Association of Healthcare Providers India (AHPI), Indian Medical Association (IMA) and Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (PHANA) are now insisting that the Union Ministry of health should come out with comprehensive healthcare reforms that could protect doctors and at the same time enhance the quality of service to the patients, including improvements in accessibility and affordability.
Now the demand for long pending reforms in healthcare, comes in following the recent Supreme Court verdict on the Anuradha Saha case which awarded Rs. 5.96 crore along with an interest of six per cent for 15 years amounting to a total of Rs. 11 crore compensation to be paid by the Kolkata-based AMRI Hospital for medical negligence. The victim Anuradha Saha who succumbed to the treatment for rare skin disease in 1988 saw the Court consent for the compensation to be paid to Kunal Saha, her husband who is also a doctor.
The SC order has now sent ripples across the Indian healthcare sector, said Dr Devi Prasad Shetty, chairman, Narayana Hrudayalaya Group of Hospitals adding that India has a First World Regulatory Structure with Third World Infrastructure.
AHPI is the first healthcare body in India expressing its views after the Supreme Court verdict. “Government of India wants the private sector to promote medical tourism to earn foreign exchange. Over the years, the country has emerged as one of the largest destinations to attract international patients for healthcare. Without capping the malpractice compensation, Indian healthcare providers are at risk of foreign exchange fluctuations. With the current legal structure, a US patient from Kansas or Colorado receives higher medical compensation in India than the US,” pointed out Dr Girdhar Gyani, director-general, AHPI at a press conclave here.
“Now US malpractice compensation commenced on similar lines that of the India. However, it soon realized the mistake and several states of US began capping the compensation amount. For instance, Kansas or Colorado compensation amount in the current rupee value would be around Rs. 1.50 crore, which is far lower compared to the SC order,” noted Dr Gyani.
“Massive compensation would enhance healthcare cost and insurance premium for malpractice coverage will increase exponentially. Ultimately the cost of healthcare would be unaffordable to the poor patients. Moreover doctors do not intend to harm patients. The high monetary compensations would only create insecurity among doctors and affect the capability medical practice,” he added.