MedTech trends in 2022 – The way forward in healthcare

The Covid-19 pandemic period has given us many business insights across all sectors. Specifically for the healthcare sector, which broadly covers pharma, MedTech, and clinical delivery, these insights have been momentous – not just about adapting to the changes in the patient care profile, but also re-pivoting to a collaborative approach to address these dynamic needs. In this article, we will focus on the MedTech trends during 2022 and beyond that will shape our policies and healthcare delivery.

It is well known that India’s dependence on imports is quite high when it comes to MedTech equipment and devices – the pandemic has further put this reality into a spotlight. Designing, manufacturing, and marketing MedTech devices is an expensive proposition, given the global regulatory guidelines they fall under, coupled with a significantly lower demand compared to consumer products. This is where the government’s recently announced PLI scheme would help bring in a major push toward local manufacturing – the announced total financial outlay of ₹3420 crore over the next 6 years will provide sufficient sops to selected manufacturers to enhance their Make in India footprint. This would, over time, help improve access to medical technology for the common man, both in terms of better availability/reach and reduced costs. The trend of increased local manufacturing has now begun.

Another trend that started its baby steps last year, but is expected to take giant strides this year, is the impact of digitization in healthcare. What started within hospitals during the first lockdown as mere video consultations with doctors for patients at home, has now rapidly enhanced to cover many more hospital services online, and also expanded beyond hospitals into the MedTech ecosystem in India with customized solutions that facilitate remote care management. For instance, we now have MedTech solutions that offer online appointments, soft-copies of medical reports, eICU management, post-discharge health monitoring in real time, etc. In fact, the list is ever expanding, with both established OEMs and startups pitching in with more and more solutions toward this cause. Within the MedTech manufacturing space too, we are seeing product enhancements on commonly used equipment like CTs, MRs, ventilators, monitors, etc., wherein software improvements are being done to accommodate this new normal. This trend of collaborative solution development within the MedTech ecosystem via the digital route will only accelerate over the next few years.

Having made a healthy beginning in the metros and larger cities, the use of MedTech is also now spreading to the towns and villages. Doctors can now collaborate across regions via sharing of medical records for clinical opinions, as well as for on-the-ground advanced care for patients in far-flung areas, who are unable to travel to the cities. Hub-and-spoke models between larger hospitals and primary healthcare centers (PHCs) are aiding these interactions, and with a significant part of India’s population living in these areas, this development bodes well for growth of the MedTech sector. This trend of enhancing patient care across geographies via remote management is here to stay.

Of course, all these developments come with their own set of challenges – increased costs of these solutions in the short term when cash conservation is still the norm, medical insurance coverage of various such procedures, internet bandwidths and speeds at remote geographies, to name a few. I am sure with time, we will have the necessary policy, business and infrastructure enablers to navigate through these.

The era of digitization has begun, and the current decade is likely to be a watershed period in the MedTech space, in terms of significant technology advancements directed toward effective patient care.