Remember the family doctor who found roles in many a Bollywood film? The one, who would rush home with his big physician’s bag for an emergency. He would stand by the bed of the dying old, counsel folk to keep their anger in check to avoid cardiac events; chide children who indulged too much their sweet tooth. He earned the friendship, respect, and trust of families. An American health management company, Aetna Inc., has pulled that doctor from the screen into the real world.
Cutting flab
Aetna bets on managed care that insurers had, so far, sidestepped
Diagnostics on demand, click-ready pharmacies, and mall-like hospital services. Before an insurer finally writes the cheque, a healthcare seeker today has serious choices to make. Can somebody guide through the maze?
In December last year, Aetna made its first investment of Rs 100 crore to expand its subscription product in India. Six months on, it claims to have 600,000 subscribers, growing at 50,000 each month
A few insurance providers are exploring outpatient insurance like Max Bupa, Religare and in July, Aditya Birla launched its first product
It is estimated that the potential outpatient market is about 20X the size of inpatient health insurance, constituting 61 million people who spend Rs 10,200 crore annually
Not just insurers, even digital platforms such as 1mg and Practo have jumped on the bandwagon, even offering their network to insurance companies for “full digital track and trace”
