Digital Healthcare: Transforming India’s Healthcare Landscape, Beyond Just Delivering Convenience

For quite some time, lifestyle and body weight-related wellness concerns have been on the rise, especially in the post-COVID period. Much of this can be attributed to physical inactivity as a result of work-from-home restrictions, distance limitations, or plain laziness. Many additional problems, both emotional and physical, are wreaking havoc on our general health. These include smoking, an unhealthy and imbalanced diet, poor body posture, a disrupted biological clock, cigarette use, and excessive alcohol use.

Add to that the fact that stress is the core cause of many debilitating health issues such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.

Stress has been shown in several scientific studies to aggravate or raise the risk of illnesses such as obesity, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, depression, gastrointestinal issues, and asthma. The extent of the impact can be gauged by the fact that many young people today complain of health problems that were previously thought to be the domain of the elderly, such as premature balding, chronic tiredness, poor sexual health, increased risks of cardiovascular disease, unintended weight loss or weight gain, blurred vision, memory loss, slow-healing sores, and frequent infections and injuries.

While we are all aware of these important health conditions, many of us choose to disregard the early warning signals until they begin to negatively impact our way of life, which is frequently too late. There are also socially constructed taboos that we are all familiar with, which are especially apparent in the realms of sexual health and mental health. For fear of being criticised, people typically avoid discussing their concerns or seeking help from trained professionals.

As a result, untreated and underdiagnosed health concerns frequently worsen into illnesses that are rarely controllable later in life.
Furthermore, the Indian healthcare ecosystem has traditionally been heavily focused on providing therapy after someone becomes ill. Another difficulty is the inability to afford healthcare facilities and experienced specialists. The good news is that, in recent years, the faster pace of digitalization and widespread acceptance of technology have removed many such constraints.

Many new-age firms are developing efficient, cost-effective, high-quality healthcare solutions that are ready for implementation and scaling. With the implementation of modern technology, India anticipates a more promising future for Indian health tech, bridging gaps and focusing on greater preventative healthcare and illness management.

Telemedicine, or the use of electronic or digital channels or media for the provision of healthcare services in instances where the patient and doctor cannot be physically present, is one such technology that has seen booming popularity in recent years, particularly during the epidemic. Before the pandemic, telehealth, which includes telemedicine, accounted for less than 5% of India’s entire healthcare technology industry.

According to Apollo Hospitals’ statistics, this figure increased to 47% during the epidemic. Virtual diagnosis and delivery of healthcare services are no longer only pipe dreams. Many firms have developed technologies that have made telemedicine and virtual medical consultations, diagnoses, and treatments not only affordable but also extremely convenient, transparent, and trustworthy.

Nirvasa, for example, is a startup that is dominating the digital healthcare delivery field in India. Amitoz Singh founded the Gurugram-based firm in 2019 with the goal of treating many of today’s lifestyle-related concerns, such as sexual health and performance, weight management, diabetes, hair and skin care, and so on, and it had a 500% growth story in the previous year.

Nirvasa gives healthcare support to every Indian from the comfort of their own homes, eliminating the difficulties of waiting in lengthy lines, taking time off from work, or physically travelling for pharmacy visits or medical check-ins. Nirvasa Healthcare’s no-queue digital health facility links the patient immediately to a healthcare practitioner, with no waiting period. Nirvasa’s healthcare specialists then take entire ownership of patient diagnosis and treatment.

Every day, the portal gives free health consultations to over 10,000 Indians. It also creates comprehensive healthcare programmes that are tailored to each patient’s unique needs and requirements. It makes healthcare accessible and approachable for every Indian from wherever they are in the country, establishing a culture of trust, safety, and inclusion. Nirvasa, as a digital health clinic, is assisting in the eradication of avoidable primary health disorders by lowering secondary and tertiary health consequences caused by primary care negligence.

This lessens the pressure on secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation as well as on the Pradhan Mantri Fund. Jan Arogya Yojana, the world’s largest health assurance plan, promises to give needy families residing in any area of the nation with health coverage of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.

The digital healthcare delivery platform recognises how sensitive mental health and sexual health are in the country. According to NIMHANS data, more than 80% of persons suffering from mental health disorders do not seek professional help for a variety of reasons, including a lack of information, stigma, and the high expense of care. Mental health issues are increasingly among the primary causes of the global health burden.