Wharton scouts for healthcare, insurance research tie-ups

Wharton School’s healthcare management department is exploring research tie-ups with Indian institutes in the healthcare and insurance sectors.

Healthcare is something that has taken-off in the last five years. “Wharton needs to get smart about India and needs to bring what is relevant to India. The country developing its healthcare and insurance arrangements is of interest to us,” says Patricia M Danzon, Celia Z Moh Professor of HealthCare Management, Insurance and Risk Management.

The department plans to collaborate with researchers in India — which has a strong pharmaceutical industry — and explore the designing of healthcare systems while studying the impact of the regulation of the pharmaceutical industry and related subjects.

 

“The product sector, particularly the generic sector, is very strong in India. Likewise are the outsourcing capabilities. India is becoming the place for activities in pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. It will be very interesting to see what sort of model India develops,” says Danzon.

The school is also exploring courses on global supply chain management and logistics, microfinance and project finance with Indian institutes.

“We are open to relationships and partnership with other institutes. Also, we have been holding executive education programmes in India. We can always partner and rent space in India to conduct such programmes,” says Anjani Jain,Vice Dean and Director, Wharton Graduate Division.

Wharton plans to learn from India as well as teach India. “I think the research expertise that we have is about how the design of those healthcare services affects the availability of quality and prices. It is something that we thought could be brought through researchers in India,” adds Danzon.

India’s healthcare industry, which comprises hospital and allied sectors, is projected to grow 23 per cent a year to touch $77 billion by 2012 from the current estimated size of $35 billion, according to a Yes Bank and an industry body report published in November 2009. The sector registered a growth of 9.3 per cent between 2000-2009, comparable to the sectoral growth rate of other emerging economies such as China, Brazil and Mexico.

The growth in the sector, indicates the report, will be driven by healthcare facilities, both private and public sectors, medical diagnostic and pathology labs and the medical insurance sector. While diagnostics will contribute $2.5 billion to the healthcare industry by 2012, public and private healthcare facilities will account for another $ 6.7 billion during this period.