Healthcare as an industry today comprises of hospitals, diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, clinical trials, telemedicine, medical tourism, health insurance, medical portals, medical education, wellness, medical devices and equipment.
Healthcare business, typically healthcare service delivery is quite fragmented in India, which means not only the availability of services differ across geographies, the quality of care, cost of services & clinical outcomes varies across providers.
To create efficient, sustainable, value based & growing ecosystem, alliances between healthcare institutions are becoming a choice among providers, rather inevitable.
This can range between a simple outsourcing relationship to affiliations, technical alliances and knowledge transfers to full merger of companies, businesses, technologies and capabilities.
Some of the drivers of this trend in 2019 are following
- Emergence of new healthcare models
- Existing players are seeking innovation
- Quest for technology
- Disruption by online platforms, mobile & internet technologies
- Intent to gain collaborative strengths
- Cost pressures & cost benefits envisaged
- Desire for expansion & scale
- Zeal for exploring unforeseen opportunities
- Learning opportunities, need for knowledge transfer & management
- To gain competitive edge in the segment
- Pursuing Inorganic growth
- Ongoing trend for private equity deals
- Government initiatives & opportunities for Public-Private-Partnerships in healthcare
- Growing benefit management by insurance companies, HMOs & TPAs
- Growing interest of the general business community in healthcare industry
Some of the recent newsmakers in this domain are: Radiant lifecare-KKR & Max healthcare synergy, IHH & Fortis healthcare alliance, Portea Medical & Alteria Capital, HUL& GSK Consumer healthcare etc.
While the attempts are made to favor the healthcare consumer, patient & all the stakeholders, what is needing careful attention is the successful amalgamation on non-financial aspects of the businesses.
Some generalized points to be careful about are summarized below:
Companies generally neglect the cultural, organizational, and human aspects of the alliance while this actually is the base of the new relationship
Nurturing of the relationship is more important than who controls it.
Trust is more important than mere opportunistic view.
In such deals, collaborative advantage should be sought rather that individual strengths .
Evaluating the alliance only in financial terms & going after quick returns shall dilute the vision behind it
During the alliances another common mistake to avoid is diluted focus on companies own strengths & resources.
Right business partnerships & strategic alliances in healthcare can be highly rewarding in 2019 given the intense need of healthcare services, provided they are designed, dealt & implemented professionally.
All views are personal .
By Raj Sehgal
Vice President International Sales
Dr. Lal Pathlabs (India’s leading Healthcare Company)
Email : raj.health@gmail.com Twitter : @rajsehgalsays
