We aim to work with 9000-10,000 hospitals by end of 2020

HealthNine,an ITfirm, interconnects healthcare stakeholders to enable real-time exchange of data and transactions. Ritesh Kajaria, CEO,HealthNine Technologies explains how its system works as a centralised health information exchange for all healthcare entities,the need for such a solution in the Indian market,their growth plans and more, in an interview with Lakshmipriya Nair

- Lakshmipriya Nair

How is private healthcare financing in India transforming? What are its key drivers?

Private healthcare financing in India is quite restricted, albeit there have been several Indian and foreign players who have entered the market to provide such financing. The reality today is that most individuals make direct payments at the point of services, which are usually not covered under any financial protection scheme. The highest percentage of out of-pocket health expenditure is made towards medicines (52 percent) which is usually not covered under any private healthcare financing scheme. Even if 30 percent of the total health expenditure is incurred by the public sector, the rest of the 70 percent is usually borne directly by customers, where private insurance playing a smaller role only via hospitalisations.

Appropriate healthcare financing is a means to ensure adequate funds for health care with provision for equitable access to all population. This also reduces financial barriers among citizens to utilise health services. This segment is likely to be driven in the future through two factors: First, new private insurance products will expand business through deepening their offerings compared to widening the risk covered. Second, the concentration for private players will remain on urban middle and upper middle classes who have the capability to pay with an interest towards good health for themselves and their families. This is likely to scale up the insurance segment further, with growth in hospital usage and protection against growing hospitalisation expenses.

What are the major challenges in the sector? Are the processes in place? If not, how can they be better enforced?