Healthcare Sabha 2018 | Why healthcare schemes in India fail?

The panel discussion on ‘Why healthcare schemes in India fail?’ was moderated by M Prakasamma, Executive Director, Answers, Nidhi Khare, Principal Secretary, Dept of Health and Family Welfare, Govt of Jharkhand, Ashish Modi, Joint CEO, Rajasthan State Health Assurance Agency and Dr Hara Prasad Patnaik, Director of health services, Odisha.

Each members in the panel expounded on how better collaboration, improved synergies, more healthcare resources, effective use of technology, are crucial to improve the success rate of health schemes in India.

Beginning the discussion, Prakasamma said that the programmatic flaws kill the very purpose of a healthcare initiative in India and how we are going to deal with it is one of the key question to be answered. She asked Modi to share what are the shortcomings in certain healthcare scheme which end up not doing well.

Highlighting that healthcare schemes should be designed as per people’s need, Modi cited the example of Bhamashah Swasthya Bima Yojana (BSBY), a health insurance scheme by Government of Rajasthan, and added that good leadership will help in designing proper health schemes.

Voicing his views, Patnaik informed that programme-based incentives can be a good way to motivate doctors and other healthcare workforce.”

Going further, Khare informed that public health is not only about the number of doctors but it is also about the strengthening of paramedics and frontline workers. She also mentioned that many times, lack of adequate knowledge, system gaps, lack of evidence, resource scarcity, poor planning and execution strategies lead to failure of health schemes.

Panelists also observed that often schemes that the centre devises do not often suit the needs of states, especially those with difficult terrain.

The discussion highlighted that healthcare schemes need to be planned and built after considering the geographical and social conditions. Therefore, state-specific schemes might be more successful. Implementing robust technology will be an ideal solution to curb frauds in healthcare schemes.

Key takeaways

• Healthcare schemes need to be planned and built after considering the geographical and social conditions.
• How better collaboration, improved synergies, more healthcare resources, effective use of technology, are crucial to improve the success rate of health schemes in India

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