With the rise of internet users and IT penetration in India more people are looking for health information online. This has given rise to a number of health portals as well as online consultation portals. This fairly new business avenue has many takers as evident from the number of users of these sites. More over the investments in these companies point towards their popularity among investors as well. In the last few years the number of such sites is increasing, however only time will tell how many of these will be economically viable and sustain the initial surge. M Neelam Kachhap takes a closer look at the rising trend
Internet usage in India has been rising at a steady pace with metros and urban cities propelling this growth since 2000. According to a study, on an average there has been more than 30 per cent year-on-year increase in the Internet adoption among urban population. “In next 10-12 years, India is going to have one of the largest number of internet users in the world after China,” says Bharat Bhardwaj, CEO, Medisurge Technologies, (TopDoctorsOnline.com.)
Customer Behaviour Online
Although the pundits in healthcare sector are interested in this rising avenue for growth not many are aware of the profile of these Internet customers.
An international research released by Max Bupa in January 2011 has found that more than one third Indians go online for health information. Additionally, higher levels of education and income are associated with higher levels of online searching.
The survey also indicated that nearly 28 per cent of the respondents from India in the higher income bracket made use of the Internet to search for information often; as compared to 21 per cent of the lower and middle income groups. 26 per cent of those with graduate level education in India make use of the internet for online health information searches more often compared with 19 per cent and 16 per cent respectively for those with primary/ secondary or technical/ vocational level education. Bupa health Pulse 2010 also indicates that use of the internet to search online for health information varies with age and its use drops sharply in those aged 35 and over across the countries surveyed.
Are Your Customers Net Savvy?
This is not some distant data, industry experts agree that most of the patients walking-in to their hospitals are Internet savvy. According to a study, published in the Journal of Post Graduate Medicine one in four patients attending a private set-up is using the Internet for health information. A majority of patients find the information on the net reliable and of good quality.
What do People Look for Online?
The survey also reveals that more people look for information on medicines and self-diagnosis while surfing the net. Primary use of the internet for health purposes continues to be finding information about medicines (68 per cent of respondents) in all countries surveyed. Other uses include searching for information to make a self-diagnosis (46 per cent) and seeking other patients’ experiences (39 per cent). The use of the internet for interactive activities, such as emailing a medical professional, remains limited. According to the survey 18 per cent of respondents use social networking sites to find out about healthcare issues.
The study was carried out in the outpatient clinic of an urban, tertiary care private sector hospital in November 2004. The survey instrument consisted of an anonymous single-page questionnaire. Eight hundred and eighty consecutive adults aged 18-70 years, attending the general outpatient clinic of a tertiary care private hospital completed the questionnaire. Two hundred and eighty-one patients (32 per cent) acknowledged surfing the Internet, while 75 per cent (212/281) of them acknowledged that they accessed health-related information. Amongst those who accessed the Internet, 130 (61 per cent) found the information on the net to be of average quality. Almost all patients (211/212) felt that the information served the purpose and 95 per cent (201/212) also found it to be reliable. Only seven per cent (21/281) patients were aware of the presence of any quality standards pertaining to health information sites and none could name any accreditation standard.
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