Name of the Author (s) i)

ii)

Research Paper Title - Marketing Strategies for Health Care Industries in India: An Effective
Means To Enhance Profitability

Designation- i) Research Scholar, Department of Commerce & Management

University of Kota

ii)

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Contact No. -
Marketing Strategies for Health Care Industries in India: An Effective Means To Enhance
Profitability

Abstract:

Healthcare has become one of Indias largest sectors - both in terms of revenue and employment.
The Indian healthcare sector is rising due to its strengthening coverage, services and increasing
expenditure by public as well private players. Keeping in view the growing importance of the
same, more and more healthcare industries have started showing focus towards enhancing the
profitability so that they may mark their presence all around. This research paper attempts to
have a look on the important marketing strategies which enhance the profitability of healthcare
industries of India. The paper will also give an overview of the healthcare industry highlighting
its major players in India along with the governmental initiatives taken to boost up this sector.

Keywords:
India, Healthcare, Industries.

Introduction:
Healthcare industry is growing at a tremendous pace owing to its strengthening coverage,
services and increasing expenditure by public as well private players. During 2008-20, the
market is expected to record a CAGR of 16.5 per cent. The total industry size is expected to
touch US$ 160 billion by 2017 and US$ 280 billion by 2020. As per the Ministry of Health,
development of 50 technologies has been targeted in the FY16, for the treatment of disease like
Cancer and TB. Indian healthcare delivery system is categorized into two major components -
public and private. The Government, i.e. public healthcare system comprises limited secondary
and tertiary care institutions in key cities and focuses on providing basic healthcare facilities in
the form of primary healthcare centers (PHCs) in rural areas. The private sector provides
majority of secondary, tertiary and quaternary care institutions with a major concentration in
metros, tier I and tier II cities. India's competitive advantage lies in its large pool of well-trained
medical professionals. India is also cost competitive compared to its peers in Asia and Western
countries. The cost of surgery in India is about one-tenth of that in the US or Western Europe.
Market Size:
The overall Indian healthcare market is worth around US$ 100 billion and is expected to grow to
US$ 280 billion by 2020, a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 22.9 per cent.
Healthcare delivery, which includes hospitals, nursing homes and diagnostics centres, and
pharmaceuticals, constitutes 65 per cent of the overall market. The Healthcare Information
Technology (IT) market which is valued at US$ 1 billion currently is expected to grow 1.5 times
by 2020. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India has predicted that with increased digital adoption, the
Indian healthcare market, which is worth around US$ 100 billion, will likely grow at a CAGR of
23 per cent to US$ 280 billion by 2020. Over 80 per cent of the antiretroviral drugs used globally
to combat AIDS (Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome) are supplied by Indian
pharmaceutical firms. There is a significant scope for enhancing healthcare services considering
that healthcare spending as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is rising. Rural India,
which accounts for over 70 per cent of the population, is set to emerge as a potential demand
source. India requires 600,000 to 700,000 additional beds over the next five to six years,
indicative of an investment opportunity of US$ 25-30 billion. Given this demand for capital, the
number of transactions in the healthcare space is expected to witness an increase in near future.
The average investment size by private equity funds in healthcare chains has already increased to
US$ 20-30 million from US$ 5-15 million. A total of 3,598 hospitals and 25,723 dispensaries
across the country offer AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and
Homoeopathy) treatment, thus ensuring availability of alternative medicine and treatment to the
people. The Indian medical tourism industry is pegged at US$ 3 billion per annum, with tourist
arrivals estimated at 230,000. The Indian medical tourism industry is expected to reach US$ 6
billion by 2018, with the number of people arriving in the country for medical treatment set to
double over the next four years. With greater number of hospitals getting accredited and
receiving recognition, and greater awareness on the need to develop their quality to meet
international standards, Kerala aims to become India's healthcare hub in five years.

Government Initiatives:
India's universal health plan that aims to offer guaranteed benefits to a sixth of the world's
population will cost an estimated Rs 1.6 trillion (US$ 23.72 billion) over the next four years.
Some of the major initiatives taken by the Government of India to promote Indian healthcare
industry are as follows:
The government has announced that 3,000 Jan Aushadhi Stores (JAS) will be opened
under Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Yojana (PMJAY) across the country by the end of
March 2017.
The Ministry of Science & Technology has launched the innovative and indigenously
developed fecal incontinence management system Qora', which was developed by M/s.
Consure Medical under Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science &
Technology supported Bio Design Programme.

