NATHEALTH, the Healthcare Federation of India, has chalked out an aggressive game plan to bring to the fore funding, technology and infrastructure to bridge the skill gap and encourage innovation. The creation of a government corpus is also on the cards to boost development of both infrastructure and technology.

The Federation is now working to ensure an inclusive engagement of all stake holders covering not just corporate hospitals, but small-medium sized private healthcare providers, nursing homes, medical device industry, insurance sector to create a robust healthcare delivery system.

“The need of the hour is easy accessibility and affordability. Now in order to achieve this, we need to enable an environment to fund long-term growth, optimise healthcare infrastructure, put in place the talent pools and drive innovation. This is where we are seen to head in the right direction”, Anjan Bose, secretary general NATHEALTH told Pharmabiz.

At the sidelines of the 3rd Governing Council Meeting at Columbia Asia Referral Hospital, Bengaluru, Bose said that healthcare was a sector that needed to achieve more growth. As the largest employer of human resources, the sector was sitting on a time-triggered explosion as there was a huge skill gap. Even if there were medical experts and the infrastructure, there was need for nurses paramedics and medical device technicians among other related support staff. This has also led a reluctance among several global players to invest in India, he added.

In this regard, NATH has now teamed up with NASSCOM the apex body of the information technology sector to drive its initiatives. It has collaborated with Manipal Education and Medical Group, Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune NIIT and global human resources companies. The intent is to reduce the skill gap and mould talent to enable the healthcare get to its next phase of growth.

“Big changes are on the horizon in the healthcare space in India under the new government. Our direction is towards quality healthcare which is accessible and affordable to masses. We are looking at information technology to drive cloud analytics, data management of patient records to simplify diagnosis and treatment, besides ensure remote access and mobile health to evolve at a faster pace and ensure healthcare is a key foreign exchange earner”, stated Bose.

The dynamics of funding by venture capitalists and private equity is transforming because they have comprehended the long gestation periods and break-even durations. NATHEALTH has on its radar to being in potential investors and small medium medical healthcare entrepreneurs together. On the IT front, despite India’s software skills, there is no scalable model like the developed world. “We are exploring the potential of remote healthcare services and handheld diagnostics to immediate medical attention. Therefore, it is a good beginning and because NATHEALH has comprehended the magnitude of issues is now on the path to eliminate hindrances in funding, investments in technology, infrastructure & creation of skill-pool, said Bose.