Systemising Indian Diagnostics

By Ikyatha Yerasala

Standing out at Indian healthcare manels, this charismatic lady more than walks the talk. Ameera Shah has single-handedly organised the diagnostic industry and the technology-enthusiast is positive about AI’s role in enhancing the system.

It’s not often that you see a woman leader in Indian healthcare who’s transformed a a significant sector in a significant way. Ameera Shah, Promoter and Managing Director of Metropolis Healthcare Ltd is a force to reckon with in diagnostic care. Deidicating over two decades to the sector, Shah has focused on delivering sustained growth, built and led corporate functions, including finance, strategy, business process optimization, innovation, investor relations etc. While helming Metropolis, this new-age healthcare entrepreneur has raised the bar for diagnostic accuracy, technological equipment, customer experience and research-driven, empathetic service.

There have been extraordinary changes in Indian healthcare on multiple fronts in the last decade. The optimist Shah believes that the healthcare system has been on an upswing, with the field of diagnostics impacted in particular. “Technological innovations and entry of new private players are propelling the sector’s rapid growth. The diagnostics sector is seeing rapid horizontal and vertical growth. More than 5,000 speciality tests are offered to patients today, up from a few hundred just a few years ago. Increasing competition has driven down costs, making diagnostics affordable to the masses. With increasing digitalization and use of Big Data, pathology labs are slowly being transformed into information hubs and key enablers of change,” shares Shah.

In terms of diagnostic technology, which is already aiding hospitals and clinics collect, store and share critical patent data, Shah feels that multiple healthcare segments including diagnostics and hospitals will leverage data analytics and machine learning to disrupt their markets and deliver competitive edge. “By adding an analytics layer to this, the care providers will be enabled to provide a much better analysis of the condition and recommendations to the patient,” she opines.

Innovation and AI leading the way for Diagnostics

With healthcare start-ups emerging from all corners of the country, innovation in design and medical technology is something to watch out for. “Start-ups and private clinics have triggered customer-centric product innovations in healthcare, offering high-end diagnostics, maternity care, oncology care, senior day care, and other specialties to patients. Digital ventures are now offering easy access to medical facilities via mobile apps. Many private and public hospitals have adopted online patient registration and service delivery systems,” notes Shah.

Always a strong advocate for technological advancements, she is certain that Artificial Intelligence is certain to play a pivotal role in India’s healthcare system and amplify positive impact on the quality of care. “AI can solve the problem of scarce personnel and help overcome the barriers to access through early detection, diagnostic decision-making and treatment. Cancer screening and treatment is an area where AI provides tremendous scope for targeted large-scale interventions,” says Shah.

Diagnostic industry in India expected to grow in the next 5 years, Shah states that this growth will be majorly directed by improving medical diagnostic and pathological laboratories, healthcare facilities, private-public projects and the health insurance sector. “Moreover, with the rise of health consciousness in the society and the rising burden of chronic diseases, this market will swell to approximately INR 860 Billion in revenues market by 2020.,” she adds.

Mission 2020

With the start of a brand decade, what are the three main issues that Indian healthcare needs to address? “The need for affordable healthcare, rise in the incidence of lifestyle diseases, and the impending crises in air and water pollution, waste management and urban congestion must be urgently addressed,” says Shah.

Keeping the Union Budget 2020 in mind, does she think the Government is doing enough to improve public health and technology? “The viability gap funding window for setting up hospitals in 112 aspirational districts and establishing medical colleges in district hospitals are significant steps to make healthcare more accessible and affordable. The initiatives announced, such as Rs 35,600 crore for nutrition-related programmes, will help reduce the disease burden and improve maternal mortality rate over the long term. With respect to the scheme-related to medical devices, unfortunately, we still do not have the indigenous capability to manufacture high-quality devices here in India and thus by imposing cess, it will ultimately make healthcare services more expensive,” she answers.

The Union Budget 2020, Rs 69,000 Cr allocated towards healthcare, a nearly 10% increase from last year, she notes. “The Government is awakening to the fact that the healthcare sector can evolve into a key driver of economy both at the national and state level. In my view, it must create a robust regulatory and policy framework for key healthcare segments like diagnostics, focus on channeling more investments into these and enable the industry to drive down costs. Collaborative efforts between the private healthcare providers and the Government are the key to implementing the entire continuum of care to the masses, enhance patient experience and standardize measurable outcomes,” says Shah, while stating how the Government made a positive change and what it should focus on this year.

Transformation

Ask Shah what transformation she’d like to see in the sector in the upcoming year and decade and she responds, “The laboratory and diagnostics industry is hundred percent non-regulated. It affects the patient drastically. The way you collect samples affect the quality of the results. Some labs are run by pathologists and some run by non-medicos who are unqualified. We keep lobbying with the government for a policy and ask the Health Ministry to let us be regulated. Right now, we are free for all. In the US, there is a separate division under the Health Ministry which sets minimum standards for labs. It will be great if the same policy is implemented in India.”