AI in Healthcare Sector

Overview

A knowledge report on “AI in Healthcare Sector”, was launched during the state conclave event held in Lucknow. This report highlights the industry trends, enablers & inhibitors, policy & regulatory status, etc. This report will bring awareness and create a better understanding of the Healthcare sector and encourage AI innovations.

This report has been prepared based on the inputs/knowledge and guidance of STPI’s CoEs viz. Neuron (Mohali), Image (Hyderabad), MedTech (Lucknow), and AIC STPI (Bengaluru) which are focused on healthcare & AI along with inputs from Industry and Government.

Executive Summary

1. Healthcare in India
   • Healthcare in India has improved a lot in last decade, increased life expectancy and decreasing disease burden are positive achievements of Indian healthcare system
   • Ageing population with increasing burden of obese & diabetic population is driving need for greater number of both in-hospital and out of hospital interventions
   • Total expenditure on healthcare as % of GDP has largely remained stagnant, however healthcare has become more affordable with increased coverage of insurance, primarily driven by government sponsored health insurance schemes which has ~800 M eligible beneficiaries
2. Role of AI
   • Key challenges of Indian healthcare are Low doctor-patient ratio, skewed distribution of expertise, affordability, inadequately trained staff and delayed detection and diagnostic errors, Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare can resolve majority of these challenges
3. Global Landscape
   • The market for AI in healthcare globally is estimated at US$ 15 B and estimated to grow at CAGR of ~37% till 2030. The market includes software, hardware and services
   • Global funding for AI in healthcare has grown at a CAGR of ~54% between 2016 to 2021
   • In India, the investment in AI in healthcare is gaining dominance and it stood at US$ 1.1 B in 2021
4. Startup Ecosystem
   • Key challenges as quoted by most of the start-ups are funding, data for training, validation of models, and market access.
   • Central and State Governments have been proactively coming up with new initiatives, schemes and policies for AI in healthcare
   • As an incubator, STPI offers a number of value-added services for start-ups, including infrastructure, mentorship, funding & investment, support and facilitation in developing IPR
   • Academic institutions like IIT, IIM are also having their incubation centers to support AI in healthcare. Private players like GE Healthcare, Microsoft, HealthStart, and Prime venture partners are also providing incubation services for start-ups
   • Going forward, to increase adoption not only in India but to have 'made-in-India' AI solutions get adopted in global markets, work on a policy which is aligned with evolving global frameworks for use of AI in healthcare
   • India can better utilize the potential of AI and help scale it by enabling better access to data, encouraging AI R&D, emphasizing on privacy & security