Category: Medical

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said quick-commerce companies like Blinkit, which is launching a 10-minute ambulance service, must make sure that they meet the law of the land.

Blinkit on Thursday launched 10-minute ambulance service in select areas of Gurugram as a pilot project.

Users will be able to see the option to call for an ambulance on the Blinkit app, according to a company statement.

“As regard Blinkit doing ambulance services or medicines being delivered, my only submission would be that they have to make sure that they meet the law of the land and whatever are the legal requirements should be properly taken care of. No laws of the land should be broken,” Goyal told reporters when asked about the company’s decision.

Asked about issues raised by small retailers about quick-commerce or e-commerce firms, he said the government is monitoring that and the CCI (Competition Commission of India) has already taken actions in some cases and wherever the found anti-competitive practices.

“As far as I know, investigative actions were also been taken on some companies, who have violated laws and misused them,” he said. PTI

The global healthcare IT outsourcing industry is poised for robust growth, reaching an estimated valuation of USD 52.877 billion in 2023 and projected to more than double to USD 105.753 billion by 2033. The market is expected to register a CAGR of 7.2% during the forecast period.

Key growth drivers:

1. Cost reduction: Outsourcing IT functions offers healthcare organizations an efficient means to manage rising operational costs while maintaining high-quality care.
2. Technological advancements: Increased adoption of cutting-edge technologies like cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and big data analytics is fueling the demand for outsourcing solutions.
3. Focus on patient-centered are: Outsourcing IT allows healthcare providers to focus more on patient care and less on managing complex IT infrastructure.
4. Regulatory compliance: Outsourced IT services often come with pre-integrated solutions for adhering to stringent healthcare regulations, ensuring security and privacy.

Market opportunities:

• Expansion in emerging economies: Developing regions with burgeoning healthcare infrastructure present significant growth potential for IT outsourcing services.
• Specialized services: Growing demand for niche areas such as telemedicine support, electronic health record (EHR) management, and healthcare analytics offers lucrative opportunities for specialized providers.
• Interoperability solutions: Addressing the challenges of fragmented healthcare systems by developing seamless data-sharing solutions is a key market driver.

Challenges:

• Data security concerns: Ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of sensitive healthcare data remains a critical challenge.
• High initial investment: For smaller healthcare providers, the upfront costs associated with transitioning to outsourced IT solutions may pose a hurdle.

Future outlook:
The healthcare IT outsourcing market is set to thrive, supported by continuous innovation and the pressing need for efficient, scalable, and secure IT solutions in the healthcare sector. As providers focus on improving outcomes and reducing costs, IT outsourcing will remain a pivotal strategy in achieving these objectives. Future Market Insights

Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee has confirmed that cybercriminals are attempting to leak stolen data after gaining unauthorized access to the state’s central platform for operating numerous health and human services divisions, including social benefits.

Why it matters
McKee’s office said Monday that, according to its consultant Deloitte, the hackers who broke into the IT system for the state’s health and benefits programs earlier this month have released a set of files on the dark web, WPRI reported.

“Today the cyber criminals did in fact publish at least some of the Rhode Island Bridge’s information and data files onto the dark web,” McKee said during a press conference.

In a previous update on its website, the state said that Deloitte confirmed “a high probability that a cybercriminal has obtained files with personally identifiable information.”

The consultant is working with the state to generate the list of impacted individuals.

“Once we have that information, we will send letters to those individuals with instructions on how to access free credit monitoring,” the alert said.

HealthSource RI, the state’s marketplace for affordable health coverage, is part of the Ocean State’s Department of Administration RIBridges system and is temporarily unavailable due to the cyberattack announced on December 13.

According to the state website, the system that Deloitte manages is the main operations system for the state’s management, including legal services, accounts and control, management and budget, purchasing, auditing, human resources, certain personnel services, capital asset management and maintenance, IT, energy resources and many internal services.

The state took the system offline after Deloitte discovered the network intrusion.

RIBridges also manages the state’s Medicaid, SNAP and other social programs, many of which have switched to manual processes.

