Report suggests Indian health care sector will demand 34 million smart cards
10 June, 2013
category: Health, Smart Cards
In the latest report from research and advisory firm, IMARC Group, the Indian Health care Sector will likely create a demand for some 34 million smart cards during over the next five-years.
The report, entitled “Smart Card Industry in India: SIM, Identity, Banking, Transport, Healthcare, Pay TV, Loyalty & PDS,” reveals that the adoption of smart card technology could safeguard patient records and drastically cut paper work. The ability to house encrypted patient data and support digital signatures and biometric templates make smart cards an ideal solution for the massive Indian healthcare sector.
The adoption of smart cards would also reduce the likelihood of fraud associated with health benefit claims – a significant concern for both private and public health insurance firms in the country.
The IMARC report reveals that a bulk of smart card demand in the health care sector is coming from the Rashtriya Swasthaya Bima Yojna (RSBY) – a health insurance system organized by the Central Government for workers in the below poverty line category and their family members. Formed in January of 2008, estimates from the report suggest that as of April 2013, the RSBY has already issued some 34.4 million smart cards.
Though the RSBY is responsible for a massive segment of market demand, the report expects a number of other health care providers in the region to introduce smart cards as well.
Specifically, the report suggests that despite a number of providers currently providing non-smart cards, federal health care providers such as Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme and the Central Government Health Scheme have already begun providing smart cards to their members.
It was only until recently that the telecom sector in India was the prominent user of smart cards in the country. A change in the market landscape is occurring following a number of public and private initiatives that have greatly diversified the use of smart cards.
Over the five-year span from 2013 to 2018, IMARC expects the adoption of smart cards in India to penetrate a number of other market sectors including credit/debit cards, finance, public distribution, healthcare, identity management and public transit. For now, however, it’s the potential applications for smart card in healthcare industry that appears to be particularly interesting.
More information on the IMARC report can be found on the company’s website.