Management of Healthcare in India : Need for a Paradigm Shift

The book analyses the four key pillars of Indian healthcare – information, management, human resources and financing – to identify major systemic flaws and proposes practical, actionable solutions. It highlights how better resource utilisation can improve patient care, reduce costs and enhance access.

India’s complex and multiple healthcare systems have proved incapable of delivering affordable care to its population. Acute funding shortage is one of the reasons for poor health outcomes. Public health, with its vast countrywide network, is hamstrung by a procedure-bound bureaucrac, which does not focus on patients. Private healthcare institutions offer excellent tertiary care on par with global quality standards but excessively focus on profitability. Non-profit healthcare organisations that offer succour to the underprivileged sections of society are faced with perennial funding challenges. India needs a strong public health system, robust non-profit healthcare institutions and high-quality private hospitals. The Indian hospital sector is now an attractive destination for investment. Private equity investments into private hospitals have made superior quality of care with state-of-the-art technology possible.

This book will be of interest to academics and practitioners in the field of medical sociology, history of medicine, health and development studies, healthcare administration and management and South Asian studies.

Tilak Shankar is a commerce graduate from the University of Madras and has a post-graduate diploma from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA). He was a Director with AF Ferguson & Co. and is presently the CEO of Management Solutions. He has carried out more than 300 consulting engagements, including many healthcare organisations.