It is an irrefutable fact that the modern age is characterized by the dawn of advanced technology. Increased access to multifarious gadgets has granted extensive facilities to the multitudes globally. Access to electronic gadgets combined with the application of the internet has proved to be meritorious in every sphere of human life ranging from effective search tools, availability of anti-virus websites, facilitation of online learning to remote healthcare approach. These advancements have attracted a huge number of angel investors to invest or fund corporates in these domains. As a matter of fact, the growth witnessed by information and communication technologies (ICTs) has incited a considerable percentage of private equity funding from venture capitalists.
Both the developed and developing countries are facing some of the deadliest diseases in the world today. Modern information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as computers, the Internet, and cell phones, are changing the way how individuals exchange information and enhance their lives. These developed technologies clearly have an edge to facilitate and improvise solutions to these pressing issues in medicine globally.
Due to unbounded research and growth of the IT sector, there has been an inclination towards the newly emerging field of Telemedicine. The presented article highlights the issue of medical care via the internet and analyses some of the most predominant reasons for this trend.
Telemedicine a term coined in the 1970s basically implies “healing from distance”. It refers to the delivery of medicinal services through the online mode of communication or telecommunication to examine, evaluate and treat the ailment of the patients. As the definition suggests, the physical touch is eliminated. The word gained momentum over the past two years. The global lockdown induced by the spread of the COVID- 19 pandemic has made the field of e-medicine a spot of attention.
Perhaps no advancement expanded as fast at some point as that of Telehealth. Although Telehealth isn’t new, advances in video assembly apps, telephone availability, and broadband access are permitting greater use. In accordance with a global business report, Gartner analysts cited that “whilst the pandemic behind schedule a few generation investments, different investments like digital care had been dramatically expanded. Indeed, telehealth stays the maximum not unusual place generation funding vicinity for 2021.”
Now, let us analyze the reasons for this traction towards the growth of this remote-based patient-doctor interaction and how it impacts the corporates in telehealth. The most conspicuous reason is the inability of the community to step out from their houses due to the widespread coronavirus. Throughout the peak inflammation period, people harnessed the technology such as their mobile phones and laptops, to consult their doctors as the medical staff was overblown by the enormous caseload and no one was ready to visit the doctors for their meager checkup. This gave a boost and encouraged their online presence. Another predominant reason is an improvement in IT tools used in the health industry. With the significant and remarkable achievements of science and tech building giants, the things that seemed impossible in the past three decades, exist successfully today. In countries like India, the fast spread of digitization has made this possible and in fact, holds a promising future. According to a survey with 5,000+ responses from the consumers, stated that almost half (46%) of them had used telehealth services at least once out of which 84% harnessed it during the pandemic as a way to avoid in-person activities. The trend that really ensures a bright future of healthcare and telehealth adoption is that 63% of the survey respondents plan to incline their usage of such services even after the pandemic ends.
Thirdly, the companies engaged in telehealth servicing witnessed a manifold inclination in their revenues due to strategic and efficient marketing plans. To exemplify, healthcare giant, Apollo Hospital groups, in India, has planned to launch smart health kiosks in accessible locations across the country, consequently, increasing their consumer base. The company has also initiated other projects through Doc-On-Call, Condition Management Programs, Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 helpline, emotional and mental health counseling, and varied corporate social responsibility programs. The application and implementation of all these business plans require a high amount of corporate funding. In countries like India where monetary gains are concentrated in a few hands and where the check on the powers of the private sector is negligible, financing heavy projects may not be a very challenging task. The ease of investing again has been further catalyzed by the spread of digitization hence, connecting the whole world into just one loop. Consequently, giving us the fourth reason for this significant propulsion towards the e-medicine industry.
As already mentioned above, the COVID-19 pandemic gave a boost to this domain of healthcare. Moreover, this has suddenly diverted the attention of start-ups and urged the upcoming entrepreneurs to invest in telehealth. Some of the most renowned startups are as follows:
- Ceiba Healthcare – Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Telemedicine.
- Think Bio solution – Remote Monitoring.
- Synapse Healthcare Solutions – Asynchronous Telemedicine.
and many more. Looking through the Indian context, even the government has launched an incentive scheme for around 70+ startups as it celebrates 75 years of Indian Sovereignty. The Ministry of Science and Technology has come up with some special measures for these startups in the form of funding and others.
Looking at the brighter side, there is a great potential for the corporates working in this industry to channel the technological resources in a sustainable manner so as to build a network of health infrastructure and foster economic growth. While there is a growing trend of equity and angel investments in developing countries like ours, an efficient and judicious decision can significantly take the investors, the corporates, and all the stakeholders involved in this industry at the pinnacles.
While many evolved international locations opted for telehealth a whole lot earlier, the shortage of described regulatory frameworks and ambiguity in criminal and jurisdiction in large part impeded its boom. India is status on the cusp of a virtual fitness transformation, that could propel the country’s financial boom and set an instance for rising economies if controlled well.