08/11/2021 - Health | Mainstorming

IAS Parliament 3 years

KEY POINTS

· The role of the government hospitals has been crucial in this pandemic, and they rose to the occasion admirably.

· However, the pandemic has also brought private health providers under scrutiny. Though they may be efficient and possess the latest technology, there are questions about affordability and, in certain instances, even ethics.

· The substantial investment for these hospitals is the infrastructure. The land and building in cities like Chennai are the primary reason for the prohibitive cost of private health providers.

· As a first step, the government provides the fundamental infrastructure, the land, buildings, and essential equipment.

· Then the supporting staff, nurses, and administrators, including high-level administration, for running the hospital can be subcontracted, as has been done for the conservancy work of Chennai Corporation.

· the requirement for regular lab tests such as blood tests, ECG, X-rays, etc., can be allocated to an accredited laboratory.

· Finally, specialised equipment such as CT-scan, MRI, etc., can be run by another set of private professionals who are not paid by the government but by the patient for the services rendered.

· The patient is the “customer” in this “business model” and pays reasonable rent to the government for all the infrastructures used, pays the service providers and the treating doctors.