A report by Bain & Company in collaboration with CII shows that a number of doctors in the country are uncertain of providing quality healthcare in the next five years. The report based on the survey of over 300 doctors across India found that 79 per cent of the doctors are finding it difficult to keep pace with the breadth and evolution of disease and treatment protocols. About 30 per cent of them said they were anxious of the future and believed that it will become more difficult to deliver high-quality care in the next five years.

The report said that out of 325 doctors, it is found that 28% of them feel worried about the future, believing that it will become more difficult to deliver high-quality care in the next five years. Six key trends affecting patients, the practice environment and methods of working can shape doctor’s behavior in the future. These trends were: “Tsunami” of NCDs, informed and proactive patients, diminishing doctors’ prescription autonomy, prescription cost control by doctors, decreasing relevance of medical representative’s vs digital sources and interest for more complex tools like robot-assisted medicine and remote patient monitoring.

Remarking on the report, Parijat Ghosh, partner, Bain & Company, who is one of the lead authors, said that their research has shown that doctors nowadays are apprehensive about the future as they are challenged with rapid increase in patient volume and complexity, digital turbulence, and cost and quality considerations. Stakeholders should come together to shape the future direction in a way which will allow broad-based health improvement while building a sustainable business.

Above 85 per cent of doctors surveyed by Bain and CII said that a large proportion of their patients had chronic diseases as compared to five years ago.

The report titled, ‘The India Life Sciences Report 2019’ was launched at the CII Life Sciences Conclave, 2019 in Mumbai. As per the report, 31 per cent of physicians in Metro cities believe their job will become more difficult to deliver quality healthcare over the following five years. In non-metro cities, there were 24 per cent of such doctors worried of the future.

The report has also concluded that the world of Indian life sciences is rapidly changing. Nowadays, doctors are challenged with rapid increase in patient volume and complexity as they are controlled by cost and quality considerations. In order to respond to these challenges, life sciences companies should react promptly to meet the needs of the future by restoring their commercial and operating models for protection of future profitability.