Due to the outage, HealthSource RI has extended open enrollment from Tuesday’s deadline until February 28 via call center. Patients with plans that would not automatically renew for 2025 will now be extended until the system is restored and they can select new plans, according to the website alert.

Government officials said they have identified about 650,000 people whose personal information – including Social Security and bank account numbers – was stolen from the system.

Databreaches.net reported Monday that it had made contact with Brain Cipher, and the ransomware group confirmed that they were responsible for the RIBridges attack and inspected the archive file with personal information provided by the threat actors.

Reaching the threat actors’ dark web leak site is challenging, however, according to the story.

Brain Cipher told the publication that they have been under a denial of service attack to try and stop them from leaking the data.

The larger trend
State records systems that hold protected health information are targeted in cyberattacks and criminals have been known to publish protected data.

In July, RansomHub began leaking Florida Department of Health employee records, prescription data, screening information, Social Security numbers and more on a Tor-based leak site. The group claimed to have stolen 100 gigabytes of data from the Sunshine State’s public health network.

Healthcare cybersecurity challenges outpace every other sector, according to an analysis of 2023 cyberattacks by SecurityScorecard, a supply chain cybersecurity firm.

The sector also leads in third-party data breaches, which snare providers, health plans, healthcare organizations and public health networks. Two years ago, a ransomware attack on a federal vendor, Healthcare Management Solutions, had the potential to impact up to 254,000 Medicare beneficiaries.

While the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said that the vendor acted in “violation of its obligations,” the federal agency is also under investigation by the U.S. Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights for a cyber breach that ultimately affected 3,112,815 individuals, reported in September.

The recent CMS data breach was one in a string related to a vulnerability in the file transfer tool MOVEit.

On the record
“Our top priority is exactly what we talked about – informing people, getting the information out, having people protect their identity and also get those benefits out,” McKee said in response to a question about the state’s continued relationship with Deloitte at Monday’s televised press conference. “The issues that have to do with IT, we will take those issues one day at a time.” Healthcare IT News

Force Motors Ltd on Thursday said it has bagged an order for the supply of 2,429 units of ambulances to the Medical Health and Family Welfare Department, Uttar Pradesh.

In a regulatory filing, the company said the order is for supply of 2,429 units of BS-VI diesel ambulance to the department. The order is to be executed between December 2024 and March 2025, it said without disclosing the value of the order.

The company in a statement later said that the UP-Government Health Department’s decision to procure 2429 ambulances from Force Motors underscores the state’s commitment to strengthening its healthcare infrastructure.

These vehicles will play a pivotal role in enhancing emergency response capabilities and ensuring timely medical assistance for millions of residents across urban and rural areas, the company said.

These vehicles are available in multiple configurations, including patient transport, basic life support (BLS), advanced life support (ALS), and mobile medical unit (MMU), catering to the varying needs of healthcare providers.

Force Motor has been chosen by the UP Government Health Department for this important healthcare initiative. This reinforces the company’s commitment to providing dependable solutions, catering to India’s unique healthcare needs,” said Prasan Firodia, Managing Director at Force Motors.

Force Motors shares rallied more than 8.69 per cent to settle at Rs 7,208 per share on BSE. PTI

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay on Tuesday said researchers at the institute have developed an affordable Tinnitus diagnosis and management device.

Tinnitus is the perception of sound in the absence of any external stimulus, so other people cannot hear it, and is commonly described as ringing in the ears.

As per the research data published in JAMA Neurology 2022, Tinnitus affects more than 740 million adults globally and is considered to be a major problem faced by more than 120 million people, IIT Bombay said in a statement.

Tinnitus results in severe sleep disturbance, depression, anxiety, negative impact on mental health, irritability, impacting social life, and has a demoralising impact on the quality of life, it added.

The device and the supporting application software offers a comprehensive approach that includes precise tinnitus matching, customisable multimodal tinnitus management approach and disease progress tracking at an affordable cost.

