Healthcare has been a hot topic all over the world, especially with the current healthcare bill recently passing in the United States. The U.S. however is not the only country that is undergoing a change in healthcare. India has been making a few changes to their healthcare system as well, only in a totally different fashion. Fortis Healthcare Ltd. has been expanding their private hospital system so that the people of India can receive better care. There are a few major issues with the current public healthcare system in India that include:
· Public healthcare centers are low on funds or have no money at all .
· Due to the lack of funds, the clinics are often grungy and dingy.
· Also due to the lack of money , the clinics are understaffed, making citizens wait an extreme sum of time to receive their care.
· Even with the increase of private hospitals, the patient to doctor ratio is very high. There are only .06 doctors for every 1,000 patients.
Another large issue in India’s healthcare system is that currently, only 12% of the residents have health insurance that enables them to afford private care, such as that offered by Fortis. Fortunately , that looks like it is changing, as the number of people who have health insurance is increasing 40% every single year. This implies that over the next few years , more people will be able to stop going to public clinics and will be able to receive their healthcare in the private sector.
One of the main reasons why there aren’t enough doctors in India is because there is a lack of medical schools to train future doctors . Many citizens who are hopeful of becoming a doctor end up going to school in another country and then end up staying there. With more private hospitals popping up, it does look like the changes that are being made are positive changes.
Fortis has listened to the people of India when they said that they wanted cleaner healthcare with more options. Private hospitals seem to be the new market healthcare niche in India.