‘Private teaching hospitals should provide low cost and quality healthcare’

Hospital administrators of 14 private medical colleges from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala gathered at Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute (MGMCRI) in Puducherry on Saturday to discuss the challenges in private teaching hospitals.

Speaking at the second annual conclave of hospital administrators ‘HACON 2017’, on the current challenges in private hospitals, Prashanth Rajagopalan, Turstee, Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, pointed out that cross subsidy of fees in private medical colleges to serve the public will not work for a long time. He added that only those medical college hospitals which run efficiently will survive.

He added that the private teaching hospitals should efficiently reorganise to provide low cost and high quality care.

Dayananda. M, Medical Superintendent and COO, Kasturba Hospital, stated that the annual payment revision for health schemes was not linked with inflation. “There is rise in volume of uncompensated care from schemes,” he said, adding that these issues need to be addressed.

He led the talk by discussing about the mandate for teaching hospitals, operational efficiency, human resources, statutory compliance and environment.

Chief Minister V. Naryanasamy’s speech was read out at the inaugural function, in which, he has stated that the government was very supportive of the private teaching medical institutes and these institutes face many challenges. “It is for this purpose that conferences like these are organised where the administrators from various institutes deliberate, brainstorm and find solutions to the challenges,” he noted.

Mr. Narayanasamy had underlined the fact that the unique distinction of Puducherry was that it had the most number of medical colleges and has one of the highest doctor-population ratios in India. “Women and child health is a special highlight of healthcare in Puducherry. Besides the government sponsored healthcare facilities, private sector has also brought several top end infrastructure facilities. The main aim of Puducherry health mission is to provide accessible, affordable and reliable health care especially to the poor and vulnerable sections of the society,” he said.