It’s late evening in a small Indian town. The main hospital has shut down for the day. A middle-aged man feels discomfort in the chest. The nearest cardiologist? About 70 kilometres away. But luckily, the local clinic has recently started using an AI-powered tool that helps interpret ECGs and raises alerts for risky cases.
Within minutes, the doctor runs the test. The AI system flags a possible cardiac emergency. The patient is stabilised, transport is arranged, and what could have been a tragedy is avoided.
It may seem like a small incident. But stories like these are quietly reshaping healthcare in India’s interiors. And driving much of this change are small and medium healthcare enterprises (SMEs) — the clinics, labs, telemedicine startups, and community health centres that often step in where big hospitals simply can’t.
The healthcare SMEs
India’s healthcare system is not about private hospitals and urban healthtech giants who often dominate the headlines; it’s the countless small setups — from clinics in small towns to diagnostics labs in villages — that are holding things together, especially for people in underserved areas.
These SMEs provide nearly 80 per cent of outpatient care and are critical for diagnostics and pharmacy services. They’re nimble, closer to the community, and accessible. But they’re also stretched — short on resources, technology, and sometimes trained staff.
This is where Artificial Intelligence (AI) is starting to make a difference.
AI on the ground — Less hype, more help
AI in healthcare can sound like the latest tech fad — until you see how it’s playing out in the real world. A recent Nasscom report shows healthcare is among the top sectors where AI solutions are making early inroads. And it’s not just the big corporate hospitals — even SMEs in tier-2 and tier-3 towns are finding AI useful.
It’s not about replacing doctors — far from it. But AI lends a hand in critical ways, e.g.:
• Tools that help interpret X-rays, ECGs, or blood reports when specialists are not around.
• Analytics that flag high-risk patients early — for example, a woman in a small clinic whose check-up hints at early diabetes and intervention can help a lot.
• Virtual assistants that handle basic patient queries, saving staff time and where access to a specialist is difficult.
• Admin tasks like data entry and scheduling that run automatically in the background.
As a doctor running a small clinic outside Bangalore puts it: “AI doesn’t replace what I do — but it helps spot things I could miss, especially when I’m stretched thin.”
While the potential is clear, adoption depends heavily on trust — especially among doctors and healthcare workers. The Centre of Excellence (CoE) for AI & IoT, set up by MeitY, states and Nasscom, plays a crucial role here.
The CoE incubates and supports healthtech startups and SMEs to responsibly build, test, and validate AI tools. It helps them access clinical partnerships, understand regulatory frameworks, and use more local data — so these AI systems are fine-tuned for Indian conditions.
The bigger picture for India
For millions of Indians, quality healthcare still means long travel or waiting for specialists who may never arrive. But AI — in the hands of SMEs — is starting to chip away at that barrier.
Affordable, cloud-based AI tools mean that even a modest clinic or lab can access technology that was previously out of reach. It’s not a magic fix, but it gives doctors and staff working on the ground a much-needed edge.
But let’s be real — There are hurdles
Of course, AI isn’t spreading overnight. Only about 22 per cent of healthcare SMEs have started trying AI tools, says the report. Many people are unaware that such tools even exist. Others are worried about data privacy, unclear rules, or whether they can afford it.
The IndiaAI Mission is aimed at creating awareness drives, trial programs, simplified tech, and support for SMEs. We now have (and are enhancing it):
- Policies that make AI use safe, transparent, and practical.
- Health data platforms with strict privacy protections.
- Simple awareness programs to explain how AI helps — and its limits.
- Public-private partnerships to make AI tools affordable for small setups.
So next time, just a routine check-up of a farmer (perhaps driven by Govt. insurance trigger) who never had an ECG in his life, or a boy with persistent fever, AI might quietly help spot a risky heart or dengue, respectively, thus speed up a diagnosis, and of course lighten the load on overworked staff.
India’s healthcare system is complex. But empowering SMEs with AI is not about grand tech promises. It’s about small, real-world steps that improve care — especially where it’s needed most.
(Authored by Navratan Katariya, Director, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, MeitY nasscom CoE)
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of Buzz.
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