A Brief Analysis of the Indian Healthcare Industry

by Indiahealthcare Tourism India Healthcare Tourism

Healthcare is one of the largest sectors in India, both in terms of revenue and employment. While on the revenue side of things, the healthcare market is expected to increase three fold to US$ 133.44 billion by 2022, on the employment side, the number of doctors – not counting nurses and other support staff – has seen an increase from 827,006 in 2010 to 841,104 in 2017. With a rise in investments both from public and private bodies to capture this market, the healthcare industry is expected to grow exponentially.

The role of public and private stakeholders in catapulting this growth is vital, especially in a country such as India where the healthcare delivery system itself is driven by two players – public and private. While the government controls the public healthcare system and aims it at providing basic primary and secondary healthcare services to a wide coverage area in the country, the private sector concentrates more with facilitating high-end tertiary and quaternary care in major metropolitan cities. The Government of India is expected to continue increasing public health spending over the next few years, while the private healthcare sector has attracted significant foreign investments.

Streamlined processes, advanced technologies, state-of-the-art infrastructures, specialised & interdisciplinary care, along with highly knowledgeable and skilled doctors, supported by a thoroughly trained and compassionate staff makes India home to a number of top 10 hospitals in the world.While affordable orthopaedic treatment packages and cancer treatment packages has made the country a premium destination for medical tourism among other developing countriessuch as Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iraq, Maldives, Oman, Yemen, etc., cheap dental care and plastic surgery options in the country has attracted patients from developed nations such as US, UK, Germany, etc. Fortis and Apollo, counted among the best hospitals in India, are equipped to deal with both domestic and international patients. Using specific programs that take into consideration the cultural and ethnic background of the patients to provide a ‘home away from home’ stay, they employ specialised teams trained to make the patient comfortable during their stay. Further, between the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in Delhi, the Lilavati Hospital and Research Center in Mumbai, the Billroth Hospital in Chennai, the Columbia Asia Hospital in Kolkata, it is clear that there is no definite answer to which is the number one hospital in India.

With an increase in revenue and an expected growth to US$ 280 billion by 2020, stakeholders are looking to explore the latest trends in the healthcare industry in order to make positive impact to their businesses. The hospital industry itself, a rather small portion of the overall healthcare industry, is expected to reach US$ 132.84 billion by FY22. The government’s open collaboration with the private sector to provide cheap, affordable, safe, and effective healthcare services to its citizens and beyond has also helped drive the growth forward leading to ample investment opportunities in the sector.