A new study found that three-fourths of all the healthcare spending in India happens at hospitals owned by corporations. Further the growth of private hospitals has also been inequitable, with more than a third of all hospitals present in the large Metros and Tier I cities.
This leaves two problems (opportunities?) in India today. First is that the vast majority of its 1.2 billion citizens don’t have access to anything beyond the most basic healthcare facilities. Second that even in the Tier 2 and 3 towns and cities, not much is available in the form of high quality care.
The study points to some public-private partnerships as example of how to broaden the reach of citizens covered by healthcare. A few illustrations in the health sector include the Urban Slum Healthcare Project in Andhra Pradesh which is a partnership between State Commissionerate of Family Welfare and NGOs. Another is outsourcing emergency transport services in 14 states in the country where state governments are in partnership with private providers such as EMRI and Ziquitsa. Further there has been the practice of contracting management of PHCs and CHCs to NGOs in Karnataka and Gujarat. GE Healthcare too has partnered with public hospitals to set up diagnostic centers within the hospital.
