Doctors: Keeping healthcare costs affordable is the need of the hour

Hyderabad: Highlighting the importance of keeping costs of healthcare affordable, experts participating in the 8th International Patient Safety Conference in the city pointed out the need to reduce cost of healthcare through innovation and by leveraging technology. They also stressed upon the role of insurance coverage and accreditation in improving quality of services.

The panel also talked about out how the challenges of increasing patient load can be dealt with by use of technology. PMJAY and National Health Agency chief executive officer (CEO) Dr Indu Bhushan said that the Centre is soon going to launch a challenge inviting start-ups and companies to showcase their innovation that can expand the Ayushman Bharat scheme. The top seven innovations will be rewarded and included in the scheme.

Stressing that accreditation of healthcare facilities go a long way in improving patient care, National Accreditation Broad for Hospitals and Healthcare providers (NABH) CEO, Dr Harish Nadkarni, said: “It is required to accommodate various types of healthcare units, accommodate various types of healthcare practices and still bring then into a uniform quality system, which will be beneficial for them. A balance has to be struck between maximum and minimum standards. If the bar is too high, everybody will touch and fall and if the bar is too low everybody will hang on to it. Therefore accreditation requires to produce a structure wherein organisations can progress.”

Speaking on the use of technology, chairman of Apollo Hospitals Group, Dr Prathap C Reddy state that, with modern techniques and artificial intelligence taking centre-stage, one must keep abreast of the latest developments in order to harness these advances to provide patients the best of services.