Health Care in India and how eZdia can help

Lets start with some facts and slides on the current Healthcare market in India

Healthcare Infrastructure:

The Indian healthcare industry is growing at a rapid pace and is expected to become a US$280 billion industry by 2022. The Indian healthcare market is currently estimated at US$35 billion and is expected to reach over US$75 billion by 2012 and US$150 billion by 2017. According to the Investment Commission of India the healthcare sector has experienced phenomenal growth of 12 percent per annum in the last 4 years. Rising income levels, a growing elderly population, and increasing awareness are all factors that are driving this growth. In addition, changing demographics, disease profiles and the shift from chronic to lifestyle diseases in the country has led to increased spending on healthcare delivery.

Looking at the rise and the potential, people might be lulled into thinking that the quality of life is increasing at a rapid clip but what we forget is the size of the population and concentration of pockets of excellence.

Approximately one million people, mostly women and children, die in India each year due to inadequate healthcare. 700 million people have no access to specialist care and 80% of specialists live in urban areas. In addition to poor infrastructure India faces a shortage of trained medical personal especially in rural areas where access to care is altogether limited.

According to WHO statistics there are over 250 medical colleges in the modern system of medicine and over 400 in the Indian system of medicine and homeopathy (ISM&H). India produces over 250,000 doctors annually in the modern system of medicine and a similar number of ISM&H practitioners, nurses and para professionals.

India faces a huge need gap in terms of availability of number of hospital beds per 1000 population. With a world average of 3.96 hospital beds per 1000 population India stands just a little over 0.7 hospital beds per 1000 population. Moreover, India faces a shortage of doctors, nurses and paramedics that are needed to propel the growing healthcare industry.

As incomes rise and the number of available financing options in terms of health insurance policies increase, consumers become more and more engaged in making informed decisions about their health and are well aware of the costs associated with those decisions. In order to remain competitive, healthcare providers are now not only looking at improving operational efficiency but are also looking at ways of enhancing patient experience overall.

The overall figures might be telling a rosy story but the Devil is in the Details. The following charts show the story in numbers and drivers in the healthcare delivery.

Demand and Supply in India

Current Stats

Drivers in Healthcare

Demographics

Urban vs Rural

Major Players

Now that we have seen the details, how can we help as Indian Citizens and help in improving the quality of health care in a way which helps us and our fellow citizens.

Do we wait for the government to pass policy measure, make investments, and open up regulations? Do we wait for private individuals and organizations to open new hospitals, hire new doctors, or create new delivery mechanisms?

Cannot we do something which will help all of us in reaching our goal of universal health care faster and in a more effective manner?

We all tout about our technology prowess with some of the greatest minds in the various fields of technology. So, what happened to us? Why are we waiting for some one to take the baton and lead us?

We at ezdia have created a online democratic platform which will put the focus on the two major players in this whole arena Doctors and Patients. We have taken the whole focus away from this relationship which makes the high quality care possible. But, ezdia provides this access anywhere, anytime using the most flexible information sharing medium the world has ever seen. We don’t have to wait for physicians to go to rural areas once every three months, instead we can talk to the physicians of our choosing anywhere, anytime?

I will talk more about how ezdia works and how it will help you to resolve your problems and in the process increase the quality of care for the whole country, our country.

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