Primary Healthcare market mushrooming in India today.

Primary healthcare catches on",

By Itishree Samal / Chennai/ Hyderabad Jan 06, 2012.

..."The healthcare expenditure is increasing 12 per cent year-on-year and is expected to touch $125 billion by 2015 in India. Experts believe the main cause for this high expenditure is lack of primary healthcare facilities and mushrooming tertiary and super speciality hospitals.

According to reports, in the last 10 years more than 60 per cent of super speciality hospitals had come up mainly in metros. Being the world’s second most populous nation with over 1.2 billion people, the country’s government-run primary health clinics are over-crowded and faces a shortage of qualified doctors and nursing staff. Besides, many still have to travel some 100 km to get basic healthcare.

To reduce the expense and make healthcare accessible for all, many players are now getting into the primary healthcare space. Primary healthcare caters to the basic level of preventive and curative medical care, and forms almost 80 per cent of all health requirements.

Its major components are doctor consultations, ambulatory care, immunisation, basic diagnostics, and retail healthcare such as pharmacy, over-the- counter drugs, personal medical equipment, health food and physiotherapy. It mainly comprises care delivered by a general physician in an out-patient setting.

According to Technopak Advisors, the primary healthcare segment accounts for 60 per cent of the healthcare delivery market, growing at 15 per cent annually. The current market size is $30 billion, which is likely to reach $200-250 billion by 2025.

The last few years had seen increased interest and investment in this segment. The start-ups, with innovative business models, are providing health treatments at low-cost, high-quality. Some of the names in the field include LifeSpring Hospitals, Manappuram's MaCare Healthcare and Razi healthcare, who are spreading their operations pan-India and setting up community health centres and, primary health clinics."....

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