Virtual Care – Key success factors for Indian healthcare participants

(Standard disclaimer: Views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the post are my own, and do not reflect the view of my current or past employers. I may not have copyright to any images in the post)

After trying to predict the post-Covid era for Indian healthcare in my earlier post, it did emerge that “virtual care” may be a major focus area going forward. In this post, we will try to understand, how “at scale” and “comprehensive” virtual care works and what would be key success factors for key Indian healthcare participants?

In my quest for finding the right definition of “virtual care”, the post on “intouchhealth” website seemed to be most helpful. It defines virtual care as “a broad term that encompasses all the ways healthcare providers remotely interact with their patients. In addition to treating patients via tele-medicine, providers may use live video, audio, and instant messaging to communicate with their patients remotely. This may include checking in after an in-person visit, monitoring vitals after surgery, or responding to any questions about their diagnosis, condition or treatment plan”

Healthcare cost: How much is too much?

My uncle, after undergoing a successful removal of tumor a few years ago, was recently diagnosed with abnormal growth of cancerous cells. It was a case of metastasis i.e. spread of a cancer from one organ or part to another non-adjacent organ or part. Thankfully the disease was manageable due to timely detection and availability of a suitable drug. As we move ahead I must clarify that in this blog, I am not focusing on the disease or its treatment rather the focus would be the cost of availing such healthcare services. Before I decided to write this blog post, I had a lengthy and animated discussion with one of my friend who has been working in the pharmaceutical industry for quite a few years.