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Reboot, rethink, and realign in 2021

Our march toward scientific innovation and build up to a strong economy was massively halted in 2020, a year which was dreadful, distressing and presented an enormous challenge to the healthcare delivery system. COVID 19 has been undoubtedly the most cataclysmic public health emergency in the last century. One of the crucial elements that have taken the spotlight hereon is access to quality healthcare. And given the current situation, it has left healthcare providers redefining their processes with the help of technology and even the government to review existing healthcare infrastructure of the country. It is the lessons learnt from this crisis that will hold us in good stead as we rethink our policies in the coming years, in the realm of health sector.

The intrinsic capacities of our robust science and technology infrastructure network was undeniable, at the peak of the pandemic, India was testing 14 to 15 lakh samples every day. This speaks highly about the frontline workers and scientific research institutes, private and public hospitals which all came together at a time when mankind needed a panacea to restart life again, albeit safely. Although the initial phase of the pandemic has been thwarted and we are ready with the first dosage of vaccine, still the Indian Healthcare Industry demands, larger allocation to cover expenditure towards training, protective equipment, infrastructural changes and compensate for the losses that have been incurred during the lockdown. While it is clear that the government works with the best of intentions at heart, attempts to cap fees for various hospital procedures and bed charges are seen to be counterproductive. Fee caps are not sustainable for private hospitals. Government must ensure faster payments for treatments under government schemes; speedy TPA claims’ settlement and faster claims’ settlement of COVID patients; GST rate reduction on COVID-19-related supplies such as testing kits, drugs, and consumables; faster GST refund to manufacturers on accumulated tax credit.

There is an urgent need to invest into public health, logistics, technology, equipment, consumables, R&D, and most importantly healthcare workers. Medical equipment like ventilators, high flow nasal oxygen (HFNO) needs to be manufactured in India, in order to be Aatmanirbhar in real sense.

With OPDs restarting and life coming spinning back to near normal, there will be tsunami of patients coming to the hospital along with COVID patients. More patients may come in at serious/advanced stage due to delay in seeking care. This can lead to a huge catastrophe in the healthcare system. There will be a surge in cancer patients, heart, gastro and psychological issues.

Superspecialty and tertiary care hospitals need to change their designs to adapt to the changing dynamics of hospital infrastructure. We at Medica have successfully changed the internal layouts of the hospital for close to an year by now. We focused on creating a safe hospital that treats both non-COVID and COVID patients equally well while following stringent infection control measures. The roadmap for 2021 will be more holistic; hospitals must be sectoral and should be vertically split into infectious prone area and non- infectious zone. Medica Group of Hospitals have successfully treated both COVID and non-COVID patients while working closely with government agencies and also ensuring staff safety at all costs. This is happening as we maintain safety protocols across all levels with our stringent infection control processes and continuous training and supervision. With businesses seeking to repair, rethink, and eventually reboot, accelerating digital enablement has become a strategic priority. We are prioritizing the non-COVID admissions into the hospital and easing the operations around them by extending a single point of contact.

Going forward, we have to rely and invest on technology, teleconsultations and digital way of operations. We will have to focus on schemes like financial inclusion as well as strengthening last-mile delivery in healthcare services. These together will lay the foundation for sustained growth, expansion plans and opening up of opportunities for private investment.

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