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Today, India has the digital reach and infrastructure to support healthcare journeys that extend beyond a single clinic visit. With 870 million internet users, India stands at a digital health inflection point. The telemedicine market is valued at around USD 6.8 billion, supported by frameworks like the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), says Shankar Iyer, director – business strategy, India, Infobip.
To make these journeys trustworthy, healthcare grade messaging infrastructure needs to be paired with robust data protection. Compliance with frameworks such as India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA), clear consent flows, and transparent explanations of how data powers AI and digital services are central to maintaining confidence in this new patient experience.
Infobip is a global cloud communications platform that helps healthcare businesses connect with customers through messaging, voice, email, and AI-powered communication solutions.
He further adds that to unlock this, healthcare requires a new communication backbone that can connect high-intent discovery moments, everyday patient conversations, and follow-up care across channels. Rich Communication Services (RCS), supported by an omnichannel approach encompassing WhatsApp, email and SMS, is emerging as the hero. Based on interactions on our platform, global RCS traffic grew by over 165% over the last year. Moreover, RCS for Business traffic in India grew 108% year-on-year between H1 2025 and H1 2026. Clearly, richer conversational experiences are now viable for everyday care at scale in the Indian market too, not just globally.
For many patients, the healthcare journey still begins with a familiar frustration: searching for the right provider, calling a clinic, waiting on hold to book an appointment, repeating the same information across touchpoints. Healthcare providers have long recognized the cost of this fragmentation, and are increasingly turning to connected digital communication to keep patients engaged between visits.
In a digitally orchestrated booking journey, discovery and scheduling become part of a single conversation. A patient searching “orthopaedic clinic near me” on Google can directly into a branded RCS chat with a clinic instead of landing on a static website or calling a phone line. Once engaged, the experience flows across channels without friction. A chatbot can help capture symptoms, share digital intake forms via RCS and route the patient to the right next step based on predefined workflows. If the patient is offline, the system can fall back to SMS or email for appointment confirmations, while WhatsApp remains a familiar alternative for patients accustomed to it.
Iyer explains, “Cloud-based CPaaS platforms connect these touchpoints to practice management systems, eliminating repeated data entry and helping providers keep patient context intact. Patients can reschedule instantly without waiting on hold, and clinicians can receive patient histories before the consultation begins. This omnichannel orchestration forms the baseline for modern, efficient healthcare delivery.”
This communication fabric also transforms the in-visit and post-visit phases. Virtual waiting rooms powered by RCS and SMS can notify patients exactly when to arrive or enter the clinic, helping reduce crowding and anxiety. Real-time updates with rich carousels and maps inside RCS can even help patients navigate complex hospital campuses.
Post-treatment, digital channels bridge the gap to recovery. Patients can receive personalized discharge instructions, medication reminders, and follow-up links across RCS, WhatsApp, email, and SMS, depending on preference and urgency. Rich messaging can replace easily lost paper summaries with structured checklists or short video guides directly in the native message inbox.
Conversational channels are already supporting preventive care. For instance, WhatsApp assistants like ZdrAVKO have engaged over 10,000 users on health education. Furthermore, telemedicine supported by unified messaging reduces travel and consultation costs by up to 60%, particularly for those outside major urban centres.
As omnichannel engagement deepens across the patient journey, AI can help make them more responsive without adding complexity for patients. AI-powered chatbots can support intake processes, answer routine questions, and trigger personalized follow-ups, while creating natural entry points for more autonomous, agentic capabilities over time.
“The next wave in healthcare CX has moved beyond simply adding more channels. Now it is about building an operating layer that connects channels, electronic medical records (EMRs), and AI agents into a single, intelligent journey. With RCS, WhatsApp, email, and SMS working together, this omnichannel layer allows healthcare providers to bring rich, contextual interactions to a vast, cross-platform patient audience. Healthcare leaders must unify communications on one platform, designing end-to-end journeys rather than isolated touchpoints. This requires establishing clear escalation paths between AI assistants and human clinicians, ensuring strict compliance, and experimenting with conversational AI for preventive and chronic-care management,” Iyer concludes.
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