From Scans to Care: AI Rewrites India’s Diagnostic Playbook

For years, the diagnostic journey in India has largely followed a predictable path: a patient books a test, provides a sample, receives a report, and takes it to a doctor. But diagnostic companies are increasingly looking at what happens before and after that report—using AI, automation, and longitudinal health data to make testing faster, more contextual, and continuous.

For Orange Health Labs, the shift starts within the diagnostic workflow itself, where the company is using technology to reduce sample waiting and transit times and AI to flag reports that may require clinical attention.

“Faster processing can be beneficial because blood begins to deteriorate once it leaves the body,” Tarun Bhambra, Co-founder of Orange Health Labs, tells AIM.

The company is treating its AI as a doctor-assistance layer. Reports are initially auto-approved, while abnormal parameters or potential concerns are flagged to doctors for review.

“AI is currently being used as a doctor-assistance tool rather than as an independent clinical decision-maker,” Dhruv Gupta, Co-founder of Orange Health Labs, comments.

Orange Health is also building a consumer layer that combines current test results with historical reports, pathologist remarks, and doctor context, with the longer-term ambition of creating a “digital twin” showing how an individual's health changes over time.

“Consumers should be able to measure their own health and maintain a holistic view as they age,” Bhambra explains.

That ambition reflects a wider shift in India's diagnostics market, which could grow from about $13 billion in FY23 to $25 billion by FY28, according to a report by Praxis Global Alliance. Pathology accounts for roughly 58% of the market, while the sector remains highly fragmented, with more than 1.3 lakh pathology laboratories.

The demand for monitoring is significant too. The ICMR-INDIAB study estimated India had 101 million people with diabetes, 136 million with prediabetes, and 315 million with hypertension.

The Health Journey

Healthtech startup Curelo approaches the same opportunity from the consumer side.

“Wherever you are getting tested, the journey will end on the PDF,” Dr Arpit Jayswal, Founder and CEO of Curelo, tells AIM. “The journey should start from the PDF.”

Curelo operates a marketplace connecting consumers with laboratories and has more than 450 labs and 4,000 tests, according to Jayswal. Its AI Smart Insights interprets laboratory reports, while its AI Health Assistant allows consumers to ask questions about their reports and symptoms.

The company says it has served around 4 lakh consumers and generated more than 10 million biomarkers, while its AI Health Assistant recorded more than 75,000 chats in a month.

Curelo is now developing a Bio-Age Index based on nine laboratory parameters and a biological timeline incorporating personal and family history. “We started with the treatment. Treatment is going to preventive, and now preventive care is going to be the continuous monitoring,” Jayswal remarks.

The company's proposed “longevity loop” follows that model: test, interpret, receive personalised guidance, retest, and compare results with the previous baseline.

Prevention is the Bigger Opportunity

The shift is also being supported by growing interest in preventive testing. Diagnostic chain Agilus Diagnostics reported that preventive health testing grew 30% year-on-year in 2025.

Orange Health's founders also reveal that preventive testing, which accounted for virtually none of the company's business during its first 18 months, has since grown to around 55% of its business. The average order value for preventive health had risen from around ₹1,000 to ₹2,500 and above.

The competition then becomes not just about the price point but also the speed of diagnosing individual tests. The bigger question is who can own the consumer's health journey after the test.

The market is already crowded, with established players such as Dr Lal PathLabs, Metropolis Healthcare, Agilus Diagnostics, Vijaya Diagnostics, and Krsnaa Diagnostics, alongside digital and home-collection players such as Healthians, Tata 1mg Labs, Redcliffe Labs, and Orange Health.

Data Advantage and Risk

The appeal of AI-led diagnostics is that a single report can contain dozens or hundreds of parameters, while their relevance varies from person to person.

Curelo is using personal history, family history, age, and previous biomarkers to determine which signals deserve greater attention. It prioritises identifying these markers rather than presenting consumers with an undifferentiated list of results.

Beyond the health data these systems ingest, bigger questions remain around clinical validation, privacy, and accountability.

There is also a distinction between explaining a result and making a medical recommendation. Orange Health's AI model flags potential concerns while leaving clinical decisions to doctors.

Curelo is also adapting an existing biological-age model based on the US and UK populations, using Indian demographic and laboratory data, with plans to develop its own IP around the model and protocols.

That raises another question for India's AI-health ecosystem: whether models trained or validated primarily on Western populations can accurately translate to Indian populations, where disease prevalence, metabolic profiles, lifestyles, and healthcare-seeking behaviour can differ.

The Future Diagnostic Platform

Curelo says more than half of its orders now come from repeat users.

Orange Health, meanwhile, has crossed a ₹200 crore annualised revenue run rate and said it is operationally breakeven at the overall company level while continuing to invest in technology, product and engineering.

Both companies are also moving beyond traditional pathology. Orange Health is entering radiology, with the founders saying around 30% of prescriptions come from key specialities including scans, while Curelo is building an AI layer above laboratories for comparison, interpretation, and longitudinal monitoring.

Orange Health estimates the broader health-measurement market at about $20 billion currently, potentially reaching $40 billion in six years. The company said this includes areas beyond pathology, including radiology and potentially devices.

The laboratory may remain the origin of diagnosis, but AI could increasingly become the interface through which consumers understand their health.