Fascinating cover story in the
WSJournal by Geeta Anand on
The Henry Ford of Heart Surgery ~ In India, a Factory Model for Hospitals Is Cutting Costs and Yielding Profits. Pioneered by Dr
Devi Shetty, this new approach...
"...offers cutting-edge medical care in India at a fraction of what it costs elsewhere in the world. His flagship heart hospital charges $2,000, on average, for open-heart surgery, compared with hospitals in the U.S. that are paid between $20,000 and $100,000, depending on the complexity of the surgery. The approach has transformed health care in India through a simple premise that works in other industries: economies of scale. By driving huge volumes, even of procedures as sophisticated, delicate and dangerous as heart surgery, Dr. Shetty has managed to drive down the cost of health care in his nation of one billion. His model offers insights for countries worldwide that are struggling with soaring medical costs, including the U.S. as it debates major health-care overhaul."
Perhaps even more widely known is the story of the
Aravind Eye Hospital as reported on by PBS NewsHour's Fred de Sam Lazaro in
Two Decades On, India Eye Clinic Maintains Innovative Mission...
"The late ophthalmologist Govindappa Venkataswamy founded Aravind in 1976, after he retired at fifty-five from the government hospital in Madurai. Dr V, as he was widely known, combined a religious zeal to serve and his fascination with businesses like McDonald's and the "other chains you have in America" that were able to provide a uniform product on a massive scale. Methodically, he built on the concept of high quality assembly line patient care, forging close ties to public health experts at the University of Michigan and to the Berkeley-based Seva Foundation. [...] Aravind began by offering care to paying patients, using the proceeds to offer free care to those who could not afford it."
Both of these are excellent examples of innovative healthcare approaches emerging out of developing countries!
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