NEW DELHI: IT and ITeS are passe. Now it’s high-end health services such as pathological and radiological tests which are being outsourced to India.
The potential? Mind-boggling. India is sitting on the cusp of a huge outsourcing market.
"The United States and United Kingdom markets are huge and our scientific community is highly regarded. The present business in outsourcing of pathological samples is just a tip of the iceberg," says Dr Raghunath of Narayana Hrudayalaya, Bangalore.
"In fact, the UK market for pathology tests is around 3.5 billion pounds. Out of this, some 15-40 per cent is outsourceable.
"Assuming that about 25 per cent business is outsourced, that would mean 900 million pounds worth of business waiting to be grabbed," says Harpal Singh, chairman, SRL, part of Ranbaxy Laboratories, one of the first labs in India to have seen this potential and pitched for it.
With a bouquet of 3,000 tests to choose from, and high-end ones like genetic profiling, oncology tests, HIV and allergy tests, SRL has a lot to offer.
In March 2005, it began commercial work with a big hospital chain in UK after a six-month trial. And last month, it joined hands with another health group in the UK. After a one-month trial, SRL hopes to get that business too.
Top-class expertise, cheap labour and speed are India’s USP in this sector like in IT.
Results are also explained, making it easier for the patient to decide on a future course of action. International protocol for airlifting samples - right temperature, packaging and time - are adhered to. Some 2-20 samples are received at their central reference lab in Mumbai every day.
Labs such as SRL also do reference range identification for Asians making it easier for collaborative effort with hospitals abroad.
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