<p>The Indian healthcare sector is set to touch $280 billion by 2020. With digitisation gaining strength in India, investments in digital health has risen to $6.5 billion this year, a giant leap of 125 per cent, from 2014. <br /><br /></p>.<p>IDG Ventures India believes 2015 is the year that digital health will actually break out. “Right now we are looking at digital health in a very big way,” says Ranjith Menon, Executive Director, IDGVI.<br /><br />In the health sector, technology-enabled services comprise of health devices, digital health platforms, and bio-health products. About 70 to 80 per cent of the health devices in the Indian market are imported. In the pharmaceutical sector, India is very strong in the generic space, but lags in innovation, Ranjith said.<br /><br />Despite this, the digital healthcare sector has seen sizeable growth in the past two to three years, he said.<br /><br />Currently, India is said to be at about 15 digital healthcare start-ups, most of them addressing the primary issue of accessibility. In India, accessibility involves a wide range of problems, from poor doctor-patient ratio, bed-patient ratio, to lack of medical personnel, services in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, and more.<br /><br />Mobile-based applications and eCommerce portals resolve accessibility issues to an extent by enabling appointment scheduling and connecting patients with the appropriate specialist.<br />“Indian healthcare start-ups are at a stage where creating access and early stage detection for health-related problems via digital platforms are a priority,” said Ranjith. And, as for challenges, building awareness and engaging users are issues that continue to exist, he added.<br /><br />Up next, medical records<br />Speaking about the trend in the digital healthcare industry, Ranjith said that appointment booking apps which address accessibility are leaders in terms of development, delivery, and acceptance. <br /><br />Diagnostic services platforms which enable home delivery of medical tests and services follow closely.<br /><br />Self-monitoring technology has been accepted well, but the effectiveness of such technology is at dispute due to lack of professional monitoring. Digital pharmacies are reaching out, and are being accepted but they are faced by regulatory obstacles, which is their biggest impediment.<br /><br />“On the consumer side, creating a digital platform to maintain medical records would be the next step,” he said. Relieving patients of the burden of carrying and maintaining a physical record of their medical history and having doctors get easier and timely access to patient records is what is next in this arena, he added.<br /><br /> </p>
<p>The Indian healthcare sector is set to touch $280 billion by 2020. With digitisation gaining strength in India, investments in digital health has risen to $6.5 billion this year, a giant leap of 125 per cent, from 2014. <br /><br /></p>.<p>IDG Ventures India believes 2015 is the year that digital health will actually break out. “Right now we are looking at digital health in a very big way,” says Ranjith Menon, Executive Director, IDGVI.<br /><br />In the health sector, technology-enabled services comprise of health devices, digital health platforms, and bio-health products. About 70 to 80 per cent of the health devices in the Indian market are imported. In the pharmaceutical sector, India is very strong in the generic space, but lags in innovation, Ranjith said.<br /><br />Despite this, the digital healthcare sector has seen sizeable growth in the past two to three years, he said.<br /><br />Currently, India is said to be at about 15 digital healthcare start-ups, most of them addressing the primary issue of accessibility. In India, accessibility involves a wide range of problems, from poor doctor-patient ratio, bed-patient ratio, to lack of medical personnel, services in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, and more.<br /><br />Mobile-based applications and eCommerce portals resolve accessibility issues to an extent by enabling appointment scheduling and connecting patients with the appropriate specialist.<br />“Indian healthcare start-ups are at a stage where creating access and early stage detection for health-related problems via digital platforms are a priority,” said Ranjith. And, as for challenges, building awareness and engaging users are issues that continue to exist, he added.<br /><br />Up next, medical records<br />Speaking about the trend in the digital healthcare industry, Ranjith said that appointment booking apps which address accessibility are leaders in terms of development, delivery, and acceptance. <br /><br />Diagnostic services platforms which enable home delivery of medical tests and services follow closely.<br /><br />Self-monitoring technology has been accepted well, but the effectiveness of such technology is at dispute due to lack of professional monitoring. Digital pharmacies are reaching out, and are being accepted but they are faced by regulatory obstacles, which is their biggest impediment.<br /><br />“On the consumer side, creating a digital platform to maintain medical records would be the next step,” he said. Relieving patients of the burden of carrying and maintaining a physical record of their medical history and having doctors get easier and timely access to patient records is what is next in this arena, he added.<br /><br /> </p>
