Future of Healthcare Insight 2011

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Future of healthcare-Indian PerspectiveDr. R. B. Smarta

As a society, we are living longer and better than anytime in the history which is partly attributed toadvanced medicines. The direction health care will take in the future has been articulated by the author in

this article. It mentions about increasingly prominent role of new, innovative medicines and healthcareproviders along with shift towards integrated (holistic) medicines.

he coming decade will shape the future Health has become a central concern inof the healthcare industry. While clinics development, both as a contributor to, and as anTand hospitals will continue to be the indicator of, sustainable development. While

mainstay of treatment for acute episodic care, health is a value in its own right, it is also key tothere will be a fundamental shift in the nature, productivity. Many lifestyle related diseasesmode, and means of delivery of care. Family like diabetes, obesity, CVD, etc have had a

physicians, specialists, and super specialists significant impact on economic growth andwill clarify their roles for patients, and the development. For the first time, meetings of theclassification of healthcare into primary, Security Council, the G-8, the World Economicsecondary, and tertiary will provide clarity for Forum, and the Organization for Economicpatients looking for care givers. Cooperation and Development, and the follow-

up to major international conferences, haveSpecialty centers, retail clinics, diagnostic explicitly addressed health issues that requirecenters, and wellness centers will proliferate attention as development or security issues.with simplified processes. Owing tocompetition, they will improve their quality, The health sector itself is changing. Forservice, and convenience for patients. With the example, some health systems are morerise in lifestyle and associated diseases, oriented to the needs of poor people, givepreventive and chronic care will come to greater att ention to promoting healthacquire distinct importance for a sector of the throughout the lifespan, provide redress inpopulation and will play a major role in equities in health status, show heightenedaddressing patients' needs. concern for quality, measure performance, and

are attempting to close the gap in researchThe need for developing new financing capacity between developed and developingschemes and partnership modes to make countries.healthcare more accessible and affordable willbe the key issue as the cost incurred by patients Scenario:

is increasing at a very rapid rate. This As you consider the development of healthcaretransformation will be essential for Indian in India at the macro and micro level, you willpatients. find Primary Health Centers, District

INSIGHTS FOR BUSINESS RESEARCHKnowledge +

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Hospi tal s, Single Specia lty Hospit als , integrated healthcare provider will be able toMultispecialty Hospitals, Academic Medical negotiate contracts with insurance companiesCenters are available to treat patients. and equipment vendors.Considerable improvements need to be made at

every level, right from availability of medical Shaping the Indian Healthcare Systeminfrastructure to medicines and advisory ?Family Physicians will be at the forefront ofservices for a common man of India. Primary care and will network with specialists

and super specialists, in hospitals or outside.O b v i o u s l y , N G O ' s , o r g a n i z e d ?Specialists and super specialists will practiceproviders/technology providers, physician on direct patient foot falls throughgroups as well as patient groups can deploy recommendations of Family Physicians andtheir strengths to make these practices work hospital acquired patients.adequately and economically. With the advent ?Medical Academics will get amended as perof national schemes like the Rashtriya Swastya advances and will work on a platform ofBima Yojana (RSBY), the Government is Intellectual Property Rights - right from

increasingly taking on the role of an insurer, molecule selection to molecule development atproviding a substantial patient base for private lab level.providers. ?Entrepreneurs will work for mid-sized and big

size firms dealing with Biotechnology,Over the years, most healthcare providers have nanotechnology, and other drug deliverydeveloped keeping in mind the metro markets. systems.However, at present, metros with developed ?Integrated healthcare delivery models willhealthcare infrastructure and increasing have to be developed around the core 'hospital'competition have reached a saturation level businessserving a certain socio-economic segment of ?A broad spectrum of services across the value

the population. Healthcare providers have now chain will have to be offered in the most cost-started realizing that they cannot serve all effective mannersegments of the population through high-cost ?Hospitals will have high volume and highstructures. margin specialty services.To serve different consumer segments such as ?Out-patient services will be an integrallower middle income, urban poor and rural component of the healthcare system to increasepopulation, they need to develop low-cost attractiveness to patientshealthcare delivery models. Low capital ?There will be an increase in ability to negotiateintensive models will ensure viability of the service contracts with purchasers of groupproject and expand the healthcare providers' health care servicesreach in different geographies and consumer ?Advanced health information technology will

