Hyderabad: Service is no longer the only motto of doctors in present times as they also have to deal with investments, costs, profits and sustainability in setting up and operating hospitals.
Senior pediatrician Dr Ramesh Reddy said, “Healthcare is now an industry and the government must identify it as one because there are a lot of business ventures being taken up. It is no longer about service or care of the patients. It is about the ‘best care’ at a price.”
This was a well-known fact to Dr P. Shashi Kumar who operated Sai Niket Hospital in Chaintanyapuri near Vansthalipuram. Dr Kumar’s investments were like many other doctors who come together in joint ventures or partnership to set up hospitals.
Dr B. Narender Reddy, elected president of Twin Cities branch of Telangana Hospitals and Nursing Home Association said, “Joint ventures are being taken up by doctors, but in present times, setting up an hospital requires minimum funds of Rs15 crore.
Apart from this, there must be a back up of an equal amount to meet the rising costs and also to cover the investments made. The reason for this is the increasing competition, changing methods of diagnostics and also the investment in technology which is becoming an important component.”
With the city developing in Madhapur and Gachibowli areas there is a race to set up hospitals in that part of town. Also, Hyderabad has recently seen major takeovers in terms of private equity of Rs 380 crore at Continental Hospitals and '1800 crore at Care Hospitals.
Industry sources say that individual doctors have created a “brand name for themselves and their hospitals and private equity in these sectors is interested as they get net profits easily without too much of waiting period”.
But in the bargain it is the medium sized joint ventures that suffer. Dr Narayan Rao, president of THANA explained, “In the last year, 10 hospitals in various parts of the city have shut down as the doctors find it difficult to get patients. The doctors have to indulge in public relations, maintain a plush place and all the etiquettes required for a corporate culture. While costs are at an all time high, there is a struggle to get the right kind of paying patients.”
