The Indian healthcare sector is one of the fastest-growing, contributing significantly not only in terms of revenue but also in terms of employment. Hospitals, medical devices, health insurance, telemedicine, clinical trials, medical tourism, and medical equipment are all part of it.
For the past 24 months, healthcare has been at the center of attention. This shift in emphasis to healthcare infrastructure caused not only the country, but the entire world, to sit up and notice that the country had a vast opportunity beyond healthcare.
Existing hospitals are expanding their services through technology platforms, investing in next-generation diagnostic tools, forming alliances with insurance companies, and expanding geographically, all in an effort to provide world-class medical care at an affordable price.
Health-tech sector growing at fastest pace in healthcare ecosystem
The pandemic may have brought several economies and businesses to their knees, but India’s health care sector stood firm during this critical period. The health-tech sector is growing at the fastest rate in healthcare. health tech refers to the intersection of healthcare and technology. It is broadly defined as any technology that enables healthcare delivery or consumption outside of a hospital or doctor's office.
Health-tech companies, in addition to providing healthcare products and services outside of hospitals, also provide information technology solutions to improve healthcare delivery while lowering costs.
AI-aided healthcare
Healthcare is one of the most important areas of AI application. Some of today's most significant healthcare innovations include a significant AI component. For example, AI-aided in the recovery from the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which lasted nearly two years. AI has been used in the healthcare industry for a variety of purposes, including early-COVID-19 detection, patient assistance, etc.
Lack of access to adequate, critical care in India
One of the most serious flaws in India's traditional healthcare system is that many patients, particularly those living outside of metros and Tier 1 cities, lack access to adequate and critical care. Many health tech start-ups are addressing this issue by bringing healthcare services to patients' homes.
Home healthcare in India has progressed from simple tests to elderly care, at-home doctor consultations, pathological tests sample collection and report delivery, physiotherapy sessions, home nursing, and other services.
While technology has touched nearly every aspect of urban life in India today, the country still has a long way to go before it can compete with the most technologically advanced cities in the Western world as it enters the Age of Startups. There has been significant progress in logistics, e-commerce, and online consumer services over the last decade, but one area that has lagged significantly is healthcare.
Healthcare faces several challenges
In India, healthcare faces several challenges, including limited access, and an increasing chronic disease burden. At the same time, traditional business models, except for a few large providers, have struggled to demonstrate attractive returns on investment. Infusions of technology, along with expanded infrastructure and efficiencies from process improvements, could help improve health care accessibility and affordability.
While there are several health-tech startups in the Indian ecosystem, technologies like artificial intelligence, machine intelligence has impacted all major industries ranging from agriculture to recruitment, entertainment, and transportation, among others. Because of a scarcity of skilled healthcare professionals, the healthcare industry presents a huge opportunity for AI to enable more efficient and effective healthcare delivery.
Startups in healthcare is need of hour
Many startups in India are working to improve access to healthcare and critical care. This is the need of the hour.
The Indian startup community is gradually redefining healthcare delivery through various digital solutions that bridge the patient-provider gap. Developing an ecosystem in the healthcare industry will aid in the delivery of better, faster, and more efficient care.
(Senu Sam is Founder, Mykare-tech-enabled full-stack asset-light healthcare chain. Views are personal.)
