Healthtech may be quite the buzzword in the year gone but numbers indicate that the distance between perception and reality is massive. The healthtech sector in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of 39 per cent in the FY2020 -23 period, poised to reach $50 billion by 2033. Industry reports such as from the RBSA Advisors and IAMAI-Praxis, indicate that the present market size stands at $2 billion, which is less than one per cent of the overall healthcare industry in India. This being said, the expected growth, from $2bn to $50bn, over the next decade is indicative of several factors that push the Indian healthtech industry forward.
Healthtech can broadly be divided into six segments in India. These include telemedicine, e-pharmacy, fitness and wellness, healthcare IT and analytics, home healthcare and personal health management. Several developments, from the government, private sector, foreign investors, startups, have all led to changes in each of these sectors, creating a groundswell of shifting mindsets in favour of healthtech.
A Growth Market
Growing customer acceptance towards digital healthcare is at the core of changes in this sector. India had attracted over $3 billion between 2014 and 2019 in this sector but more interest has followed. Also, the impact of government initiatives such as the digital health identity card or the other steps taken by the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM), along with defining guidelines for telemedicine and so on, all contribute to the opportunity.
As per a Lancet report, in 2021, India ranked 145 out of 195 countries in healthcare quality and accessibility.
The Indian healthcare system is indeed highly fragmented and sub-optimal. However, the demand for better and world-class medical facilities at affordable prices is immense. The need of the hour for India is to adopt global tech-driven healthcare practices. New trends are now evidently visible in the healthcare industry. Indian medical fraternity is ready and adopting the new advancement in healthcare facilities like telemedicine, robotics surgery, use of artificial intelligence (AI) and storage of patients data in clouds. Innovations in healthcare through incubation centres in IITs and other research centres and universities are providing new hopes for better medical facilities. There is a need for a holistic approach for preventive and curative care. Also, the need for better diagnostic equipment and other surgical tools is immensely required for providing adequate treatment to patients.
Various startups in India are also leveraging technology to offer support and fulfil demand. As per the IAMAI-Praxis report, E-pharmacies saw a 200 per cent increase in the number of orders in 2020 and was the largest segment in the Indian healthtech market with $700 million revenue. Online consultations also increased by 300 per cent. The likes of Pharm-Easy, Cure fit and Practo are already making their mark on the sector.
Healthcare has changed with the advent of technology. Technology is assumed to be the driving force behind advancements in healthcare and as we look at the rate of change and recent inventions, many find it difficult not to agree with that observation. Graduates of health informatics agree that technology is affecting many spheres of people’s lives as breakthroughs in data collection, treatments and research allow medical practitioners to utilise fresh tools and find new and innovative methods to practice medicine into the future.
Better Treatment, Efficiency & Care
Numerous industry analysts have felt that increased accessibility of treatment is the most tangible way that technology has changed healthcare. Health IT opens up various more avenues of research and exploration, that allows experts to make healthcare more effective and driven than it has ever been. Patient care is another significant sphere that has grown and continues to do so. The utilisation of IT has made patient care more reliable and safer in maximum applications.
The fact that healthcare professionals are now using hand-held computers to record significant real-time patient data and then share it immediately within their updated medical history is a good example of the advantages of health IT. A better-organised approach in data collection means that a wide digital resource of patient history is available to scientists, who are discovering new methods to observe trends and make medical breakthroughs at a rapid rate.
Software Improving Healthcare
The evolution of specific healthcare software programs assists in more ways than one. For example, the World Health Organization has been able to categorise illnesses, their symptoms and causes into an enormous database that encompasses over 14,000 individual codes. This resource allows medical researchers and practitioners to retrieve, track and use important data in the fight to control disease and provide greater healthcare results in general.
The software also plays a major role in tracking processes and utilising billing modes that not only decrease paperwork levels but also allow professionals to utilise this data to enhance the quality of care and all-around planning. Doctors describe that they are deriving huge advantages from the drive toward a total system of electronic medical records; patients like the fact that software has generated a considerable degree of transparency in the medical sector.