segments. Some hotel brands such as Taj are have to be implemented to improve the qualityoperating luxury as well as budget hotels and convenience of services(Ginger), thus serving different consumer ?Various measures will have to be planned likesegments with appropriate services. group purchasing, support sharing, etc in order

to achieve cost savings and price efficienciesTraditionally, healthcare providers have beenoffering in-patient services in the geographiesthey serve. With the evolving healthcaremarketplace, major organized healthcareproviders operating in tertiary care space, such

as Apollo Hospitals and Fortis Healthcare, arediversifying from their core hospital business toinclude retail pharmacies, clinics, and otherservices to serve patients better and to achieveeconomies of scale. With increasingaccessibility to insurance and rising consumerawareness, healthcare providers will offer anentire gamut of services across the value chain,including primary, secondary, and tertiaryservices to attract patients into the healthcare Medicines usually provide normalcy fromsystem right from the entry point. sickness to health while the shift to healthcare

provides multitude of services to take care ofThe primary and secondary healthcare formats health right from preventing it to improve lifewill act as feeders to tertiary care hospitals. The quality.

Primary- Secondary tertiary care

Urban

Rural delivery

(Health care structure)

Normalcy

SustainableHealth


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(Pharma)

Pharma to Healthcare shift


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Shift to integrated (holistic) medicinesIntegrated medicine is a new paradigm in healthcare that focuses on the synergy anddeployment of the best aspects of diverse

systems of medicine including modernmedicine, Homeopathy, Siddha, Unani, Yoga,and Naturopathy in the best interest of thepatients and the community.The increasing public demand for traditionalmedicines has led to considerable interestamong policy-makers, health administrators,and medical doctors regarding the possibilitiesof bringing together traditional and modernmedicine. Traditional medicine looks at health, Issues related to healthcare:disease, and causes of diseases in a different With a speedy growth of healthcare domain,

way. The integration of traditional medicine number of issues are expected to crop up in thewith modern medicine may imply the future.incorporation of traditional medicine into the Issues for Medical professionals are:general health service system. The purpose of 1.Exponential growth of knowledge-medicalintegrated medicine is not simply to yield a knowledge is growing exponentially and as abetter understanding of differing practices, but result, medical professionals will struggle toprimarily to promote the best care for patients keep up to an even greater degree than they areby intelligently selecting the best route to health today.and wellness. 2.Speed of practicing new knowledge-At

present, patients may receive the most up-to-

Surveys and other sources of evidence indicate date treatment only 50% of the time. In thethat traditional medical practices are frequently future, because of the rapid discovery of newutilized in the management of chronic diseases. medical knowledge, the prime focus in theTraditional medicine presents a low-cost medical community will be how to ingest andalternative for rural and semi-urban areas where incorporate this new knowledge into practice.modern medicine is inaccessible. 3.Skills specialization-Hyper growth in

knowledge and new medical discoveries meansAn approach to harmonizing activities between that every medical profession is becoming moremodern and traditional medicine will promote a specialized, leading to a greater degree ofclearer understanding of the strengths and niche-oriented medical skills than we see today.weaknesses of each and will encourage the 4. Medical Talent -Skills specialization results

provision of the best therapeutic option for in challenges. Issue of capturing and retainingpatients. the medical talent will be a global issue.

