Opportunities Abound in the Hospital Beds Market

Hospital beds are being designed to furnish extra comfort and provide relief and assistance to patients during the time of hospitalization, as well as for the convenience of their caretaker. Many modern hospital beds have the provision of electrical assistance for movement as well as for patient monitoring. It also allows patients to adjust the height without the help of caretaker. Based on medical needs, hospital beds are also custom made for various patients or medical institution settings.

Market players are developing advanced technological beds that provide improved safety and comfort to the patient. For instance, Hill-Rom has developed the Compella bariatric bed, which provides the latest advancement in bariatric care and also provides safety, which helps to overcome barriers to streamline workflow. Stryker’s InTouch, a critical care bed is the first high acuity care bed, which provides advanced technology, back smart ergonomics, and control all bed functions with an easy operating touch screen interface. Midmark has also launched a new motorized bed Electra, designed and positioned to capture a new market in India’s tertiary care sector.

Indian Market Dynamics

In 2016, the Indian hospital beds market is estimated at Rs. 650 crore with sales at 100,000 units. The market may be segmented as high-end motorized beds, which are long-term care beds with 2–4 motors and priced at above 100,000; mid-end beds, which are semielectric and for critical care, at an average unit price range of 50,000–75,000; and low-end ones which require manual labor through the use of a crank system to adjust the bed’s posturing and height and are for acute care. The low-end segment with 50,000 units constitutes 50 percent of the total market, in volume terms.

An estimated, 30,000 beds of the mid-end segment were sold, valued at Rs. 225 crore. The market is dominated by Midmark, ArjoHuntleigh, Paramount, and Godrej. Some other brands present are VISCO, Mediline, Meditek, Bharat Surgicals, and Geeta Surgicals.

The market for the high-end segment in 2016 is estimated at 20,000 beds. This market is dominated by Midmark. Other brands with aggressive presence are ArjoHuntleigh, Stryker, Paramount, and Hill Rom.

The quality of healthcare in a country can be gauged from the adequacy of healthcare infrastructure and personnel in that country which, in turn, can be assessed from the bed density (bed count per 10,000 of population) and the availability of physicians and nurses. For India, that is where the concern begins. For a country accounting for the second highest world population, India’s overall bed density stands at 9 in 2016, as per the Organization of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI). There is a yawning gap with regard to the global median of 30 beds; the situation indicates a shortfall of nearly 1.8 million beds vis-a-vis the current global median for which the country needs to nearly quadruple its bed capacity. The problem remains the last-mile reach, particularly for the rural population.

The Government of India has implemented the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) with the primary objective of correcting the imbalances in availability of affordable/reliable tertiary-level healthcare in the country in general. Government Medical Colleges/Institutes (GMCIs) and six AIIMS have been set up, and existing GMCIs are being upgraded under the scheme. Two more branches of AIIMS in Gujarat and Jharkhand have been recently announced. 492 maternal and child health (MCH) wings with a bed capacity of more than 30,000 have been approved under the National Health Mission (NHM).

In addition, NHM has allocated a RS. 26,690 crore budget to revitalize rural and urban health sectors. Moreover, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has identified 58 districts in 20 states/UTs under a centrally sponsored scheme for establishment of new medical colleges attached with existing district/referral hospitals. The total cost of establishment of one medical college under the scheme is Rs. 189 crore. As on July 2017, 55 new medical colleges had been approved. Funds to the tune of Rs. 4357.42 crore have been released to the state governments/UT administrations. A part of these funds will be allocated for hospital beds.

Some of the major planned investments in hospitals for enhancing capacity, of which hospital beds will also be a part are:

• Telangana state government is planning to acquire land for construction of four 750-bed super-specialty hospitals in Greater Hyderabad at a total cost of Rs. 2400 crore
• The Odisha government will construct one specialty hospital and five secondary-care hospitals with a total of 800 beds through the public–private partnership model that will invest Rs. 424 crore in the project
• The Government of West Bengal plans to set up budget hospitals across the state, which would be equipped with facilities like private cabins with ACs and TVs, single, double, and four-bedded cabins, and ICUs
• A National Cancer Institute is planned in Jhajjar, Haryana and Kolkata. Also, state cancer institutes (SCI) and tertiary care cancer centers (TCCC) are being set up in different parts of the country under the Tertiary Care for Cancer scheme
• The 100-bed ESI hospital at Udaipur, Rajasthan is planned to be constructed with a project cost of Rs. 77.79 crore and dedicated OT, modern path laboratories, and diagnostic facilities. Two 100-bed ESI hospitals will come up at Bikaner and Neemrana. Three existing 50-bed ESI hospitals located at Kota, Jodhpur, and Bhilwara will be upgraded to 100 beds

The advanced technology and additional features implemented by manufacturers in hospital beds, increasing investment of capital funds toward the hospital infrastructure, improving healthcare amenities along with increasing spending in healthcare is expected to boost growth of hospital beds market in the years to come.