Trends That are Going To Impact Diagnostic Franchises

India is a land full of opportunities for players in the diagnostic service industry and that is witnessing a huge growth. The diagnostic services’ market is expected to grow by 27.5% for the next five years and this growth is likely to be driven by improving healthcare facilities, medical diagnostic and pathological laboratories, private-public projects, and the health insurance sector.

However, a major portion of the diagnostic market was dominated by the unorganised sector, which has now become a much more organised and consolidated sector with a lot of small and independent laboratory players becoming franchisees for the larger brands.

With the evolution of the diagnostic market, franchisors are exploring various options and rendering services to increase customer experience. Here are some emerging trends that are going to impact diagnostic franchises.

Growing Implementation of Online Services

This has been one of the most emerging and widely accepted trends. With increased penetration of technology and internet, the diagnostic sector has also gone online. More and more franchises are extending their services online; patients can now get themselves tested without waiting for long hours in a queue. One can now easily log in, schedule a time for lab technician visit, and the technician will collect the sample at the comfort of one’s home or office. The online convenience has successfully made people’s lives easier and hassle-free. Since this online move has increased the revenue for many diagnostic franchises and witnessed the success ratio, other franchises are also planning to adopt it to stay in the game.

Going Paperless

In today’s digital era, almost everything is available on digital platforms. It is high time that diagnostic centres adopt digitisation and go paperless. With the increase in implementation of online services, diagnostic franchises are providing patients with their reports online itself.

Digitisation of health records ensures that all laboratory reports are documented electronically and can be accessed virtually from anywhere and anytime. This also helps the patients to document and maintain their health records and reports hassle-free and save them from the stress of losing any document.

The Rise in the Use of Preventive Healthcare

Earlier, people generally used to visit labs only to detect and diagnose some problem when symptoms were observed. But, with rising awareness, health consciousness of people and their inclination towards detecting any health problem immediately, there has been a significant increase in the diagnostic sector. People are getting monthly health check-ups to detect any condition at every stage and take precautionary measures accordingly. This has given rise to preventive healthcare, which is both a smart and healthy trend as the cost of preventive care is relatively inexpensive and far better than being diagnosed with something at a later stage.

Focusing on a Customer-centric Approach

Diagnostic centres are steadily adopting a more customer-centric approach and are now offering healthcare services without a doctor’s prescription. Diagnostic franchises are now marketing themselves and creating awareness among people about the need for regular health checkups. These franchises are also offering customised and preventive healthcare packages for every demographic, for instance, women health packages, complete health checkups, pre-marital packages etc, to entice new customers.

A Paradigm Shift from Unorganised To Organised Sector

In India, 90% of the diagnostic market is fragmented and dominated by standalone laboratories. However, long gone are the times when patients got their diagnosis done from local laboratories. With growing awareness, patients are concerned about the accuracy of their reports as it will have a direct impact on their health and treatment. With the emergence of franchised lab chains, which have established a niche for themselves and also have positive customer reviews, patients know that they can trust the accuracy of the reports. Hence, more and more people are choosing them over any independent diagnostic centre.