India emerges as one of APAC’s most AI-ready healthcare markets: Bain & Company

Asia-Pacific healthcare systems are facing growing strain as rising patient expectations collide with a stretched clinical workforce, accelerating the shift toward new care models and AI-enabled support, according to Bain & Company’s 2026 Asia-Pacific Front Line of Healthcare Report. India stands out as one of the region’s most AI-ready healthcare markets, with 78% of consumers using GenAI to better understand diagnoses and treatment options. The findings highlight a defining challenge for healthcare systems: how to combine the convenience and personalization enabled by technology with the trust, coordination and clinical expertise that consumers continue to value.

The report, based on surveys of 6,300 consumers across nine Asia-Pacific markets and 600 doctors in the region, reveals widening tensions across the healthcare system: Consumer expectations are rising faster than experience can keep up, clinicians are ready to walk away from overburdened systems, and AI capabilities are outpacing organizational readiness.

Consumers across Asia-Pacific are increasingly taking a proactive role in managing their health while expecting more convenience, responsiveness and coordination from the healthcare system. Today, 84% of consumers expect greater convenience from the healthcare system, while 71% expect doctors to be more responsive through channels such as phone, WhatsApp or email. Three out of five consumers now also schedule regular checkups and screenings, compared to 47% in 2023.

These expectations are even more pronounced in India. Nearly nine in ten (i.e. 88%) consumers expect more convenient healthcare experiences, 79% expect phone and messaging accessibility from doctors, and 93% want a single point of coordination across their healthcare journey.

Additionally, consumers are increasingly seeking care beyond traditional hospital settings. On average, 62% of consumers report receiving care in at least one alternative setting, including telehealth, urgent care clinics, walk-in clinics, home-based care and ambulatory surgery centers. The consumer response to growing fragmentation is also becoming clearer, with 95% of respondents saying they want a single touchpoint to manage their healthcare, up from 70% in 2019.

“The region’s healthcare systems are approaching an inflection point where rising demand, workforce scarcity and fragmented care delivery models are converging at the same time,” said Vikram Kapur, head of Bain & Company’s Global Healthcare & Life Sciences practice. “The challenge now is not simply expanding access, but fundamentally redesigning how care is coordinated, delivered and experienced.”

Key India Findings from the Report:

Patient Experience & Consumerism

• Healthcare affordability and access remain key challenges in India, with high costs (43%), long wait times at care sites (42%) and delays in securing appointments (30%) emerging as the leading consumer pain points. 

• Fragmentation compounds the burden, with more than 45% of consumers reporting difficulties navigating the healthcare system, and 62% citing they often need to consult multiple providers before receiving the right diagnosis or treatment plan, contributing to the strong demand for a more coordinated healthcare experience. 

• Demands are rising in parallel with 88% Indian consumers expecting greater convenience, 86% seeking the highest-quality provider, and nearly 80% expect doctors to be responsive via phone or messaging

• Yet delivery lags expectations: nearly 93% prefer a single touchpoint to manage care, but a truly coordinated healthcare experience remains elusive

Care Delivery Preferences

• 59% favour an in-person clinic as their primary coordination point, reflecting continued trust in traditional healthcare providers such as primary care physicians (85%) and hospitals (75%).

• While alternate care models are gaining traction across Asia-Pacific, India continues to lag the regional average in alternate site-of-care adoption (42% versus 57% APAC average)

• Telehealth remains largely complementary—used for non-acute cases and not a substitute; limited payer-driven steerage in India’s predominantly cash-pay market

Preventive Care & Wellness

• Preventive care scheduling and engagement is high at 58%, and consumers are increasingly spending on nutrition supplements and fitness

GenAI & Digital Health Adoption

• India is emerging as one of the region’s most AI-receptive healthcare markets: 78% of consumers use GenAI to better understand diagnoses and treatment options, while 73% use it to prepare for appointments, and 72% leverage it to navigate the healthcare system. 

• Gen Z’s are driving digital health adoption, with 66% of Gen Z respondents using online pharmacies and demonstrating higher engagement with AI-enabled healthcare tools and services.

The findings come at a time when India’s healthcare ecosystem is rapidly expanding through digital health infrastructure, growing private healthcare investment and increasing adoption of AI-enabled solutions. The report suggests that the next phase of healthcare transformation will depend less on technology adoption alone and more on the ability of providers to deliver coordinated, consumer-centric care experiences at scale.

Dhruv Sukhrani, Head of Bain & Company’s India Healthcare & Life Sciences practice said, “Indians are increasingly taking charge of their wellbeing. With 89% being interested in prioritising prevention and lifestyle changes, and nearly half reporting higher spending on nutrition supplements and fitness, we are seeing a clear shift towards proactive health management. There is an increasing use of GenAI to understand diagnoses and treatment pathways, and rising expectations around convenience and coordination.” 

“The opportunity for healthcare providers is not simply to digitize interactions, but to redesign care around the consumer. Organizations that successfully combine trusted clinical relationships with AI-enabled experiences and seamless care coordination will be best positioned to earn long-term consumer trust and drive better health outcomes” Sukhrani added.

Clinician strain is also intensifying across the region. One in five doctors report actively considering leaving their current employer, driven primarily by excessive workload, lack of recognition and burnout. Around one in three doctors also report significant waste and inefficiency in their daily work, including excessive forms and paperwork, low-value repetitive tasks and delays caused by fragmented workflows and coordination gaps.

AI-enabled care is gaining ground across Asia-Pacific and is showing potential for easing some pressures in healthcare, particularly for use cases that support clinicians and improve efficiency. Doctors, surveyed by Bain, identify reducing administrative burden and workload as the most significant potential benefits of AI adoption. Nearly three in four Asia-Pacific consumers report feeling comfortable with at least one AI-enabled healthcare application.

However, the report also highlights that the human relationship within care delivery remains highly valued. In-person appointments continue to be the preferred channel for non-acute symptoms, and both consumers and doctors view telehealth as a complement to, rather than a substitute for, in-person care. Approximately one in three doctors also report that their organizations are not prepared to deploy AI at scale, citing unclear strategy, limited training and insufficient clinician involvement as key barriers.

“Consumers and clinicians are increasingly open to AI-enabled support, but technology alone will not resolve the structural pressures facing healthcare systems,” added Kapur. “The organizations best positioned to lead will be those that combine AI-enabled transformation with stronger care coordination and deeper clinician engagement.”

The report identifies five strategic opportunities for healthcare stakeholders across the region:

• Become a trusted coordination point for your customers: Own the patient relationship end-to -end across settings and channels.

• Redesign care journeys around the moments that matter most: Recognize the economic value of customer experience and put it at the heart of strategy.

• Implement the principles of value-based care models: Build the operational foundations to capture value as payment models shift from volume to outcomes.

• Treat AI as a business transformation: Embed AI deeply into core operating models and redesign workflows, rather than layering it onto broken processes.

• Increase clinician engagement: Deliver a better clinician experience and equip the clinical workforce to lead the transformation ahead.

The 2026 Asia-Pacific Front Line of Healthcare Report surveyed consumers in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam, as well as doctors in Australia and the Philippines.