Leading private hospitals like AMRI Hospitals, Peerless Hospitals, Medica Superspecialty Hospital are eyeing new sources to bring down the procurement cost of PPE gowns.
It was expected that once the restrictions are lifted, the number of coronavirus cases would rise. Currently, India stands at the 4th position with about 425K cases and is likely to overtake Russia in the days to come.
Despite such worrying statistics, the government continues to relax the lockdown, describing it as “unlock, unlock & unlock”, as both the economy and lives of millions of people, who depend on the daily wages for sustenance have been affected due to the pandemic.
This measure has led to a surge in the number of cases and most of the metropolitan cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai are at the receiving end, contributing to 60% of the country’s cases. However, the misery doesn’t end here as there aren’t adequate healthcare facilities to treat those who are infected, making it difficult for both the governments and people.
Although some state governments have capped the price of treatment at private hospitals, who were initially charging staggering amounts, there is a need to do more. In Kolkata, private hospitals have started exploring the possibility of reducing PPE charges by altering the use pattern. Taking proactive measures like launching a PPE “consumption review” to ensure that a minimum number is used and displaying the number of vacant COVID beds soon, hospitals are offering better options to infected people.
For instance, AMRI Hospitals has adopted a two-pronged approach to lower the PPE cost burden on patients. By rationalising the use pattern of PPE gowns, AMRI Hospitals is looking for new sources to bring down the procurement cost. AMRI CEO Rupak Barua, said while the hospital has already reduced PPE charges twice, it would still look to negotiate further. He added that we have also started a PPE consumption review to explore if the usage can be curtailed.
Similarly, Peerless Hospitals, which charges Rs 800 per PPE has also mentioned the possibility of reducing PPE charges by rationalising use – citing marginal reduction to help the patients finding it tough in these uncertain times already.
At Medica Superspecialty Hospital, a patient is charged Rs 720 per PPE against the procurement value at Rs 680 each. However, CEO Alok Roy also mentioned the need to reduce the consumption as currently, the hospital uses 75 PPE per COVID-19 patient – calculating the usage by doctors, ward attendants, housekeeping staff, among others.
While major leading private hospitals in Kolkata are spearheading the battle with coronavirus with innovative & calculative strategies to help patients, many are still in the process of reaching that level. However, the good news is that some hospitals were in the process of setting up display boards for the general public too.
