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India should implement a unified healthcare programme linking the Unique Identity (UID) or Aadhaar scheme. It also needs a shift in focus from hospital centric models to empowering patients, according to Ms Sangita Reddy, Executive Director — Operations Apollo Group of Hospitals
In an interview to Business Line , Ms Reddy said that in order to reduce the life-cycle cost of healthcare, India should focus on preventive healthcare (such as sanitation, immunisation and so on). While this would reduce the overall burden, creation of a health record will offer more effective insurance opportunities to the consumer.
“Take preventive measures and let them be insured. Then you put the onus on private sector healthcare to be effective and efficient,” she said.
The argument is centred on the fact that while private sector healthcare is often criticised to be prohibitively costly, in reality the “base cost” of treatment in government-run institutions are no less. The anomaly, she feels, does not come to light due to high subsidies in government-run institutions.
“The base cost of by-pass surgery in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is higher than some reputed private hospitals, in Delhi,” Ms Reddy said.
According to Ms Reddy, inclusion of heath status of the population in the UID will be a right step in this direction. “I have already spoken to Mr Nandan Nilekeni (chairman of the UID Authority of India). However, they are now focussed to complete the existing mandate,” she said. She was, however, optimistic that the proposal will gain priority in the days to come.
Patient-centric model
For treatment of major ailments, Ms Reddy suggests a shift in focus of the healthcare model from hospitals to empowering patients. She banks on information technology and social media to establish the shift.
According to her, tele-medicine would be a leap forward in this direction. “Look at any outpatient department in any hospital. A large percentage of them (60 per cent in case of Apollo) are travelling from outside. Can we set up hubs of health points through video-conferencing? Can we empower the local doctor and connect them in a knowledge sharing programme, so that significant share of that knowledge be shared with the patient?” Ms Reddy said.
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