Healthcare Consumerisation Driving the Demand for Home Diagnostic Innovations in Asia

The healthcare industry is witnessing a major shift in patient behaviour-- patients are more independent and aware of their health and well-being.

 With this healthcare consumerisation transformation, the diagnostics industry is also changing to address the new demands of this consumer-driven ecosystem. There is a growing interest in accessible and convenient over-the counter (OTC) and direct-to-home (DTC) testing. With the prevalence of chronic diseases, and the ongoing fear of infectious diseases post the COVID-19 pandemic, home diagnostics products and services are growing at a rapid pace.

One of the primary drivers of home diagnostics, apart from the growing chronic disease population, is the overload on the healthcare staff. Traditional diagnostics take a long waiting time usually associated with a doctor’s visit or a lab report analysis, which might sometimes take 2-3 days on an average. With the increasing awareness of personal health and treatment compliance, the use of self-monitoring technologies especially for chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and neurodegenerative disease, which provide real-time fast diagnosis, is gaining popularity amongst patients. Self-monitoring or home diagnostics gives patients the opportunity to monitor their diseases and avail timely intervention, especially for stigmatised diseases such as mental illnesses.