It is not easy to standardise processes in the corporate hospital set-up, says Mr S. Premkumar, Group CEO, Apollo Hospitals. “It requires tremendous investment and years of experience,” he says. More from Mr Premkumar on the broad trends driving the industry….

There is a crying need for healthcare – especially private players. But there are only two national hospital chains. What explains this skew?

One cannot really compare hospitals with a McDonald's or Subway chain and say let's standardise the kitchen and menu. Yes, there is a crying need for more players without doubt. But there is significant amount of specialisation in the healthcare industry. There is an art and science behind it with respect to consultation, nursing, technology, experience that a patient and attendant go through. There is lot of customisation required even when you try to replicate the model elsewhere. We need to step-by-step and meticulously bring in standard processes, look-and-feel and culture. All this takes tremendous amount of investment and years of experience.

What broad trends do you see in this industry?

The broad trend is that there is greater amount of specialisation. On the other hand, there is a lot of effort today on preventive medicine. Apollo has done 6.5 million preventive check-ups. India is already the heart disease, diabetes and cancer capital. If you look at the kind of facilities available and the demand, India is woefully short. The one solution and biggest challenge is to have significant amount of presence in preventive care – through early screening, early diagnosis, lifestyle changes and wellness focus. It is ironic.

We are in the business of tertiary care but we have to be conscious of the fact that we don't want people to go for treatment.

You are looking at a 10,000 bed capacity by 2015. Where will you tap into for the requisite skills?

Look, we do not want to cannibalise from other hospitals in India, as that will not solve the doctor deficit in the country.

Reverse brain drain is a captive market to look at. With the global economy being down, there is a tremendous opportunity for Indian doctors to return. This will constitute a large portion of our hiring. We already see a steady trickle from the US, UK and Australia.

You have a significant presence in small towns through the Reach hospitals. Is affordability an issue here?

Often, affordability gets mixed up with value. Quality clinical care is priceless. We do not have a different pricing strategy in small towns. We are seeing demographics from lower strata coming to Apollo. It is a myth that some things are cheaper in some places and some hospitals. Insurance penetration is picking up slowly in tier 2 and 3 cities, especially state-funded insurance like in Tamil Nadu, which is driving affordability.

What are your plans for the overseas market?

We have information centres in Africa and West Asia. They are run by channel partners who have some connect with the community.

A healthcare facilitator at the centre will give information on various procedures, consultants, what arrangements will be made etc. These centres are present in malls or hospitals.

We are trying to expand this network and see if these centres can be used for primary consulting and remote consultation using technology (telemedicine).

We are also the operations service provider to help set up a hospital centre in Tanzania.

What about day-care centres?

We have day-care surgery centre. We also have centres for cosmetology and dental, besides sugar clinics. All these formats will be expanded.

We will also create newer formats in lifestyle-related areas. We are also looking at knee care. These centres need to be made good to create scale.

These centres have a smaller footprint but they act as referrals into the larger centres. With shorter turnaround and lesser capital, the break-even potential is huge.

>swethak@thehindu.co.in

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