The objective of the project is to equip clinicians with the precise tinnitus diagnosis tools and provide each patient a unique experience in the tinnitus management. Apart from IIT Bombay, the project received funding from Tata Centre for Technology and Design (TCTD), and Wadhwani Research Centre for Bioengineering (WRCB), the statement added. PTI

Jupiter Life Line Hospitals is on track to double its bed capacity over the next three to five years, which is expected to also more than double its revenues during the same period, according to CEO Ankit Thakker.

“Over the next three to five years, as the new hospitals become operational and capacity doubles, revenues will also double. We have about 1,000 beds under construction already, 500 in MMR in Palava region, 500 more in Pune, and we are looking at some more western India opportunity,” Thakkar said.

He highlighted the addition of 17 beds at the Indore hospital, taking the total operational capacity to 1,061 beds as of January 1, 2025.

The company typically scales up capacity once occupancy reaches around 60% at existing facilities, ensuring a steady growth trajectory.

Thakker also maintained that Jupiter Lifeline targets EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) margin for 2024-25 (FY25) of around 25% although margins may vary slightly based on the maturity of individual facilities.

Improved occupancy in Pune and Indore, as well as case mix optimisation in Indore, will be the key growth levers for EBITDA improvement.

The hospital prefers organic growth over acquisitions, focusing on custom-built facilities. “We have so far, not been great fans of operations and maintenance (O&M) models. We prefer to have custom built hospitals. So far, predominantly, the growth has been organic. The Indore hospital, of course, was an acquisition. We remain open to the possibility, but we are quite clear that we would only want to acquire high quality and optimal value opportunities.”

The company, which has a market capitalisation of ₹10,017 crore, has seen its shares rise 38% over the last year. CNBCTV18

The ICMR has proposed a revised version of the National Essential Diagnostics List (NEDL), which enumerates the minimum number of tests that should be available at various levels of healthcare facilities in the country.

According to the revised draft, nine types of diagnostic tests, including those for diabetes, Malaria, TB, HIV and syphilis should be made available at the health centres in village-level health facilities.

Ayushman Arogya Mandirs should have facilities for Hepatitis B tests available in addition to the nine diagnostics that are available at the village-level health centres.

The revised draft list has been prepared incorporating inputs from relevant stakeholders and feedback from multiple consultation meetings.

It builds upon the first list and provides recommendations for diagnostic tests across various levels of healthcare facilities, including village-level facilities, Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, primary health centre (PHCs), community health centres (CHCs), sub district hospitals (SDHs) and district hospitals (DHs).

The draft of the second NEDL has been put up on the public domain for feedback and comments from various stakeholders.

The new set of guidelines states that tests for dengue and Japanese Encephalitis and other common illnesses must be accessible at the Primary Health Centres in addition to X-rays and ECG facilities.

The district-level hospitals must facilitate CT scan, MRI, mammography and echocardiography, according to the draft guidelines.

The ICMR released the first NEDL in 2019 to make diagnostics an essential component of the health care system. PTI

The revenue of small and medium (SME) hospitals — with annual revenue of less than Rs 250 crore — is expected grow a sedate 3-5 per cent year-on-year and 5-8 per cent in financial year 2025 and 2026, respectively.

The key reason is patients continuing to favour large hospital chains on the back of pan-India insurance penetration increasing to 38-40 per cent from 23 per cent in FY15 (according to CRISIL MI&A Research).

The segment’s operating margin is projected to contract 50-80 bps Y-o-Y 14-15 per cent in FY25, owing to rising employee costs and medicine expenses, and price caps on treatments under Ayushman Bharat. But in FY26, margins are expected to recover 50-100 bps, supported by higher average revenue per occupied bed and bed occupancy levels.

To improve occupancy levels, SME hospitals are getting themselves empanelled under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), the government’s umbrella health assurance scheme, which provides coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family, thereby enhancing access to treatment for economically disadvantaged groups.

PMJAY, launched in September 2018 and operational in 33 states and Union Territories as of December, has over 30,900 empanelled hospitals, 45 per cent of which are private. Nearly 80 per cent of these hospitals have a capacity of up to 50 beds and are primarily in Tier-II and —III cities. The scheme’s uptake and benefits can also be gauged from the fact that, since April, the number of Ayushman Bharat cards issued has increased 58.5 million, to 362.5 million, and the number of treatments availed under the scheme has risen 3.6 million to 68.6 million, with total claims amounting to Rs 90,204 crore in December 2024.

