Table of Contents
01 India’s Healthcare Outlook for 2022
02 The HealthTech Monthly Roundup
03 The Three I’s for building a better Digital Health Ecosystem
04 4 Entity Types, HCPs need to know about
05 How Cloud-based Screening is boosting Rural Health in India

India’s Healthcare Outlook for 2022

India’s healthcare system is expected to reach $372 billion in 2022. Growing at a CAGR of 22%, this tremendous growth is estimated to generate additional jobs at 2.7mn by 2022. With government initiatives like NDHM, Ayushman Bharat coming into the picture, factors like aging population, increasing number of lifestyle disorders, growing middle class population and technology adoption have also attracted the investors and FDI inflow in the Indian healthcare industry over the past two decades. With such huge employment and investment opportunities, India has backed the first position in the Central and South Asian region in the Global Innovation Index. 

Covid-19 has turned out to be a booster for the startups to grow with low cost and scalable solutions as well as for the flourished organizations adopting a newer model of healthcare service. With the telemedicine boom in the Indian healthcare market, it has become easier for the rural population to access the medical service.

Digital Everything Use Cases for the Post-COVID World.
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The Health Tech Monthly Roundup

A quick roundup of the month’s latest health tech activity, both in India and globally.

1. Flipkart has launched Flipkart Health+ along with the acquisition of SastaSundar.com, an e-pharmacy platform with 490 pharmacies under it.With this new partnership, the company has also planned to offer e-diagnostics and e-consultation services to its users. 
2. Healthtech start-up Clinikk has raised $4 million in pre-series A funding round led by MassMutual Ventures bringing their total raised to $6.4 million.The company aims to invest this amount in product development and market expansion in Bengaluru and other major cities.
3. Astrak Innovations, a startup focussed on rehabilitation and assistive robotics has raised ₹75 Lakh in a funding round led by IAN which will be used in product development, establishing clinical trials and early market testing.
4. Suki.AI has raised $55mn in a series C funding round led by March Capital which will be used to advance its products- Suki Assistant and Suki Speech platform. It will also add new features to help the physicians in streamlining the documentation, coding and other administrative tasks.
5. Medanta has partnered with Qure.ai to upgrade its chest x-ray analysis by using qRx software. The AI tool will help detect 30 abnormalities of lungs, heart, pleura, bones and diaphragm.
6. US based healthtech H1 has received $100mn in a series C round which will be invested in product development and global expansion.
7. With a $2bn valuation, Sword Health has become the fastest digital musculoskeletal (MSK) solution in the market by raising $163mn in Series D funding round.The company will use this funding in developing personalized musculoskeletal physical therapy.

Opportunity Matrix & High-Value Use Cases for Healthcare Providers

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The Three I’s for building a better Digital Healthcare Ecosystem

Promoting well-being and a healthy lifestyle are the two main aspects to build a value based ecosystem. Hence, it is the need of the hour to focus on the readiness factors before investing in building the healthcare ecosystem at a national level. The 3 major factors that help in building a better digital healthcare ecosystem are intent, infrastructure and, and integration.

1. Intent: Intent is the most crucial factor that drives the other two readiness factors. Since digitalization is an expensive and complex process, every organization needs to be aware of the benefits that it holds. First, they need to know the intent and purpose of building a digital health ecosystem. Secondly, they need to look at the long term benefits rather than the short term returns. Third, intent is a two-way process between all the stakeholders and the government. Hence, following the regulations and policy guidelines will help to retain interests among the stakeholders.
2. Infrastructure:  In order for the digital health ecosystem to progress, several infrastructural aspects also have to be kept in mind. Firstly, there should be a clarity in ownership and accountability of technological infrastructure. Secondly, due to shortage of physicians and other healthcare professionals, it’s necessary to fix the clinical decision support systems which can be done by reducing the data redundancies. Thirdly, privacy and security of health records has to be maintained.
3. Integration: Digitalizing the health ecosystem means digitalizing the health industry as a whole by focusing on each and every stakeholder involved like insurance providers, pharmacies, diagnostic labs, etc. Getting various systems, cultures, processes and people under one roof helps in determining the integration capabilities. 

Building a national digital health ecosystem is beneficial in the short run and long run  for every stakeholder within the healthcare sector. By measuring the current level of readiness factors, policymakers and regulatory bodies can streamline the healthcare ecosystem.

Digital Health: Building Blocks for a Covid World

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4 NDHM Entity Types, HCPs need to know about

The four entities relevant to healthcare providers

1. Healthcare Information Provider (HIP): Any healthcare firm that stores digital records of both out- and in-patient treatments in long-term storage using NDHM compliant EMR software, and makes them accessible. For this, HIPs must partner with HRPs for implementing this obligation.

Ex: Hospitals, clinics, diagnostics facilities.

1. Healthcare Information User (HIU): Any healthcare entity that requires access to the health records of an individual for performing value added services.Ex: Insurers, hospitals, clinics, PHR apps or other mobile apps that display a user’s health data to them.
2. Healthcare Repository Provider (HRP): HRPs are software service providers who offer NDHM compliant software and long term record storage to hospitals, diagnostic centers, and clinics. It helps the healthcare providers to become HIPs or HIUs and to meet their obligations of sharing and securely maintaining health records of patients digitally.
3. Health Locker: Health Lockers are software service providers who offer long term storage of records to individuals.

Read the full whitepaper, here.

How Cloud-based screening is boosting Rural Health in India

AWS has funded a pilot study of Feedback’s platform Bleepa for tuberculosis affected people in rural India. The app gathers the X-ray images and uploads them in the cloud, CareLocker for remote assessment using AI algorithms and clinical staff. Bleepa can provide TB diagnosis at the point of care while the patient is still visiting the clinic, allowing treatment to be started quickly. Using the app, maintaining health records would become easier for healthcare staff and they can share, annotate, review and discuss images.

TB in India is the 13th leading cause of death and the second leading infectious killer after COVID-19. According to WHO, 1.5mn people have already died from TB in 2020 and 2.6mn new cases are coming up every year. Because of the limited accessibility of the internet and smartphones in remote regions of the country, the rural population is the worst affected so far. Hence, Bleepa app here is sure to boost the rural health in the country.

Integrating With a Nationalized Health Ecosystem

Read the Whitepaper here.