The Union Cabinet has approved signing of an agreement with the World Health
Organisation (WHO) under which WHO will develop technical documents on traditional
medicines which is expected to lead to better acceptance of Indian systems of medicines
at an international level.

The NITI Aayog (National Institute for Transforming India) seeks to bring reforms in
Indias public health system like outsourcing primary healthcare to private doctors and
promoting competition between government and private hospitals at the secondary level.

Provisions made in the Union Budget 2016-17:

National Dialysis Services Programme to be initiated to provide dialysis services in all

district hospitals to accommodate the increasing demand for dialysis session

A new health protection scheme for health-cover up to Rs 1 lakh (US$ 1,504) per family.

Setting up 3,000 medical stores across the country to provide quality medicines at
affordable prices.

Senior citizens will get additional healthcare cover of Rs 30,000 (US$ 441) under the
new scheme

Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Yojana to be strengthened, 3000 generic drug store to be
opened
 Government of West Bengal has introduced G1 Digital Dispensary, which aims to
provide people from rural areas access to primary healthcare services.

A unique initiative for healthcare 'Sehat' (Social Endeavour for Health and Telemedicine)
has been launched at a government run Common Service Centre (CSC) to empower rural
citizens by providing access to information, knowledge, skills and other services in
various sectors through the intervention of digital technologies and fulfilling the vision of
a Digital India.

India and Sweden celebrated five years of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The
cooperation in healthcare between India and Sweden will help in filling gaps in research
and innovative technology to aid provisioning of quality healthcare.

Mr J P Nadda, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Government of India has
launched the National Deworming initiative aimed to protect more than 24 crore children
in the ages of 1-19 years from intestinal worms, on the eve of the National Deworming
Day.

Under the National Health Assurance Mission, Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi's
government would provide all citizens with free drugs and diagnostic treatment, as well
as insurance cover to treat serious ailments.

All the government hospitals in Andhra Pradesh would get a facelift with a cost of Rs 45
crore (US$ 6.67 million), besides the establishment of 1,000 generic medical shops
across the State in the next few months.

Mission Indradhanush launched by Mr. JP Nadda aims to immunise children against

seven vaccine preventable diseases namely diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio,
tuberculosis, measles and hepatitis B by 2020. Government has set a target of 95 per cent
immunisation cover by end of 2016.

The E-health initiative, which is a part of Digital India drive launched by Prime Minister
Mr Narendra Modi, aims at providing effective and economical healthcare services to all
citizens. The programme aims to make use of technology and portals to facilitate people
 maintain health records and book online appointments with various departments of
different hospitals using eKYC data of Aadhaar number.

Major Healthcare Companies in India:

Dr. Lal PathLabs
Vaatsalya
Reliance Life Sciences (RLS)
Kauvery Hospital
Lotus Eye Hospital & Institute
SRL Diagnostics (SRL)
Narayana Health
Opto Circuits (India) Limited
Wockhardt Hospitals
Philips Healthcare
Max Healthcare
Apollo Hospitals
Aravind Eye Care System
The CARE Hospitals Group
Fortis Healthcare Ltd.

Marketing Mix of Apollo Hospitals:

The marketing mix discusses the service marketing mix or the 7Ps of one of the premium
hospital chains in India Apollo hospital.

Product: Apollo hospital provides quality healthcare services with more than 53 branches across
the country. Prominently Apollo is known best for heart problems and Knee and Hip replacement
surgeries besides other major ailments. The specialities include Heart, Orthopedics, Spine,
Cancer Care, Gastroenterology, Neurosciences, Nephrology & Urology Critical Care.
Price: The hospital is priced premium and it can afford to do the same because of
its positioning and its assurance as well as the reliability on the brand of Apollo hospitals. Along
with it, it also helps that there are so many locations and specialities in Apollo hospitals. Thus a
patient is reassured of his well being.

