Date: 25th June, 2021

The healthcare sector appears to have truly come into its own. Much like how demonetisation catalyzed the growth of the e-payments industry a few years ago, the pandemic has played a similar transformative role for healthcare. In the post-pandemic world, awareness and demand for healthcare have increased significantly, creating a wealth of new opportunities for companies operating in this space. Beyond the traditional domains of medical care and health insurance, the lockdown has accelerated the emergence of new avenues such as e-commerce and online consulting—areas previously unexplored in this sector.

In response to this shift, the International Advertising Association (IAA) hosted an insightful webinar, as part of its Knowledge & Intelligence series, titled “The Healthcare Sector: Has Its Time Come?” The session brought together leaders from various facets of the healthcare ecosystem—including OTC products, diagnostic services, value-added services, and  health-related e-commerce—to share their perspectives, explore how they’re leveraging new opportunities, and discuss the implications for the marketing, advertising, and media industries.

The distinguished panel included Bharath Uppiliappan, CEO of Dr Lal Path Labs; Navneet Saluja, Managing Director at GSK Consumer Healthcare; and Sumit Sinha, CEO and Co-Founder of Phable Care. The session was moderated by Ashok Venkatramani, IAA Mancom Member.

Sharing his perspective, Sumit Sinha observed, “People have started using technology for their healthcare needs, and new entrepreneurs should take note of this. I do believe medical e-commerce is here to stay and grow.”

Navneet Saluja highlighted the broader transformation within the industry, saying, “I believe the healthcare industry is going to go through a massive change. COVID has taught all multinationals a big lesson—there needs to be a balance between how global they should be and how local they should be.”

Bharath Uppiliappan emphasized a focused approach, stating, “We are concentrating on a few specific medical areas: chronic care, senior citizens, and building a strong CRM by analyzing data in a structured way. Organizing vaccination at diagnostic labs is slightly tricky because post-vaccine complications can occur, and liability falls on the provider. We need the right infrastructure to handle such scenarios.”

Ashok Venkatramani concluded the session by thanking the panelists for their valuable insights into the ongoing transformation of the healthcare industry.