India’s telemedicine market is growing immensely and is impacting the international economy in terms of growth rate, revenue, sale, market share and size. India has an extensive growth as it has broad rural-urban population and rural India is bereaved from medical facilities, giving telemedicine a space for growth in India. This sector is at an ever-growing stage with high scope of development. This rapid growth in the last few years present telemedicine as the next frontier in the healthcare.
The unprecedented COVID-19 outbreak created utter challenges on traditional healthcare systems in India. Due to countrywide lockdown, citizens have not been able to consult with doctors physically. This situation led the government to change the regulations around remote delivery of healthcare services and allow telemedicine via video, audio, or text. India’s telemedicine guidelines issued in March 2020 have clarified regulations for startups and investors.
The telemedicine industry is expected to create more than $5.4 Bn market opportunity by 2025 with a CAGR of 31% as per reports.
Need of the hour
India has a shortage of around estimated 600K doctors and 2 Mn nurses, as per latest estimates. India only has one government doctor for every 1,139 people, whereas the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a ratio of 1:1,000. This deficit is partly being made up by the active and ever-growing telemedicine services in various parts of the country.
The shortage of doctors is limiting face-to-face consultations among patients. Secondly, India also has a shortage of hospital beds, which makes hospitalization tricky, and there needs to be better facilities and infrastructure for cases where patients can be attended to via teleconsultation. Telemedicine will reduce the time of consultations and improve the quality of healthcare services in rural areas, removing many of infrastructural challenges.
Applications
Educational: With Tele-education, Tele-Conferencing and Tele-Monitoring, Telemedicine platforms have opened a new door for different educational activities for doctors, hospitals, and nurses. A long-distance learning program is using these platforms effectively to provide training on different treatment methods. Doctors are using the platform for interaction and discussion during workshops, conferences, and seminars.
Healthcare Delivery and management: Doctors and hospitals are now able to deliver quality healthcare using Telemedicine platform. In remote areas, with the help of just a trained nurse, doctors can provide online consultation and monitor various chronic patients using the platform. These services can be delivered using school-based health centers, mobile health clinics, correctional facilities etc.
Disaster management and recovery: Telemedicine can be the fastest and the only way sometimes to provide consultation in areas struck by a disaster. A portable telemedicine system with Telemedicine platform and satellite connectivity can be used for faster diagnosis and treatment.
Conclusion
Though, Telemedicine cannot be used for all medical practices and cannot replace the traditional medical consultations and hospital visits for emergency conditions and medical procedures, but it can surely aid and help healthcare industry. It can reduce the burden on traditional healthcare systems. Indian government have now started to take interest in promoting Telemedicine practices. This has resulted in a growth of different telemedicine platforms which is bound to grow and be adopted because of ease and convenience it offers.
How can MedleyMed help?
MedleyMed has developed a Patient Engagement platform which facilitates interaction between doctors and patients using digital touch points and telemedicine technology at pre-consultation, during consultation and post consultation stages, leading to an engaging experience for patients.
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