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While the national digital infrastructure is still in its nascent stage, the Central government is setting up a digital ecosystem that will open up a host of benefits to all healthcare ecosystem players. It will be unfathomable for anyone to avoid the digital wave in the next 3 to 5 years from now, according to Antony Prashant, partner, Deloitte India.
The eSanjeevani platform launched by the government has already conducted more than 18 crore consultations and onboarded more than 2.5 lakh doctors.
The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) has already implemented Personalized Health ID, Healthcare provider registry and Patient health records in phase 1. In phase 2, an open teleconsultation and e-pharmacy platform will also be developed which are expected to provide a significant boost to telemedicine. ABDM will be to healthcare what UPI has been to online payments.
The ABDM gives healthcare industry players the chance to leverage the national digital infrastructure's capabilities to significantly boost healthcare access in underserved areas, enhance insurance coverage and improve health outcomes by fostering greater accountability.
As of today, only 0.5 to 1.5% of total consultations in India are done digitally, and only 2.5 to 4.5% of diagnostic tests and medicine delivery are ordered through digital platforms. While these numbers are currently low, they are forcing traditional healthcare players to react and develop their own digital health offerings which positions well for the long-term uptake of digital healthcare in India.
Prashant explained that newly empowered patients evolving into true health care consumers are driving fragmentation in the healthcare industry (balancing quality, cost, and customer service). New opportunities are open for players from outside the industry to enter, compete with industry incumbents, and ultimately challenge incumbents to examine long-standing portfolio constructs. However, the industry is expected to re-assemble in the next 5 to 6 years and will adapt to the hyper competition where classic sector players can absorb new disrupters, which permanently alters the centre of gravity (e.g., virtual care providers to evolve the provider system from one that is late-stage, provider-centric, inconvenient, and expensive to one that is real-time, consumer-centred, and data-informed). AI has already established itself firmly in image-based diagnostics.
“Drafts of policies related to digital health should be tabled for comment by all parties before they are tabled in legislative decision-making bodies. Also, the government should foster public-private partnerships and industry-academia linkages to help the private sector develop and scale up solutions that meet India’s needs,” Prashant added.
A Deloitte study on mental health among the corporate workforce conducted in 2022 showed that more than 60% of employees reported at least one mental health symptom in the past one year. A surprisingly large proportion of employees traced their mental health symptoms to workplace related issues.
“Digital health offers industries a significant opportunity to monitor, identify and mitigate health issues among their workforce by offering personalized interventions to their employees on a large scale and at a low cost. The Government of India (GoI) has committed to increasing India's healthcare expenditure from 2.1% of GDP to 2.5% of GDP by 2030. The government should potentially earmark a portion of this funding for digital health related initiatives such as financially incentivising innovative start-ups that help enhance healthcare access or affordability, and investing further on developing and evangelising the national digital infrastructure,” Prashant said.
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