Advantages of Integrated Medicine Issues for industry are:?Provides the widest array of options to 1.Cost cutting-It will become the focus. With

patients (One in three adults in the United States the industry in a state of perpetual crisis due toused at least one complementary or alternative skill shortages, discovery of new medicalmedical therapy (CAM) knowledge and unprecedented demand from?Provides an opportunity to combine the 'best' aging baby boomers, health care institutions

of both co nven ti onal me di ci ne an d will focus on trying to aggressively rip cost out

complementary alternative medicine. of the system. Re-engineering of processes andmethodology come to the forefront within the?Provides cost-effective treatment options system.?Results in better patient outcomes, measured

in terms of symptom relief, functional status, Issues for patients are:and patient satisfaction 1.Difficult philosophical and ethical?Focuses on holistic health and well-being questions will pay a role in administrative

Technology is seen as one of the three important decisions. ethics will get focused and createdrivers of increasing healthcare accessibility. conflicts between philosophical way of treatingSelect ion and adoption of appropriate patients and ethically practicing it. as insurancetechnology often make a critical difference in grows and patient power spreads, patients will

the success of healthcare reform and question Ethics and demand Ethics inreengineering, and it has the capability to managing them by medical professionals forrevolutionize the way healthcare is delivered. their better health.


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3%7%

19%

71%

Modern

Medicine

Ayurveda

Homeopathy

Unani &

Siddha

Yoga &

Naturopathy

Components of Integrated Medicine


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2.Bio-connectivity becomes the next big infected), trypanosomiasis or sleeping sicknessthing -A new generation of intelligent, Internet- (over 55 million people threatened), andconnected medical devices are and will Chagas disease (up to 18 million peoplecontinue to flood the industry, providing new infected in Latin America).

opportunities for monitoring and managementof difficult health-care conditions Origin of Many health problems will continue3.Generational attitude transforms the to be one of the following:system-The entrance of Gen-Y-kids who in 1. Pollution, noise, over crowded housing,2005 are aged 15 -into the health-care system- 2. Inadequate waterwill bring a flood of new ideas, innovation, and 3.Sanitation, improper waste disposal ,new ways of thinking into the health-care chemical contamination, poisoningsystem, helping to break some of the 4. Physical hazards associated with the growthorganizational sclerosis that has clogged up the of densely populated cities.opportunity for change in the world of health 5. Lack of basic health services provided bycare. many municipal and local governments

6. Globalization of trade, travel, and cultureIssues for healthcare are: due to mass migration of people, increased1.Hospitals get de-physical-Tomorrow, trade in services and products harmful to healthhealth-care institution will be defined by the and the environment, spread of communicablereach of its virtual network and not through its diseases like TBconstituent parts and the hospital will be 7. Direct and indirect health consequences ofthought of as the extended community network the application of biotechnology in foodby which a good portion of its services will be productionprovided. 8. Growing trade in food can also contribute to2. Rule of home health care and caregivers an increased dissemination of food-borne

dominate the agenda-With the emergence of disease.bio-connectivity and the increase in the virtualreach of hospitals, home health care will come The promotion of international food safetyto dominate a huge part of the health care standards and guidelines is likely to promoteindustry. There will be less focus on critical care health and trade in both developed andhealth care beds and more focus on developing countries.opportunities to re-engineer the system throughfamily and caregiver involvement in the home The number of people over the age of 65 iscontext, with bio-connectivity playing a major likely to reach 10 per cent of the globalrole. population by 2025, and increases of up to 300

per cent in the older population are expected in

Major Diseases some developing countries.Six major diseases currently cause 90 percent ofthe deaths from communicable diseases: Consequently, the portion of the global diseaseHIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, pneumonia, burden attributable to mental and neurologicaldiarrhoeal diseases, and measles. In addition, disorders and substance abuse is expected toseveral parasitic conditions continue to cause rise significantly. Health systems will need toconsiderable morbid ity and disabi lity: be reoriented to deal with chronic diseasesschistosomiasis (over 200 million people requiring long-term care, which endanger theinfected), lymphatic filariasis (120 million financial sustainability of health care systems inpeople affected), trachoma (over 150 million general.

Dr. R. B. Smarta, Founder Director of IMC, has over 40 years of experience in the industry including 25 yearsin management and strategy consulting. Being a thought leader, he has helped number of organizations set upand grow through strategy planning, corporate mentoring, improving sales and marketing effectiveness andOD interventions.


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Future of Healthcare Insight 2011

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