Care24, a home care service provider, sees that with healthcare sector facing a challenges due to shortage of beds in the hospitals, concepts like home healthcare platform could make a big difference in handling patient protocols.

The current reality is that there is 1 bed per 1,000 population and the geriatric population in India is expected to touch nearly 150 million by 2025. All these see the pressing requirement for medical assistance of some sort. This is where concepts like home healthcare services could come to the fore, Vipin Pathak, co-founder and CEO, Care24 told Pharmabiz in an email.

Home healthcare is still in a nascent stage but will be one of the corner stones to support the growing population and handle the strain on human resources, he added.

The private healthcare sector is responsible for the most of healthcare institutions in India. Most healthcare expenses are paid out of pocket by patients, rather than insurance. The private sector is the dominant healthcare provider in India. Expenditure on healthcare is a mere 4 per cent of GDP. The situation is complex with the inequity in healthcare access across states. Spend on healthcare by the government will need to increase. A shortage of skilled workforce has to be addressed to ensure better doctor-patient ratios, he added.

There is also an acute shortage of nurses. The need for financial security and less of exposure to medical technologies see nurses to look for opportunities in other countries. The mass migration of nurses from India is leading to non-availability of standard quality health services especially to the economically deprived section of the population in the country.

The government has envisaged setting up of 187 medical colleges in 17 states so as to reach the target of 1 allopathic doctor per 1,000 people from the current 0.5 per 1,000. Apart from this, it will need to shift certain treatment cycles into the home environment through the establishment of proper clinical processes. This will take a huge load of doctors and enable to treat more patients enabling them to be more productive and handle only critical cases, said Pathak.

Despite the serious issues stalling the growth of the Indian healthcare, there is considerable interest in the area of medical tourism. This is primarily because the medical treatment costs in the developed world are spiraling especially US leading the way. Patients from the developed world find it more financially appealing to access treatment from India. There is access to high quality care from private hospitals at reduced costs compared to international medical centres.

With a huge chunk of the population, moving to access services using mobile devices, will lead to increasing connectivity through online portals to avail healthcare service. Specifically Care24 is among the leading home healthcare providers in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan regions. One way to create better job opportunities for allied medical professionals: nurses, attendants, physiotherapists in the country is through the home health services, he said.