Technology Trends

An amazing future awaits the practice of medicine with the advancement in digital healthcare technologies like 3D-printing, VR, AR, AI, robotics and nanotechnology

- Upasana

HEALTHTECH may have been quite the buzzword in the year gone by, but numbers show an awning hiatus between the perception and the reality. A Lancet report published this year ranks India 145 out of 195 countries in terms of quality and accessibility of healthcare. Even so, the Indian healthcare system is highly fragmented and utilisation of health-tech is sub-optimal. However, the demand for better and world-class medical facilities at affordable prices is immense. So India simply needs to grab the bull by the horn and adopt tech-driven global healthcare practices.

New trends are now evident in the healthcare industry that support predictions of tremendous growth. The healthtech sector in India has been estimated to be growing at a CAGR of 39 per cent during the FY2020- FY2023 period and is expected reach a market size of $50 billion by 2033. Industry reports from the RBSA Advisors and IAMAI-Praxis indicate that the current market size stands at $2 billion, which is less than one per cent of the overall healthcare industry in India. The anticipated growth in the market size of the healthtech sector from $2 billion now to $50 billion over the next decade hinges on several factors that driving the Indian healthtech industry.

Healthtech can broadly be divided into six segments in India, namely telemedicine, e-pharmacy, fitness and wellness, healthcare IT and analytics, home healthcare and personal health management. Several initiatives by the government, the private sector, foreign investors and startups, have led to changes in each of these sectors, creating a groundswell of shifting mindsets in favour of health tech.

A Growing Market