With the advancement in digital healthcare technologies, such as 3D printing, virtual and augmented reality, AI, robotics and nanotechnology, medicine’s future is reshaping before our very eyes. Healthcare professionals widely argue that the sector should be aware of the latest creations to administer the control of technology, and not the other way around. Medicine’s future lies in working in partnership with clinicians and technology to grasp the changes in the medical world, allowing us to stay relevant for years to come.
AI & VR
AI is an important tool that is ready to revolutionise healthcare completely. With the capability to mine medical records, AI algorithms can outline treatment plans, develop drugs faster than any present doctor and even diagnose cancerous and noncancerous tissue specimens. Google’s DeerMind recently created an AI for breast cancer analysis. The new algorithm exceeded the performance of human radiologists by 11.5 per cent on pre-cleared sets of data to differentiate breast cancer.
VR is transforming the lives of patients and physicians alike. VR has a role in many affairs, from training future surgeons and for qualified surgeons to exercise operations. The results are encouraging for those developing these software programs such as ImmersiveTouch and Osso VR. A recent study has disclosed that VR-trained surgeons had a 230 per cent increase in their overall performance than traditionally-trained fellow workers.
Varying from VR, AR is where users don't lose touch with reality and information is put into eyesight as quick as possible. AR is becoming the driving force in the future of healthcare because of these characteristic features, both on the healthcare providers’ and receivers’ sides. For medical practitioners, it could assist medical students to prepare better for real-life operations, as well as letting present surgeons enhance their capabilities. Students utilise the Microsoft HoloLens to attain knowledge on anatomy with the HoloAnatomy application.
Healthcare wearables, sensors and trackers
Closely associated with the future of medicine and healthcare, individuals’ and patients' empowerment is taking better care of their health using technologies like wearables, sensors and health trackers. These are gadgets that let us know more about our health and allow us more control over our own lives. With gadgets like the Fitbit Ionic, which keeps an eye on sleep and tracks workouts, the Polar H10 can adjust a workout routine and the Muse headband, which helps with meditation. There are various health apps and trackers in the market today.
Whether someone is trying to control stress level, weight or cognitive capabilities better and want to be more healthy and energetic overall, there is a device for all needs. These technology-driven breakthroughs make patients the point of care. Patients can trace their health at home and share the outcomes remotely with their doctor. The devices empower individuals to take control of their health and make more informed decisions.
Medical tricorder
Every medical practitioner’s dream is to own only one incredible and all-powerful device that should be capable of diagnosing and analysing every disease. With the swift growth in medical technologies, we now live in a world where these kinds of gadgets exist. One such device is the palm-sized Viatom CheckMe Pro that can calculate temperature, heart rate, ECG, blood pressure, oxygen saturation and more. Other firms are also working towards developing such devices like the MedWand, which comes with an attached camera for telemedical purposes, as well as all of the calculation abilities.
These products might be far from the sci-fi tricorder but will proceed there soon. Expect to see high-powered microscopes with smartphones that examine swab samples and images of skin lesions. It could have sensors that notice DNA abnormalities or identify particular antibodies and proteins. An electronic nose, an ultrasonic probe or anything else that could be paired with a smartphone and improve its characteristics.
Transformational Tech
Fresh technologies and approaches are ready to shape the pharmaceutical landscape in future. Firms such as Deep Genomics, Turbine and Recursion Pharmaceuticals are utilising AI to form new therapeutic solutions and drug candidates in record time and at a fraction of the normal cost. One can also spot nanoparticles and nanodevices operating as correct drug delivery systems, surgeons or cancer treatment devices soon. With progressing technology, there will be many examples of nanotechnology in medical management. The PillCams in the future may even be able to take biopsy samples and remote-controlled capsules could take nano-surgery in the coming years.
We are very much living in innovational times for medicine and the credit goes to the growing technology. The aim is to spread the knowledge and advancements in medicine that will push us into the future of healthcare.