Indian Healthcare Industry – What’s in Store for the Future?

As the public awareness about healthcare is growing, there is an increasing need for the healthcare industry to cater to the fast-changing consumer needs and demands. Consumers are becoming more and more demanding of their health needs and looking for cost-effective and efficient healthcare services to be delivered with quicker response and lesser waiting times. If this remains the mindset of the future healthcare consumers, then the healthcare industry will have to tune itself by revamping and reorganizing their existing healthcare models to meet the consumer requirements and demands.

The Indian healthcare industry as of now is becoming one of the leading contributors to the country’s employment and revenue generation. This growth and development is expected to increase further in the coming years at a rapid pace, thanks to the existing growth drivers like rising geriatric population, increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, and strong economic performance. Besides, the rapid privatization of healthcare services has brought in significant growth within the industry over the last few decades. The current size of the Indian healthcare industry is around $160 billion and this is expected to increase to over $280 billion by 2020 (IBEF). Therefore, with the sector gearing up for a tremendous growth, there needs a lot of improvements and advancements expected from the healthcare organizations to boost their services demand in the future.

With the window to the future of healthcare depending primarily on the consumers’ demand, it leaves immense opportunity for healthcare organizations to restore and advance their existing healthcare practices and services. Expectations are high for the industry to improve in terms of infrastructure and expenditure as it is becoming more diversified and competitive. There is a lot in store for the future of the healthcare industry, thanks to the increasing egress of digitalization and technological advancements.

Future Opportunities – An Overview

The positivity with which the Indian healthcare industry will be functioning in the coming years has a ripple effect on many other interrelated sectors within the health domain. The positive trends emerging in this sector today holds immense benefits for the consumers, as healthcare professionals and the industry leverages technology to create better healthcare services for patients.

India has been one of the leading destinations for high-end diagnostic services in the world, with its advanced diagnostic facilities through tremendous capital investment by PPP. Moreover, increasing opportunities in R&D, Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) approvals, and the boom of medical tourism are keeping the Indian healthcare sector at a competitive advantage in the global market. Besides, there are several emerging trends that would contribute positively and favorably to the Indian healthcare market growth in the near future.

The Growth of Mobile Healthcare

Telemedicine and IoMT are on the verge of leading the healthcare market. Patients today are actively adopting mobile health apps and other interconnected devices like smartwatches and fitness bands to monitor their health and wellness. Besides, there are also m-health websites that provide consumers with expert advice and diagnosis from remote proximities, allowing patients to reach out to the healthcare professionals, right from the comfort of their home.

Indeed, most of the people in the future would prefer to have the latest healthcare facilities with smart devices and remote diagnosis apps, possibly reducing their treatment and recuperation period, without even stepping inside the hospitals. In near future, millions of patients will receive online video consultations and use mobile phones or other interconnected devices as their diagnostic tools. In that sense, the healthcare industry itself needs to become more stable and self-sufficient to incorporate advanced technologies into every facet of healthcare administration and services.

Consolidation and Mergers

In order to tackle the boom of the healthcare sector, collaborations between hospitals and its subsectors will increase manifold. Consolidations and mergers between the top and medium tier public/private healthcare organizations would certainly generate better healthcare services and ultimately more consumer interest. With these collaborations, we can expect a rapid scale-up of the modern technology being served to the patients.

Cybersecurity Threats

While technology takes the front seat in the growth of healthcare future, there needs humongous effort to be put in by hospitals to improve cybersecurity and safety measures. The threat of cybersecurity and insufficient safety measures might keep people from using connected healthcare devices, leading to the receding of technology adoption and dispersion within the healthcare industry. As a result, it has become the need and responsibility of the healthcare industry to mitigate the risks of hacks and protect the system and its consumers from any impending cyber-assaults.

Therefore, in the coming years, the conventional healthcare model would need a lot of transformation to adopt the advancing technology and to tap into the opportunities that enhance operational efficiencies and bring better profitability. The Indian healthcare industry today is on the verge of embracing the change in a positive way and needs to come up with innovative models that deliver better and quality healthcare to the masses.

The positive growth in healthcare and the future trends indicates the need for well-trained medical professionals who would be a competitive asset for the industry. In that sense, IIHMR has been offering quality education to produce better and efficient healthcare management professionals who are equipped to meet the demands of the industry. IIHMR utilizes its decades of experience in the healthcare management education domain to produce highly skilled, future-ready professionals. Its industry-oriented curriculum and hands-on training instill the students with the requisite skills and expertise to become prospective professionals in the booming healthcare industry.