A recent study suggests that the Indian healthcare market will expand to a size of $158,000,000,000 by 2017 and will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 15%. Currently, hospitals generate more than 70% of the overall healthcare revenues, while the rest of the revenues come from things like pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, medical devices and medical insurance.
There are three key reasons why India’s healthcare market is bound to see some growth, the first of which is increased demand. People are making more money and they’re getting more access to insurance as a result. They’re also experiencing more lifestyle disorders and gaining greater health awareness. These factors will all combine in a larger demand for healthcare in the country.
Policy support is the second main reason why the Indian healthcare market is anticipated to grow. The Indian government is determined to make the country a global healthcare hub and in their quest to do so, they’ve done things such as lower taxation rates for private players and reduced excise and custom duties.
The third reason why Indian’s healthcare market is likely to see some serious growth is because the country has no shortage of talented medical professionals. Yes, many of its best and brightest have left to work abroad, but some of the world’s finest surgeons still call India home. Their skill is recognized across the globe and their services are affordable when compared to the services offered by surgeons in western countries and in Asia. Due to this, India has seen a major rise in medical tourism (it’s already at least a $2,000,000,000 industry) and it’s expected that foreigners will continue to flock to the nation seeking medical care.
Mobile healthcare delivery and telemedicine are two burgeoning sectors that are projected to see a lot of growth in the coming years. Those who get in on the ground floor stand to gain quite a bit. Many hospitals are already giving their foreign patients the option of continuing their treatment through telemedicine. That works out great for the patients, because they can travel to India for low-cost healthcare and then recover back at home while still being followed by the very same doctors they dealt with while abroad.
Of course, it isn’t just foreigners who stand to gain from telemedicine becoming increasingly common. Indian doctors will be able to use it to treat ever more patients and the technology has the potential to will help people living in rural areas receive comparable care to the people dwelling in urban areas. It has also been suggested that a rise in telemedicine might help reduce India’s brain drain, which is something that would just further contribute to it becoming a major destination for medical tourists.
Tags: digital health technologies, healthcare cost, medical tourism, must read, telemedicine
Originally published at www.medipense.com.
