Private hospitals call for 'holistic approach' in health care

Top representatives of private hospitals, including Apollo, Medanta Medicity and Naryana Health, are advocating a holistic approach to ensure quality health care along with profitability of hospitals. This follows action against prominent hospital chains such as Max and Fortis.

 

Speaking at the CII health summit in the capital on Thursday, the top brass of these hospitals pressed for a regulation requiring doctors to get written consent from patients before administering any therapy or test so that there is transparency.

 

Devi Shetty, founder and chairman of Naryana Health, said while private hospitals were being questioned in case of a death, government hospitals got away with medical negligence. According to him, there are at least two deaths in government hospitals everyday.

 

The private sector, which comprises more than 80 per cent of the health care industry, functions with just 700,000 beds and efforts need to be made to add to the infrastructure, Shetty said. He also believes that if all states adopt the Clinical Establishment Act, there will be a shortage of health care facilities in tier-two and tier-three cities as most health care facilities have not maintained proper records.

 

These statements come at a time when the Indian Medical Association is talking about self-regulation and a “one drug-one company- one price policy” and ensure that hospital managements do not dictate what drug should be administered to the patient.

 

Apart from Shetty, Medanta Medicity founder Naresh Trehan and Apollo vice-chairperson Preetha Reddy were present at the conference.

 

The death of a seven-year old girl in Fortis hospital at Gurugram and a new born baby being declared dead by error triggered an uproar over the quality of service provided by private hospitals. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has also decided to investigate incidents related to overcharging patients.

 

The Union Health Ministry had also asked the Haryana government to investigate the Fortis case and submit a report. The Haryana government has already recommended a cancellation of licence. The committee that investigated the case has said that the hospital administered expensive drugs instead of prescribing generic medicines, according to reports.