Emergence of home healthcare – An opportunity in the MedTech sector

Home healthcare has emerged as a cost-efficient alternative to expensive inpatient care and hospital stays in recent times. The global home healthcare market valued at USD 299 billion in 2020 is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 7.88 percent from 2021 to 2028. The Indian home healthcare market standing at USD 6.2 billion in 2020 is expected to grow at a CAGR of 19.2 percent to reach USD 21.3 billion by 2027. According to an estimate, the home healthcare in India can potentially reduce hospital costs by 20 percent and replace up to 65 percent of unnecessary hospital visits.

A growing geriatric population, rising incidence of lifestyle disorders and target diseases, such as dementia and alzheimer’s requiring longer care, expanded access to point-of-care (POCT) devices, and valuebased healthcare are some of the drivers forecasting a strong and steady revenue growth in this industry for the next five years. Compared to other patient groups, the elderly population prefers home healthcare due to high perception of patient comfort. Orthopedic diseases, post-surgical recuperation, improved remote monitoring tools, and telemedicine platforms are other factors that have contributed to a progressive shift toward home healthcare.

The ongoing pandemic triggered the demand for home healthcare. Monitored treatment at home or near to home was preferred by many patients, especially in the second wave of the pandemic. This has acted as a catalyst for healthcare innovations in the remote and home healthcare industry, and has presented a huge opportunity for medical devices and diagnostics manufactures.

Portable devices, like blood glucose monitors, heart rate monitors, respiratory aids, have improved the efficiency of home healthcare for lifestyle diseases. This has positively influenced the demand for monitoring devices, mobility aids, and other therapeutic devices amongst the elderly. Furthermore, technological advancements have allowed integration of IoT with medical devices, resulting in adoption of telemedicine, and attracting geriatric population for home healthcare.

The home healthcare equipment market is segmented into three major categories vis-à-vis diagnostic, therapeutic, and mobility assistance. The therapeutic equipment segment dominated the market in 2020, and is expected to grow steadily in the near future. This could be attributed to rising prevalence of diseases requiring therapeutic equipment, like usage of insulin delivery devices, home dialysis equipment, and intravenous pumps. The diagnostic equipment segment accounted for high share of the overall home healthcare equipment market in 2020, and is further expected to witness lucrative growth. This might be credited to increasing prevalence of diabetes, CVS disorders, and long-term illnesses requiring frequent diagnosis, greater usage of BP monitors, pregnancy tests, and growing patient awareness.

Based on services, the home medical devices market is segmented into skilled nursing services, rehabilitation therapy services, hospice and palliative care services, respiratory therapy services, infusion therapy services, pregnancy care services, and unskilled care services. Based on distribution channel, the home medical devices market is segmented into hospital pharmacies, retail pharmacies, and online retailers. Skilled nursing services segment and the hospital pharmacy segment observed a high demand in the previous year due to the opportunity presented by the pandemic.

Medical devices industry is one of the sunrise sectors of the Indian economy. Currently, India is among the top 20 markets globally, and the fourth-largest in Asia after Japan, China, and South Korea. (POCT and miniaturized diagnostics have emerged as high-impact drivers in the medical devices sector in India. Miniaturized diagnostics have been extremely popular due to their capability of diagnosing a multitude of conditions at a low cost with the help of small hand-held devices, with or without smartphone interface. POCT in India is at a growing stage, and is anticipated to grow further at an enormous rate due to factors, such as portability, compactness, speed, convenience, and simplicity in usage. The Indian POCT market has observed good competition amongst players as more and more MNCs are setting up units in the country due to allowance of 100 percent FDI. The rising demand for POCT has mainly stemmed from the elderly population, the major target end-users for home healthcare.

The Government of India released the telemedicine guidelines in March 2020. This further was an important step toward instilling confidence in remote/home healthcare. Increased awareness and changed consumer dynamic in the post-pandemic era would favor the demand for home healthcare. All this is expected to present huge opportunities for regional and multinational medical devices manufacturers and boosting the growth of the Indian Med-Tech sector. Medical devices play a critical role in ensuring a well-functioning healthcare system; therefore, creating enabling mechanisms for utilizing this opportunity for the growth of this sector becomes important.