Apart from receiving a boost from PMJAY, SME hospitals are shifting their focus towards specialised or niche care.

Another factor that is likely to increase hospital visits is India’s rising elderly population — those aged above 60 years, which is projected to grow at 3 per cent CAGR between 2011 and 2036 to 230 million, according to the National Health Profile 2023. This demographic tends to require more frequent and prolonged healthcare services. Also, lifestyle-related diseases have grown from 2010 to 2020, as per the World Health Organization’s Global Burden of Diseases Study.

Hence, the long-term fundamentals of SME hospitals are intact. CRISIL Research

Indian economy has exhibited resilience, despite persisting downside risks. Economic Survey 2023-24 released in July 2024 projected India to grow at 6.5-7.0 percent in fiscal 2024-25 – which though a moderation from 8.2 percent growth reported in 2023-24 is encouraging given the global economic environment.

Union Budget 2024-25 maintained a strong commitment towards balancing various objectives for achieving the vision of Viksit Bharat. Continuing and deepening the reforms agenda on nine priorities outlined in the Union Budget 2024-25 will be important for sustaining the resilience seen in the economy.

The Centre should give additional thrust to the healthcare sector. Some of the recommendations are:

• Increase Public Health Expenditure: India’s public expenditure on healthcare touched 2.1% of GDP in FY23 and 2.2% in FY22, against 1.6% in FY21, as per the Economic Survey. Yet it significantly lags the OECD average of 7.6% and BRICS countries’ average of 3.6%. FICCI recommends increasing this allocation to 2.5% of GDP by 2025, as envisioned in National Health Policy 2017. This will help to strengthen healthcare infrastructure, ensure equitable access, and move closer to Universal Health Coverage (UHC) goals.
• Incentivizing Preventive Healthcare: Increase the tax exemption for preventive health check-ups under Section 80D from ₹5,000 to ₹20,000. Additionally, allow employers a separate annual deduction of ₹10,000 per employee for sponsoring these check-ups, over and above current medical reimbursement limits, given the rising advent of lifestyle diseases in India.
• Promote Health Insurance: Double the deduction for health insurance premiums under Section 80D to ₹50,000. Expand eligible dependents under this provision to encourage broader health coverage.
• Healthcare as Industrial Undertaking: Recognize hospitals as industrial undertakings under Section 72A, allowing tax loss carry-forward during mergers and restructuring. This aligns with practices in the manufacturing sector and incentivizes investments in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
• Additional Depreciation for Diagnostics Infrastructure: To meet rising healthcare demands under Ayushman Bharat, the government should provide 50% additional depreciation under Section 32 of the IT Act for investments in diagnostic infrastructure, especially outside metro cities. This aligns with depreciation benefits in other sectors and supports the vision of affordable healthcare for all.
• Import duties on lifesaving equipment should be reduced to ensure affordable healthcare delivery. Offering tax incentives to domestic manufacturers will attract global manufacturers. Additionally, increase the depreciation rate for lifesaving equipment from 40% to 60%, considering their short lifespan and fast-paced technological advancements.
• Incentivize Medical Value Travel for the healthcare sector to contribute to India’s foreign exchange earnings.

FICCI

Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), an apex business chamber, has a new Secretary General in Manish Singhal.

Singhal, an industry leader with over 35 years of experience in Chamber and Corporate India, had earlier worked as Deputy Secretary General of The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

He had also worked with various Indian transnational companies, including Tata Motors, Eicher (Volvo), Tata Auto Comp Systems, Moser Baer India and BEML to name a few.

Singhal succeeds Deepak Sood, who recently after a five-year stint stepped down to pursue other interests.

“We welcome Manish on board and look forward to him furthering ASSOCHAM’s impact. He has a proven track record in policy advocacy and international business, which will help the Chamber scale greater heights”, said Sanjay Nayar, President of ASSOCHAM. The Hindu Business Line