AI, genomics and future of cardiac innovation in India’s health care economy
This article is authored by Dr Prathap C Reddy, founder & chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group.
Cardiovascular disease remains India’s most formidable health challenge with its escalating prevalence leading to increased morbidity, premature deaths, and high healthcare expenditures. Compared to the West, cardiovascular diseases affect Indians at least a decade earlier and impact them during the most productive midlife period. The challenge we face today is to address this successfully and unlock a healthier, more productive nation.
Technology has provided us with transformative tools. Artificial Intelligence (AI) can spot risk signals that the human eye misses. Genomics can identify who is predisposed to disease and who will respond best to a given therapy. Together, AI and genomics can change the arc of cardiac care from late rescue to early prediction and prevention even before the first signs of disease in the body. This is exactly the pivot India’s health care economy needs. Evidence from our own network shows this shift is not theoretical; it is already improving outcomes today.
Silent disease is common in India. Our latest Health of the Nation findings show many asymptomatic Indians carry early atherosclerotic plaque. Among those screened, one in five men and one in five women had coronary calcium deposits without symptoms; in men, around one in ten already had obstructive disease--again, without warning signs. With so many lives at risk even before the first symptom, predictive tools can be game-changing.
AI is already delivering measurable impact inside hospitals. At Apollo, our Connected Care platform provides real-time, rapid-response monitoring of patients in the ward and triggers rapid-response teams at the first hint of deterioration. In centres where it runs at scale, unexpected code blue emergencies have dropped sharply by 80%. This is proactive medicine at its best - fewer crashes, earlier escalations, safer care. It is also good economics as every averted complication saves lives and costs.
Scale and reach matter, and India’s digital rails can carry these innovations beyond big cities. Our Clinical Intelligence Engine, co-developed on Google Cloud infrastructure, keeps patient data secure while using large language models to guide “next best actions” during consultations. That same backbone powers Apollo 24|7’s growing platform, which today serves tens of millions of registered users, showing that digital, AI-enabled care can operate at national scale. In cardiac care, we have already deployed an AI-driven prediction and prevention program, AI-CVD, across our network, signalling how clinical AI can embed into day-to-day cardiology.
On the frontlines, Dr. Brajesh Kunwar, senior consultant interventional cardiologist, Apollo Hospitals, Navi Mumbai explains how AI is changing diagnosis. In radiology, AI flags early stroke on CT, micro-calcifications on mammograms, and even polyps during colonoscopy that the human eye might miss. Doctors are supported by a Clinical Intelligence Engine that suggests likely diagnoses, tests and next steps. And we are seeing AI models that read a routine ECG or even a chest X-ray and predict future cardiac risk. Global studies show that AI-ECG models can detect structural heart disease and abnormal filling pressures, and deep-learning from chest X-rays can estimate 10-year major cardiovascular event risk. Genomics adds a second, powerful layer. Polygenic risk scores (PRS) for coronary artery disease, coupled with clinical risk, can identify young people at high lifetime risk who might otherwise be missed by conventional calculators. This can help identify individuals at high risk for cardiovascular disease, followed by risk factor assessment and targeted prevention.
Dr Sanjeevkumar Kalkekar, senior consultant interventional cardiology, Structural Heart Disease, Rhythm Disorder Specialist & Valve Expert, Apollo Hospitals, Navi Mumbai highlights the speedbumps to be navigated with costs still a hurdle. Advanced genomic panels and AI monitoring are not yet affordable for every family. Accessibility is the second challenge with 60% of hospitals and 80% of doctors are in urban centres, leaving many rural districts underserved. Finally comes training for the thousands of clinicians who need hands-on exposure to AI tools and continuous updates. However, all these are solvable problems if we act with intent.
Policy and industry must move together. AI-enabled screening must be integrated into public health, whether through chest-X-ray opportunistic risk scoring in district hospitals or AI-ECG triage in primary care, to catch high-risk people early. Pricing pathways must protect patients while rewarding innovation. We also must invest in people. India needs a national upskilling programme in clinical AI and genomics for residents, nurses, and paramedics, embedded in medical curricula and CME. In our own network we are standardising AI assurance, integrating co-pilots into EMRs, and partnering with technology leaders to strengthen cardiovascular risk tools that track outcomes such as mortality, ICU readmissions and length of stay.
If we can align incentives around earlier detection, smarter triage, and personalised prevention, the payoff will be beneficial at the national level. Fewer admissions for heart failure, fewer catastrophic events in the most productive years of life, and a stronger, more resilient workforce. This is the essence of a healthy health care economy--investing in risk prediction and prevention to save lives as well as far greater costs in the long run. The convergence of AI and genomics gives India a chance to lead in cardiac innovation not just for our own people, but for the world. The task now is to execute with speed, equity, and trust.
This article is authored by Dr Prathap C Reddy, founder & chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group.
