Catering to a whopping 140 crore population, the diagnostic industry in India is highly unorganized, constituting a high degree of fragmentation with over 1,00,000 labs. While the vast nature of the market calls for unique, India-centric business models, the healthcare industry becoming more evidence-based and clinical investigations centric has ensured that the diagnostics organizations have no room for anything less than world-class quality. This has inevitably polished out high-octane competitiveness among large diagnostic chains and startups alike. In the process, there has been a phenomenal rise in the use of technology, which has

become an integral part of the sector’s efforts to improve customer experience and support clinical decisions..

A case in point is the Direct-to(Patients)Home healthcare model taking diagnostics and therapies to the patient’s home is something the pharmaceutical industry has been talking about for quite some time. Suddenly, during the COVID-19 lock downs, it was the only choice left, as the hospitals were focused on COVID. This forced the industry to adopt the alternative strategy of taking the therapies to patients’ homes, and telemedicine technologies became an elixir.

In a recent interview with CEO Insights, Dr. Om Manchanda, Managing Director, Dr. Lal PathLabs, says, “There are two dimensions to how emerging technologies are transforming diagnostics. The first dimension is the service experience. Achieving faster turnaround time is a crucial aspect of improving customer experience. Hence, today, technology intervention is virtually in every aspect of the diagnostic cycle ranging from process automation in the lab to mobile app based experience.” We have handpicked a few stories from the diagnostics industry. Do let us know your thoughts.