, activity levels, dietary habits, and metabolic health.
Voye provides smart scales that measure more than body weight. These devices can track parameters such as muscle mass, body fat percentage, and visceral fat, allowing users to monitor changes over time through the app. Saloni mentions that the company offers these smart scales at approximately Rs. 999.
Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) devices are another example of how technology can improve health awareness. They let individuals see how different foods and eating habits affect their blood sugar levels in real time.
Wearable devices also contribute to personalized healthcare. The Voye app can sync with devices such as Apple Watch and Fitbit to track workouts, daily steps, and physical activity. Users can share this information with doctors and nutritionists, giving healthcare professionals a better understanding of an individual's lifestyle and progress.
Users can also log meals by taking photographs, helping medical professionals assess dietary patterns and recommend appropriate changes. Such data-driven interventions can make weight management more personalized rather than relying on generalized diet and fitness recommendations.
Digital healthcare is gradually moving beyond occasional consultations towards continuous health monitoring and personalized care. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated telemedicine adoption and made more people comfortable with online consultations.
Saloni believes a stronger digital healthcare ecosystem is necessary to support this transition. At Voye, the objective is to bring different aspects of a patient's healthcare journey into one platform. This includes laboratory reports, prescriptions, meal logs, body composition records, and workout history.
Keeping this information in one place lets doctors access a patient's health history over time, rather than relying only on information shared during individual consultations. Continuous access to health records can support more personalized treatment decisions, regular follow-ups, and better progress monitoring.
For patients, this offers greater visibility into their health, while healthcare providers can make decisions based on a more complete picture of their medical history. It can also reduce the need to start from scratch during every consultation.
India has a significant opportunity to use digital health technologies to address lifestyle-related health challenges and improve access to specialized medical care.
Saloni highlights the country's growing obesity and diabetes burden, alongside the limited availability of specialized healthcare professionals. She points out that endocrinologists, who specialize in metabolic health and related disorders, are concentrated largely in metropolitan areas. This creates challenges for people living in smaller towns and rural regions who need access to specialized medical advice.
Telemedicine can help bridge some of these gaps. According to Saloni, metabolic healthcare is particularly suited to remote consultations because doctors can evaluate several important health parameters through laboratory reports, including blood sugar levels, cholesterol, lipid profiles, and insulin resistance.
However, digital consultations alone cannot address every challenge. Medication logistics, diagnostic facilities, and cold-chain infrastructure also need attention. GLP-1 medications, for example, require temperature-controlled storage and transportation to maintain their effectiveness.
Technology, stronger healthcare infrastructure, and improved access to diagnostics can collectively help address these challenges and make specialized healthcare more accessible across India.
The success of digital healthcare should not be measured only through app downloads, user engagement, or the number of consultations. Meaningful health outcomes and treatment adherence are equally important indicators.
Sharing an example from Voye's experience, Saloni refers to a UK study conducted in collaboration with Imperial College London, involving about 60,000 Voye users. According to her, participants who actively engaged with the program lost 53% more weight than those who used medication alone.
She explains that structured medical support can make a significant difference because GLP-1 medications require appropriate dosage management and regular medical supervision. Patients may need several months to progress towards their target doses and achieve meaningful results.
Saloni also highlights treatment adherence as an important measure. According to the figures she shared, users remained in the Voye program for an average of eight to 10 months, compared with about two to three months among people receiving treatment through pharmacies and chemists.
Managing side effects, maintaining nutritional balance, and receiving timely guidance from doctors and nutritionists can help individuals remain consistent with their treatment. She also stresses the importance of adequate protein and fiber intake during GLP-1 treatment to support muscle preservation and manage certain gastrointestinal side effects.
Sustainable weight management, therefore, requires more than medication. It involves medical supervision, nutritional guidance, and long-term behavioral changes.
The biggest opportunity lies in making early intervention a fundamental part of healthcare. Saloni believes individuals should not wait until a medical condition becomes serious before seeking help.
Identifying potential health concerns and addressing them early can shape how people age and maintain their quality of life. Technology can support this shift by making health information more accessible, enabling continuous monitoring, and connecting patients with healthcare professionals when they need assistance.
Ultimately, the future of healthcare will depend on bringing together AI, digital infrastructure, medical expertise, and personalized intervention. Moving towards preventive healthcare can help individuals take greater control of their health while reducing the long-term burden on India's healthcare system.
The full discussion can be heard on the Analytics Insight Podcast.