Technopak Advisors view that the current healthcare crisis in India would only worsen unless a combination of financial investments, manpower development and physical infrastructure are in place immediately.

The present reality of hospital bed to population ratio at 0.5 is totally inadequate in a vast country like India. There is an additional requirement of 2.0 to 2.5 million hospital beds by 2020. The country also requires an additional 8 lakh to 1 million doctors and 1.8 to 2.0 million nurses besides a huge shortage of paramedics. Over 45 per cent of the population travels more than 100 kilometres to access higher level of medical care.

India is already facing a healthcare crisis of unimaginable magnitude, and current trends are such that this crisis would only worsen. Huge investments needed to offset the crisis not just in infrastructure and advanced technology infusion but also in manpower, said Arvind Singhal, chairman, Technopak Advisors.

The need of the hour is to decentralize the structure of operations to relatively lower-end delivery systems which are likely to work better in Indian context than centralized, very high-end ones, he added.

Currently, India has 13.7 lakh hospital beds, but only 50 per cent which is about 650,000 are functional and relevant. The total health spending is estimated at 4.2 per cent of GDP which is way below the most of the developed countries. Over 80 per cent of healthcare spend is in the private sector; predominantly unorganised and fragmented.

The industry analyst in its report titled ‘Overview Of India’s Healthcare Industry 2012–2020’ has called for decentralized delivery models and technology centered healthcare ecosystems.

The country has very limited focus so far on accessibility and affordability. There is absence of integrated pan India players. Providers of quality healthcare are largely focused on the top 10-12 cities. None of the players adequately integrate both the financing and delivery of care. The technology usage is not optimum. The focus is on reactive rather than preventive care , according to the Technopak chief.

The country’s hospitals have generally flawed business models implemented by most of the current players. The issues are high capital cost, multiple specialties under one roof without achieving a critical mass in any single one, seemingly random expansion, lack of integration between primary, secondary, and tertiary facilities, wrong location selection and high operating costs due to systemic design flaws, reports Technopak.

But a visible trend in the last few months is the emergence of mobile healthcare practices which would not only reduce the cost of delivery but will also help the industry to scale and cope with changing demographics. Many such telemedicine and call centres to provide medical care to patients and small primary centres are being set up in the country. Some of the centres have a panel of specialists who provide medical advice to auxiliary nurse midwives (ANM), Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA), health staff and medical officers for effective management of patients and various health activities at primary health centres, sub-centres and rural hospitals. This would be the only way to address the healthcare needs of an ageing population above 60 years accounting for over 8 per cent in 2012, about 12 per cent by 2020, and about 20 per cent by 2030 which is estimated at about 110 million, 175 million, and 275 million respectively, stated Technopak report.