Senu Sam, Founder, MyKare highlights the role of technology in improving healthcare in rural India
India has one of the world’s largest populations, and the country has a massive healthcare infrastructure to support this massive population. According to a report from NITI Aayog, “the healthcare industry has been increasing at a CAGR of 22 per cent since 2016″ and would continue to develop due to the high demand for supply and services in both urban and rural India.
The uneven distribution of healthcare infrastructure in India, on the other hand, is a significant issue to overcome. 75 per cent of India’s population lives in tier 2 or tier 3 cities, whereas 80 per cent of doctors and healthcare facilities are present in tier 1 cities; as a result, a large number of patients go from tier 2 and 3 cities to tier 1 cities for better treatment.
The COVID-19 pandemic has given both obstacles and opportunities for India to flourish. The crisis has flooded the market with Indian start-ups, many of which have risen to the occasion and hastened the creation of low-cost, scalable, and rapid solutions. Furthermore, the pandemic has also accelerated the growth of telemedicine and the home healthcare business in the country. We saw a significant acceleration in telehealth during the first Wave, but now is the time for a hybrid approach. Telehealth will not be the sole solution for tier 2 and 3 cities; instead, an inclusive paradigm of several technologies working together must be pursued.
Utilisation of digitalisation and internet
To address the issue, India can utilise growing Internet penetration in tier 2 and 3 cities, which would aid in more digital health adoption in these areas. Along with that, enabling more Smart clinics, Smart Connected Devices and Point of care Centers.
Need to improve primary health care system and need to connect it through technology
The government must improve its primary health care system because it is vital to make health systems more robust to crisis circumstances, more proactive in identifying early indicators of epidemics, and more prepared to respond quickly in reaction to surges in demand for services. We must significantly strengthen our rural healthcare infrastructure by training more healthcare professionals and equipping them with connected technology.
Hassle-free experience in medical travel
Travelling for better treatment is quite prevalent in India due to the uneven distribution of healthcare infrastructure. People travel from small towns to large cities for routine medical checkups, operations, and major surgeries. However, owing to an unstructured medical travel sector, obtaining the correct accommodation and other travel arrangements are major pain points in this process.
As a result of this issue, the demand for a hassle-free experience for patients travelling for treatment is skyrocketing. Few companies are attempting to meet this need, but they need the attention of governments and industry investors.
The sector urgently needs to be organised via registration, accreditation, and categorisation of medical service providers. This will provide a means for only registered and recognised companies to collaborate in order to create a trustworthy ecosystem while removing undesirable components.
Need to increase healthcare manpower and poc centers
As per the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), only 9 lakh doctors (including AYUSH practitioners) and 8 lakh nurses and midwives were the engaged health workforce in India in 2019. That means we can count that, India’s certified active health personnel density is as low as 11 to 12 doctors and nurses/midwives per 10,000 people.
Now, according to WHO’s recommendation minimum of 22.8 health professionals are required per 10,000 people. Clearly here we have a huge gap here. However, recognising the critical lack of healthcare workers, the Central Government announced the establishment of new educational institutions to produce physicians and nurses. The government announced the establishment of 157 new medical colleges and around 50 nursing schools in stages. Every year, these institutions are expected to graduate around 22,500 physicians and 2,000 nurses. The Government still need to take more programs to produce skilled healthcare workers.
Fast and advanced technology for diagnosis
Despite accounting for just around 2 per cent of overall healthcare costs, diagnostics play a key role in illness prevention and management, influencing nearly two-thirds of all clinical decision-making. Laboratory professionals and healthcare organisations are under growing pressure to manage more samples, give the highest-quality findings as quickly as possible, and boost profitability. To address this issue we need to adopt more digitalise ways to handle the diagnosis process.
While new technology provides far-reaching benefits, the equipment provides another avenue for long-term gains: Lab performance may be improved by redesigning the lab and harmonising work routines. In addition, the potential of data analytics and workflow integration will be used to obtain insights and alter the present healthcare standard.
On-time diagnosis and treatment are critical; decreasing the strain on metros and improving the healthcare systems of tier 2 and tier 3 cities will go a long way toward accelerating the treatment process.
Need to increase insurance awareness and penetration
We also need to improve healthcare insurance penetration in India mainly in urban and rural areas, a lot of people suffers when they did not get any financial coverage for their health. No doubt, the Indian government has implemented extensive structural and long-term reforms to boost the healthcare industry, as well as declared favourable policies to encourage FDI. Several short-term and long-term actions for the health system are included in the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan packages, including Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) programmes to increase local manufacture of medicines and medical devices. Along with educating people, we need more such policies to meet the final goal.
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