Can Ayushman Bharat impact the Indian healthcare industry

For progressive results of the country, the government’s initiative of Ayushman Bharat is the resolution to the urging need of health issues in India. This has advanced the healthcare scenario and will open the horizons for the underprivileged population of our country. This act seeks to resolve the widening gaps between the rich and the poor.

By strengthening the healthcare system, we can forecast a flourishing and a brighter future. For our country to be healthy, it is important for the people to get the right diagnosis at the right time to shield the occurrence of any major ailment. For instance, the right treatment of blood pressure at an early stage can prevent people from having numerous heart problems. 

With Ayushman Bharat initiative, the government has attempted to fulfill various shortfalls that have been plaguing our country.

This has centered to curve healthcare in the following two aspects:
The first aspect includes opening of 1.5 lakh health and wellness centers to provide ailment for non-communicable diseases like diabetes, hypertension, cancer, heart problems, lung diseases etc. The main purpose of this initiative is to bring wellness closer to the homes of the sufferers. The scheme shall also provide free drugs and diagnostics to the ailing people.

The second aspect of Ayushman Bharat is the National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS) that will provide a health cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family every year for hospitalization in secondary and tertiary care facilities. Under this Act, 10 crore poor and vulnerable families will be benefitted which approximately amounts to 50 crore people. 

An Insight
This scheme seems to be an extension of the existing, Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), with some amendments made in the program. RSBY failed and was discontinued in various states because of improper functionalities.

With Ayushman Bharat, we see a major prospect which has been introduced by our eminent Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi. This shall provide a health cover to the financially vulnerable population that means people will have access to affordable medicines and proper care through private and state facilities.

It seems to be one of the most aspiring and pioneering steps in healthcare, not only in India but across the world. For its successful implementation, it requires intervention in various spheres like management, delivery channels, healthcare investments and many more. This step will undoubtedly, uplift the healthcare services and its benefits will be reaped by many. This initiative has made healthcare cashless and mobile, nationally.

Observations
With Ayushman Bharat, the government seeks to change the face of Health Care industry of our country, but it still requires some amendments due to the following reasons:

• Ayushman Bharat Initiative has ignored the primary health concerns of the people and seeks to focus only on the secondary and tertiary needs.
• The ignorance towards Primary needs shall further result in chronic diseases after a prolonged period. Thus, it is very crucial to make some further alterations in the initiative.
• As RSBY fails to be operative, Ayushman Bharat too doesn’t seem to promise its efficiency and effectiveness.
• With an increase in inflation, the government must cater to the needs of the entire population. Thus, the proposed initiative must benefit the whole nation.

Simultaneously, this initiative encourages increased investment in health and generates employment, in abundance. This shall lead to economic development, parity and increased GDP of the nation. If implemented in the right direction along with fulfilling its purpose, Ayushman Bharat can definitely be a turning point in the health sector.

This article has been written by Dr Saarthak Bakshi, CEO, International Fertility Centre