Place: Apollo Hospitals has around 8500 beds across 53 hospitals in India and overseas. It is
located in 15 different places across India which include Ahmedabad, Aragonda, Bangalore,
Bhubaneshwar, Bilaspur, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kakinata, Kolkata, Madurai, Mauritius,
Mysore Noida.

Promotions: Apollo promotes itself through the Community Initiatives viz

SACH Save a Childs Heart
CURE Extends preventive as well as rehabilitative cancer treatment to the
economically backward.
SAHI Society to Aid the Hearing Impaired
DISHA Distance Health care Advancement Project

People: Currently engages more than 19,000 doctors, nurses, paramedics, clinical staff and
management professionals to manage over 8500 beds across 53 hospitals in India and abroad.
Along with this Apollo Hospitals has several courses along with research facilities to facilitate
innovation.

Process:
The largest achievement of the Apollo Group has been to take quality health care to
across the length and breadth of India. This operation in itself involves very established
procedures and documentation.
It has been a major player in scripting the medical landscape of the nation. This is
primarily because the group has continuously been at the helm of several game-changing
innovations in Indian health care.
Apollo hospitals is NABH, NABL accredited and also has ISO 9002 award.
Physical Evidence:
Apollo Hospital has been known for its quality health care services, at much affordable
price.
Provides the services for all the ailments & diseases, assuring the healthy recovery with
quality care from the staff.
Apollo Hospitals conducts a rigorous site survey process as well to take care of various
parameters in all their hospitals.

Various Marketing Strategies to Ensure Profitability:

Professional Referral Marketing: A reliable and continuing stream of inbound patient referrals
from other medical, dental or other professional sources is the lifeblood of many specialty
providers. And whether its a primary or secondary channel, professional referral sources cant be
taken for granted. Doctor referrals do not happen by magic or simply because you are a good
provider. Success requires a written plan and an unfailing system to preserve and grow the flow
of professional referrals.

Internet Marketing: From websites and social media tools, to patient portals and mobile
apps, online marketing is a mainstream channel for marketing, advertising and public relations.
Exactly how you use the muscle of the digital freeway can be highly effective and profitable, or a
huge waste of time and money.

Branding: This is all about standing out from the crowd in a positive way, and it includes
virtually everything you do. A powerful, differentiating brand for your healthcare business is part
of your reputation. Meaningful and effective branding does not occur without a deliberate effort
to shape and express the right message at the right time.

Internal Marketing: This heading includes all the ways and means that you communicate with
people who already know you, primarily present and previous patients. Depending on the nature
of your practice or situation, this influential audience can be a rich resource for referrals,
additional services, testimonials and/or word-of-mouth advertising.
External Marketing: These are the media that reach prospective patients that dont know you.
Advertising in newspapers, radio, television, billboards and the like target an audience that needs
to know that you provide an answer for their healthcare need. Theres little margin for error in an
external media budget that is expected to produce a measurable return-on-investment.

Public Relations: This heading includes, among other things, planning and generating healthcare
publicity and free press exposure, such as newspaper articles or broadcast interviews. The end
results look easy, and it can be a positive and powerful influence. But free press typically
results from careful planning, good timing, a clear message and a deliberate effort.

Conclusion:
India is a country full of opportunities for players in the healthcare industry. The country is now
a leading destination and opportunity for high-end diagnostic services with tremendous capital
investment in advanced facilities. Besides, Indian medical service consumers have become more
conscious towards their healthcare. Keeping this in mind, its worthy that the healthcare
industrialists and strategists should carefully adopt the various marketing strategies to ensure
profitability much more than expected and also meet the demands and expectation of consumers.
To sum up, the healthcare industries of India should also bring in new innovative strategies to
remain for long in the global marketplace and attract more and more healthcare customers.

References:

Healthcare Industry in India at http://www.ibef.org/industry/healthcare-india.aspx. Accessed

on 1 December 2016.

Marketing Mix of Apollo Hospitals at www.marketing91.com/marketing-mix-apollo-hospitals.

Accessed on 30 November 2016.

The Six Fundamental Elements at http://www.healthcaresuccess.com. Accessed on 1

December 2016.