India’s healthcare sector is currently in the midst of an unprecedented time, marked by a simultaneous building boom and a looming talent crisis.
This sector is expected to experience a CAGR of over 8% through 2032, approaching a staggering figure of 16,315 billion Indian Rupees. This is accompanied by an estimated installation of over 22,000 new hospital beds by private players in India over the next three to five years; of note is that this figure is three times more than between 2019 and 2024. Global private equity giants, such as Blackstone, Temasek and KKR, have a combined investment of $15.5 billion into the Indian healthcare sector over the last five years. Additionally, Bajaj Group has committed INR 10,000 crore for the purpose of building a hospital network, while Adani has announced INR 6,000 crore for its Adani Health Cities initiative.
A Thinning Talent Pool
These priorities reflect significant ambition, but the question remains as to whether this ambition be given its due justice, considering a short supply for those who will drive these plans forward. This shortage in specialists is a well-documented problem. A Union Health Ministry report from 2023 revealed that only 4,413 specialist doctors were available as compared to the baseline requirement of 21,964 at pan-rural India community health centres: a stark 80% shortfall! While concerning enough on its own, what’s worrying is its growing prevalence at the leadership level.
There is a notable scarcity of leaders, on job portals or otherwise, such as former Chief Medical Officers, who have built hospitals from the ground up; supply chain heads who are well-connected with medical-grade vendors; and leaders in clinical operations, who have balanced navigating NABH accreditation, equipment procurement, and international sourcing.
This dearth was felt by a large Indian conglomerate freshly entering the healthcare sector when it prepared to build a cutting-edge 400-bed multi-specialty hospital. When it came to navigating this problem, they did not turn to any recruiter, but to someone who had done this before, from end-to-end, from commencement to completion. They turned to IndusGuru, through which they engaged a veteran cardiologist with over 25 years of experience, including as Director of the cardiovascular sciences department at a premier hospital. In this capacity, he travelled across the globe to identify equipment providers, helped establish clinical operations at the hospital, and immersed himself in staff recruitment at the onset. As a result, while a thinning talent pool could’ve stopped the project in its tracks, with the support of IndusGuru, the train carried on. Read more about this project case here.
New money is entering healthcare without institutional knowledge
The gold rush that is Indian healthcare has invited the entrance of PE and conglomerates into the sector, albeit not without challenge: while their strong suit lies in their understanding of capital allocation, deal structures and growth strategies, they lack the lived experience of having run a ward, having managed managed a medical supply chain, or having navigated the hospital accreditation process.
With a healthcare expenditure figure of Rs. 31,519 billion reported in India in 2023, with said conglomerates like Bajaj, Adani, and others, a significant contribution to the figure above is made by those who are still settling into the industry, quite a high cost to bear! In such circumstances, the independent consultant model is an ideal solution. While it does not replace traditional, permanent leadership, it acts as an intelligence layer and a safeguard against expensive mistakes at the onset.
Medical devices and supply chains are more complex than they look
Despite the intricate complexities of healthcare equipment, it’s easy to underestimate how specialised said equipment procurement really is. Consider the raw materials channeled into making a syringe, a catheter, a blood tube: their stainless steel strips, needle epoxy, PVC compound, among others. All of the aforementioned items carry their own regulatory requirements that a singular vendor for one piece may not be able to adequately fulfill for another piece of equipment.
When a Big 4 consulting firm was engaged by a client to help with identifying and qualifying vendors for medical-grade raw materials across a spectrum of device categories, they enlisted an IndusGuru expert, a former Site Director at a global medical-technology company, who had been directly involved with vendor qualification, ISO 13485 compliance, and procurement, across pharmaceutical and medical device supply chains. The project concluded successfully with a validated vendor roadmap including direct supplier recommendations, sourcing benchmarks and risk mitigation. To accomplish this, a generalist consultant would require months, while an expert who was so intimately involved within that supply chain was able to deliver in mere weeks. To know more, you can read about this project case here.
Regulatory complexity is underrated as a hiring trigger
The regulatory environment in the healthcare sector has become sufficiently elaborate that organisations regularly require support of individuals who have navigated such terrains before, as opposed to “go with the flow” individuals who would learn along the way. This is particularly true for hospitals expanding into Tier 2 and 3 cities, which carry differing operational contexts, while valuing local regulatory compliances more. In such circumstances, an independent consultant who has spearheaded an accreditation process at a comparable institution makes all the difference between a smooth and extended process.
The independent model fits healthcare better than most industries
Healthcare has always had one or another version of this model, with senior specialists practicing across multiple hospitals and clinics. While this is nothing new, the broad application of this model into operational, strategic and supply chain functionality is unprecedented.
Industry projections suggest that by 2030, demand for healthcare in India is expected to double, and the full-time leadership market will only become increasingly competitive and expensive. With this in mind, organisations that understand how to support a lean permanent core group with a peripheral supporting expert layer are the ones that will strike fast with lesser wastage. This particularly holds true in an environment which rewards speed and punishes inexperience; the smartest conglomerates do not wait six months for a hire, but they make one call first.
How IndusGuru can help
If you are building something in healthcare, whether it is a hospital or a new supply chain, a regulatory pathway or a strategic market entry, among others, and you need the support of someone who has been there before, someone who is well-acquainted with the intricacies of the sector, IndusGuru is here to help!
Reach out at www.IndusGuru.in or write to us directly at [email protected] to discuss your requirements. The first conversation costs nothing, but the right expert changes everything.
