Healthcare in India: Healthcare has come into focus in India ever since the coronavirus pandemic emerged here in March 2020. Accordingly, a sizable portion of the Union Budget in 2021 was allocated to the healthcare sector. Moreover, the focus has also largely been on digital healthcare as well as healthcare assistance, which were not as prominent before the pandemic began. Before the coronavirus struck, hospitals and healthcare in India had not necessarily felt too strongly the need to incorporate tech innovations into the sector. However, once the need for social distancing cropped up to prevent the spread of the virus, many innovations like robot assistants and video consultations started gathering pace.
Moreover, many apps offering affordable virtual consultations that had been finding it difficult to strengthen their foothold before the pandemic saw large-scale adoption of their services as COVID-19 confined people to their homes.
TheSpuzz Online talked to Ritesh Talpatra, MD India of Optum, which is a part of global healthcare company United Health. Ritesh Talpatra discussed how healthcare in India can be made more affordable and why there is a need to leverage technology and innovation for the sector.
Watch the interaction here.