New Delhi, Dec 2 (IANS): Healthcare startups in India have brought about an uberisation of the secondary care surgery market in the country with a focus on specialist care, personal attention and affordability.
Surgeries are the biggest part of healthcare expenditure with secondary care surgery a growing market.
Healthcare startups like Pristyn Care, Practo and Mirascare have thus created tech platforms which connect doctors, customers and hospitals at cheaper prices.
These startups offer online medical consultations and thereafter if required non-critical minimally invasive surgeries for ailments like hernia, piles, gall stones etc., in smaller hospitals across the country, which run on lesser capacity than bigger hospitals in metros.
Pristyn Care, which has grown nearly five times since January 2021, is a pioneer in this space. It has an ecosystem of over 80 clinics, more than 400 partner hospitals, and over 140 in-house super specialty surgeons. It operates in more than 22 cities across the country.
A recent entrant, Mirascare Clinic and Centre also offers an array of treatments in advanced general, laparoscopic surgery and proctology.
"Apart from specialist care, the USP of Mirascare and such startups is ultra-modern facilities coupled with technology platforms which connect doctors, customers and hospitals," said a spokesperson for Mirascare.
Bengaluru-based health platform Practo has also unveiled more than 50 Practo Care Surgery Experience Centres at six places (Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad), marking its foray into secondary care in India.
Minimally invasive surgery without extensive hospitalisation, which can easily be done by skilled surgeons outside major hospital chains in smaller/mid-sized units is poised to be a nearly $80 billion market in India.
Across India 2,000 large sized hospitals or corporate chains, and about 20,000 small-to-medium sized hospitals already have such facilities.
Healthcare startups are tapping on to this opportunity by creating a win-win situation for hospitals looking to optimise their OT capacities, patients looking at affordable surgical expenses with personalised medical attention as well as skilled individual surgeons looking for a stable number of monthly surgeries without added insurance and operations related overheads.