Home healthcare industry needs regulatory push

One of the biggest pain points in home healthcare is that it is out-of-pocket, unlike the hospital segment which has the support of the insurance sector. The reason why insurance companies are not participating in home healthcare is that there is no standardisation

It is now common knowledge that Covid-19 has put immense pressure on the healthcare sector, a key determinant of economic growth, not just for India but for the world at large. The pandemic has stretched healthcare infrastructure of even the most developed countries, and it has caused an economic slump unparalleled in the recent history. The pandemic has brought to the fore, the lack of infrastructure facilities and has also highlighted the shortfall of doctors, nurses and paramedical staff in the country. The gravity of the situation can be gauged from the fact that recently in a presentation to the 15th Finance Commission, the World Bank had flagged the 'fault lines' in India's health system that have been exposed due to Covid-19. While acknowledging the significant progress made in India's health system over the years, the World Bank Group on Health, Nutrition and Population is said to have noted in its presentation that there were 'large, persistent health gaps among states and that Covid-19 had exposed those gaps.

It is nothing new to mention that there is severe shortage of healthcare delivery systems in the country. In India with 8.5 hospital beds per 10,000 citizens and eight physicians per 10,000, the country's healthcare sector is not equipped for facing any healthcare crisis, leave alone a pandemic like Covid-19. Moreover, the significant inefficiency, dysfunctioning and acute shortage of the healthcare delivery systems in the public sector do not match up with the growing needs of the population. In addition, more than 80 per cent of the population still does not have any significant health insurance coverage, and approximately 68 per cent of the Indians have limited or no access to essential medicines.

Given this situation, the emergence of home healthcare was inevitable. The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in home healthcare taking a rather important role in the overall healthcare services industry. It is true that that the home healthcare is emerging stronger day by day in the country as the Indian home healthcare market, which is growing at 19 per cent CAGR at present, is expected to grow 2.5 times by 2025. With the right impetus, this market has the potential of an additional $5 billion. The potential of the home healthcare sector was very much evident during the Covid-19 pandemic as this segment supported the overburdened Indian healthcare system by helping augment care capacity and provide Covid care at home to nearly 21 million Indians, decongesting hospitals, freeing up valuable bed capacity and offering appropriate care in settings where hospitalization was not necessary. Increasing healthcare costs, growing elderly population, lack of skilled manpower and greater demand for care outside institutions has necessitated innovative solutions in the home care space. So, the focus has to be on reducing the load on the healthcare infrastructure in the country. With advanced digital care seamlessly integrated to provide cutting-edge care at health-seekers' fingertips, the home healthcare industry holds the latent power to provide integrated, personalised care at scale to the very last mile.

As the home healthcare is emerging stronger day by day in the country, it needs a separate government policy to make this sunrise industry to thrive in the coming days. Almost 99 per cent of the current $5 billion home healthcare industry is unorganised and reducing prices and cutting corners hamper the quality of services, impacting the overall growth of the segment. With the industry expected to grow to around $20 billion in next five years, regulations are required to standardise care. Institutions who are practising home healthcare have to get accredited by some body, or some governing council. Policy and regulation is the most critical part for the growth of the whole ecosystem. The ecosystem includes insurance, hospitals, home healthcare companies and the med tech industry which has to provide quality and customised technologies which can bring down the cost of delivery healthcare services at home. One of the biggest pain points in home healthcare is that it is out-of-pocket, unlike the hospital segment which has the support of the insurance sector. The reason why insurance companies are not participating in home healthcare is that there is no standardisation. Home healthcare is an add on cost to the insurance provider. There is also a risk of possible fraud. So, it is now up to the Indian government to act fast to give the much needed impetus to this sunrise industry.

(The author is freelance journalist with varied experience in different fields)