Algo rhythms: mHealth and Telemedicine in India

Indians living in rural regions spend up to 1.5 times more on healthcare than urban dwellers, primarily due to a lack of access which prevents early detection of diseases. mHealth and Telemedicine could potentially disrupt the market by bridging the gap between rural and urban health in India, which also makes it a great economic opportunity for technology companies and healthcare companies, and in many cases the lines between the two are blurring fast. This also opens the door for new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) to be used to augment the speed, scale and effectiveness of doctors and other healthcare professionals.

AI in healthcare

• $6.6 billion Global health AI market by 2021
• 50% reduction in the cost of treatment using AI
• 30-40% improvement in outcomes of treatment due to early detection and better accuracy of diagnosis

mHealth in India in 2020

• $800 million size of the mHealth market in India
• 9% amount of a doctor’s time saved using mHealth technologies
• 76% patients in rural areas can gain access to medicine in their own villages
• 105 million additional population that will gain access to healthcare if digital healthcare techniques are adopted more booadly
• 15-20% reduction in the cost of healthcare for a patient

Hurdles in adoption of digital healthcare

• Too few proven business models
• Changing patient behaviour
• Lack of information
• Application of inappropriate regulations

Source: IBM Kalaari Research Report 2018, PWC, Accenture, Frost & Sullivan