E-clinics and Telemedicine: Technology advancement in health is imperative for future growth

In the digital age, companies that can innovate with healthcare technology stand to beat competitors who don’t innovate. It must be considered that various avenues have opened up in the healthcare sector because of advances in technology.

Telemedicine

In a country of over 1.3 billion people, there are less than two doctors for every 1,000 individuals. The doctor to patient to ratio in India is alarming. Compounding this troubling ratio is the fact that the majority of Indian specialists practice in leading hospitals located in the largest metropolises. The low doctor to patient ratio, combined with the fact that the best doctors practice in a few urban pockets means the majority of Indians don’t have access to sound healthcare.

Until technology came of age, there was no way to bring needy patients and good doctors together. Since the development of the internet, the availability of high-speed internet, and a gradual change in public perception, telemedicine has been bringing quality healthcare to thousands in the interior of the country.

How Telemedicine is Succeeding

The secret of telemedicine’s success is easy to understand. Telemedicine is succeeding because it is bringing together qualified doctors and patients regardless of where each lives. The physicians who examine patients in e-clinics practice in the leading hospitals of the country. Most of them are the leading minds in their fields. The patients who come to e-clinics live in a part of the country where healthcare infrastructure is deficient or absent.

The meeting of the world’s leading physicians with patients is possible because of technology. At e-clinics physicians examine patients over computer screens. In addition to seeing them, doctors can also talk to them. Patients easily share their symptoms with doctors allowing the latter to make an accurate diagnosis.

The success of e-clinics speaks for itself because OPD success rates at e-clinics are higher than those in traditional clinics. Patients treated at e-clinics enjoy superior treatment outcomes and pay almost half of what patients in regular clinics and hospitals pay.

The Potential of Healthcare Industry

Everyone in India needs access to quality healthcare. Most need such care multiple times in a year. The interior of the country is a vast untapped market for a wide range of industries. For players in the healthcare space, the scope in India’s interior is nearly limitless. Innovative companies that bring residents of tier 3 cities, small towns and villages under the care of leading specialists have immense potential to grow larger.

The size of the Indian healthcare industry is estimated to be almost $70 billion and has scope to grow much larger when established healthcare facilities come to ever y corner of the country. E-clinics are an effective way to provide the best care possible to everyone in India and to help the healthcare industry grow.

It is believed that the country’s healthcare sector will grow to approximately $133 billion within four years. Much of this expansion can be led by the establishment of e-clinics in distant parts of the country. Potentially, healthcare providers that take steps to bring quality healthcare to every corner of India stand to be well rewarded.

Other Healthcare Advances

In addition to e-clinics, the Indian healthcare sector will also grow on the back of additional technological advances. Research will play a big part in the development of the country’s healthcare sector. The discovery of newer and cheaper drugs and advances in genetics will increase life spans and knowledge. Medicine in the decades ahead will be very different than it is today. Drugs will be tailored made to respond optimally in different individuals. With drugs tailor-made according to one's genes, patients will enjoy good health all year round without any side-effects.

E-clinics will play an increasingly important role in the future. They will allow healthcare experts to treat patients using the latest findings and technologies.

By Ayush Atul Mishra, CEO and Founder, Tattvan E Clninc