India leaps into the home healthcare market

The global home healthcare market has been proliferating. India has taken a giant leap in its healthcare capabilities with the launch of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. It was launched in 2020 when India was in the middle of a pandemic. Launched by the Indian National Health Authority (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare), it will connect digital health solutions from hospitals across the country. Under this scheme, citizens can create their Ayushman Bharat health account numbers (ABHA numbers), which will link their digital health records. These health IDs for all citizens will help hospitals, insurance firms, citizens, and other stakeholders access electronic health records.

The state of Healthcare in India has been changing, and India has made significant advancements in healthcare. During the pandemic, India’s efforts in manufacturing medical equipment, disposables, drugs, and the vaccine has helped India’s image in the healthcare sector. India, apart from fulfilling the domestic requirements, also supported other countries. India’s changing healthcare sector is acting as an investment opportunity. With more development across healthcare, India will be using newer emerging technology to develop the industry, which will be enormous opportunity for the service provider.

Exhibit 1: Predicted home healthcare market CAGR

Data: Bloomberg
Source: HFS Research, 2022

Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission will help India develop the backbone necessary to support an integrated digital health infrastructure. India is now in the Top 10 countries for medical tourism in 2022.

In this POV, we expand on India’s home healthcare market and what it means for service providers. Exhibit 1 shows the predicted CAGR comparison across different geography in the home healthcare market.

COVID-19 was a catalyst for India’s home healthcare growth

The pandemic in India was gruesome. Nearly 44 million infections and almost half a million coronavirus-related deaths have been reported in the country as of July 2022.

With more than half a million cases daily during the second wave, India struggled for hospital beds and endured a shortage of resources like medical oxygen and medications. This situation triggered the emergence of home healthcare to address the needs of an overburdened Indian healthcare system by providing COVID-19 care to nearly 21 million Indians, decongesting hospitals, and offering appropriate care in cases where hospitalization was unnecessary.

The Indian government recently launched new initiatives to promote home healthcare in India. In January 2022, the Healthcare Federation of India (NATHEALTH) developed a white paper, India Home Healthcare 2.0: Redefining the Modern Care Continuum, which attempts to provide forward views from all industry stakeholders and propose recommendations to the government to accelerate policy reforms for “homecare.”

The growth of Indian home healthcare

The Indian home healthcare market is gaining traction due to the increasing demand for improved healthcare services, growing population, technological improvements, rising disposable income, demand for cost-effective care services, and more.

Home healthcare services are also gaining increased attention from many private insurers offering benefits covering the cost of home healthcare treatment. Home healthcare services include three modes:

• Nonmedical home healthcare: Support essential daily activities for those struggling due to chronic illness, age, or disability.
• Medical care: Support primary medical care, like dressing a wound, administering injections, managing medication schedules, or monitoring vitals.
• Home healthcare: Caring for patients with short-term health problems like illness or injury. The main task of home healthcare is to help patients return to living independently. Home healthcare professionals include therapists, pathologists, and physicians.

Home healthcare services competition has increased with access to more portable medical devices and easy-to-use products. Firms have grown their offerings from nursing, trained attendants, elderly care, post-surgical care, ICU setup, and physiotherapy. Some players offer unique services, and many have facilities like X-rays, lab tests, and other medical equipment services.

Exhibit 2 describes a few of the key players in the home healthcare field in India.

Source: HFS Research, 2022

Home healthcare expansion in India can create a first-mover advantage for service firms

The accelerated growth of home healthcare across India, concurrent with the adoption of various digital technologies, holds the key for service providers wanting to gain a first-mover advantage. The combination creates a patient-centric solution and improves outcomes. With the rapid development of offerings and technology across healthcare, it may be the correct time for providers to expand their offerings, helping Indian healthcare ecosystem players employ innovative solutions and services to bridge supply and demand gaps across the home healthcare segment.

The Bottom Line: Indian home healthcare market in India is in its early growth stage with a lot of potential to grow over the coming years.

Indian home healthcare landscape is growing with an expanding, integrated network of hospitals, labs, insurers, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare start-ups under the regulatory framework of government policies and guidelines. It’s time for service providers like TCS, Accenture, Cognizant, and others to gain the first-mover advantage by providing services to ecosystem players. Indian home healthcare is a huge market, with a population of 1.39 billion people. A structured approach could be a win-win situation for everyone.