Can Big Data help reduce India's burden of healthcare costs?
05-Sep-17, ET Healthworld
India remains high on the list of medical tourists based on the high quality of healthcare available at comparatively lower costs. Medical tourism is growing at a compounded rate of over 20% leading to a flourishing industry. However healthcare costs for an average Indian family have seen significant increases.
%20ET%20Healthworld.jpg "Can Big Data help reduce Indias burden of healthcare costs (c) ET Healthworld")
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Between 2004 and 2014, the average medical expenditure per hospitalisation for urban patients increased by about 176% across both urban and rural patients. With limited insurance coverage, a majority of households depended on ‘household income / savings’ to meet healthcare costs.
Insurance companies and other stakeholders need to invest in predictive, statistical data modelling to more accurately determine ‘future possibilities’. Integrating the service provider domain with wearable technology is one way to do this. Companies such as Goqii, a wearables start-up, are already working with insurance service providers to enable this.