The role of healthtech and fintech in making cardiac care more accessible and affordable

Cardiac care in India has a difficult affordability equation. The cost of a heart attack or major cardiac procedure is only one part of the problem. For many families, the financial burden begins much earlier with repeated consultations, diagnostic tests, medicines, travel to specialist centres and the loss of income that comes with prolonged treatment.

In addition, this is significant because cardiovascular disease cannot be treated only in the hospital; we need prevention, diagnosis, monitoring and follow-up every day and everywhere. WHO reports that cardiovascular diseases still account for a high proportion of deaths in India, while hypertension remains a costly and one of the most poorly controlled risk factors.

The affordability discussion, therefore, should not just be about finding the cheapest way to deliver the cardiac intervention but also about how technology can be used to identify potential health issues earlier, avoid unneeded hospital visits, ensure seamless transitions of care and make paying for health services less burdensome.

The affordability problem begins before the hospital

The cost of cardiac care may become huge, as treatment can be a bit of a tricky journey. The patient may see a general physician, a cardiologist, get tests, travel to a different city for specialised care, and then return several times for follow-up.

A study published in 2026, about coronary artery disease patients in New Delhi, showed the cost per year for treatment varied greatly across treatment routes. The median annual cost was around Rs 18,299 for patients receiving medical therapy alone, compared with about Rs 2.76 lakh among those undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting.

The larger issue is that the financial burden is not limited to the final procedure. Earlier diagnosis and appropriate management can sometimes prevent a condition from progressing to a stage where more intensive intervention is required.

For cardiac care, the challenge is particularly relevant because chronic conditions require recurring expenditure rather than a one-time payment.

Where healthtech can change the cost equation

The strongest contribution of HealthTech may not be replacing the hospital. It is helping patients and doctors decide when a hospital visit is actually necessary and when care can be safely managed closer to home.

Remote monitoring can reduce dependence on episodic care

Traditional cardiac care often works through periodic consultations. A patient may be assessed once every few weeks or months, with decisions based largely on what is observed during that particular visit.

Connected devices and remote monitoring can create a more continuous picture of a patient’s condition. ECG, blood pressure, heart rate and similar data can be collected remotely in the patient’s home and reviewed by clinicians.

If the patient is not near a cardiac centre, this could cut down on repeat visits and enable doctors to spot important changes earlier with the help of remote monitoring.

The value is not simply convenience. If remote monitoring helps identify deterioration before it becomes an emergency, it can potentially shift care from expensive acute intervention towards earlier management.

Telemedicine can bring specialists closer to smaller cities

India’s telemedicine infrastructure has made tremendous expansion as well. The portal, eSanjeevani, had over 493 million consultations and 240,000 healthcare providers enrolled till August 2026.

For heart treatment, teleconsultations offer good scope for consultations, second opinions, reviews and improved coordination between the primary-care doctors and the speciality team.

This does not mean every cardiac problem can be handled remotely. Acute symptoms and conditions requiring physical examination or intervention still require hospital care. But for appropriate cases, reducing unnecessary physical visits can lower both direct and indirect costs.

Digital diagnostics can strengthen care closer to the patient

Portable ECG devices, connected diagnostic equipment and point-of-care testing can help move basic cardiac assessment beyond tertiary hospitals.

This is important because affordability is also a geographical problem. Although a smaller town’s patient technically has access to healthcare, they still may need to be travel for several hours to access a specialist assessment.

Technology enables the information collected from a local test to reach a cardiologist in another part of the country and can thus create a bridge between primary or community-level care and the specialist doctor.

Health records can reduce duplication

Digital health records and interoperable systems can help patients carry their medical information across providers.

The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) is intended to build this kind of digital health infrastructure through interoperable health records and digital health identities.

The potential cost benefit is straightforward: better access to previous reports can reduce unnecessary repeat investigations, improve continuity and give doctors a clearer picture of a patient’s history.

However, interoperability needs to work in practice—not merely exist as a technical standard. Adoption by hospitals, doctors and patients will determine how much of this potential translates into savings.

Government schemes are building the foundation

Government initiatives such as Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY, Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres, eSanjeevani and the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) are already strengthening access to screening, treatment, telemedicine, financial protection and digital health infrastructure.

Collectively, these initiatives are helping to increase access and alleviate some of the financial and geographic barriers to healthcare. Yet gaps remain, especially in outpatient care, ongoing treatment and continuity of care, areas in which HealthTech and FinTech can support one another.

Where fintech enters the picture

Healthtech can make care more efficient, but it does not automatically make a large medical bill affordable.

This is where fintech can play a complementary role.

Healthcare financing platforms can help patients manage expenses through structured payment plans, medical credit, insurance-premium financing and other digital financial products. The broader health-financing market is already seeing demand for EMI-based solutions as medical and insurance costs rise.

For cardiac care, such models can be useful when a patient faces a significant expense that is medically necessary but difficult to pay in one instalment.

There is, however, an important distinction: financing a healthcare expense does not reduce the underlying cost of treatment. It changes how that cost is paid. The next stage of healthcare FinTech should therefore focus on combining affordability with transparency.

The next opportunity is prevention, not only payment

The greatest opportunity for the long term exists at the convergence of Health Tech, FinTech and prevention.

Managing a patient through the early detection of hypertension, offering the right course of treatment, and continuous monitoring by a healthcare provider may avoid some of the costs associated with late-stage disease.

This is why digital cardiac care should not be viewed simply as a technology upgrade for hospitals. A bigger purpose is to create a more distributed model of care, in which screening services are located closer to communities, and specialist care can be provided remotely.

India has already developed vital public infrastructure around insurance coverage, primary healthcare, telemedicine and digital health. The next challenge is connecting these systems more effectively.

Affordable cardiac care will ultimately require more than cheaper procedures. It will require earlier detection, continuous monitoring, stronger primary care, transparent pricing, wider insurance and responsible financial products.

HealthTech can help reduce the cost of delivering and accessing care. Fintech can help make unavoidable expenses more manageable, leading to an advanced and affordable healthcare system.