Are trust hospitals threatened with corporates on the prowl?

With the corporates making their presence felt in the healthcare sector, trust-based institutions feel threatened. Despite high patient turnover, they are resisting the entry of corporates in the hospital business. We’d asked our readers whether trust-based hospitals feel threatened in such a scenario. Here are some views...

‘Trust hospitals should not feel threatened’

Ram Nath Prasad
Hospital Administrator
Sankalp Hospitals Private Limited
Jamnagar
Gujarat

Despite high patient turnover, if trust hospitals resist the entry of corporates in the hospital business, they are overreacting. There is no reason for trust-based hospitals to be threatened by entry of corporates in the hospital business. There are following reasons for the same:

1. Both have different objectives. Trust hospitals aim to provide healthcare services to a wider section of people including the economically vulnerable ones at affordable rate. However, corporate hospitals do not have such objective. They are driven by commercial considerations with profit maximisation as the propelling force.

2. Both have different customer bases. Trust hospitals target patients belonging to lower or lower middle class. The target groups of corporate hospitals are upper class or upper middle class.

3. Trust hospitals provide services in primary, secondary and tertiary sectors and therefore are located at small as well as big centres. On the other hand, most of the corporate hospitals wish to operate in tertiary sector and therefore, prefer to be located in major cities/towns.

4. Their fee structures, too, are different. Fee structure is defined taking into account the paying capacity of the customers. The fee structure of trust hospitals has to be reasonable. It is not the case with corporate hospitals whose charges are generally high.

5. Commercial considerations are important for sustenance and growth of the hospitals but they alone do not dictate the running of trust hospitals. Trust hospitals have social objectives, too. Corporate hospitals are mainly driven by commercial considerations and they may or may not have defined social objectives.

6. For corporate hospitals, the service charge from the patients is the main source of income. In case of trust hospital, service charge collected from the patients is one of the source of the income. They are entitled for getting donation and it is a very important source of revenue for them.

7. Since trust hospitals are allowed to receive donations, the charity becomes one of the objectives for them. They have to treat 40 per cent of cases free of cost as per existing law. This is not the case with corporate hospitals. They are not obliged to do any charity.

In view of what is aforesaid, trust hospitals will never have dearth of patients. Patients will always flock to them. Therefore, they should not be afraid of corporate hospitals and instead should concentrate on service improvement.

‘There is no threat from corporates’

Dr Sujit Chatterjee
Senior medical consultant
Healthcare and Wellness Foundation
Mumbai

Corporate hospitals does not necessarily mean good healthcare. And there is no threat provided there is no complacence on part of the trust-based hospitals. They should not have the attitude of We have achieved everything, so there is no need to look inwards. Trustees and hospital management should be prudent and decide where the money should be invested. Entry of corporate hospitals in Mumbai can also promote healthy competition.

The advent of Internet has sparked off an ethical debate among the medical professionals on its use to further business. While a sizeable proportion of doctors stand opposed to advertising and publicity, the new generation medicos see no harm in utilising modern technology in their day to day practice. There is a wide consensus on the need to debate and redefine medical ethics. Express Healthcare Management welcomes opinions and comments on this momentous issue. Contributions can be sent at ehm@rediffmail.com by November 9, 2001.

Honourary, part-time teachers to increase in medical colleges
PTI - New Delhi

In a bid to meet the shortage of experienced faculties in medical profession, government has decided to extend the system of appointing honorary and part time teachers in medical colleges for another five years. A decision to this effect has been taken keeping in view the dearth of experienced teachers and the financial constraints faced by some of the colleges, Union health ministry sources said.

However, the sources said all the colleges and institutions had been asked to take possible steps to appoint teachers on regular basis as laid down in the minimum standards requirements for medical colleges. Some states like Maharashtra had desired extension of the scheme in view of paucity of experienced hands as also financial constraints in appointing regular teachers, the sources said.