Bengaluru doc proposes unique health insurance plan

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Bengaluru: “India has about 900 million mobile phone users who pay about Rs 150 per month. By making it mandatory for them to pay Rs 20 more, the generated funds could be turned into a kind of unique health insurance policy. We are taking forward the idea to the Central government in coordination with the National Innovative Council”, announced Dr Devi Shetty, Chairman, Narayana Hrudayalaya.
He was speaking at an event to mark Narayana Hrudayalaya’s adopting cloud applications of ICT Health here on Friday. Through the ICT’s Health Information System Network all Narayana Hrudayalaya (NH) Group Hospitals in India are linked and will serve over 25 hospitals and diagnostic centers with more than a million patients annually. Dr Shetty said, “Technology has been implemented in every field and now we are implementing IT in the medical field before it is thrust on us. This cloud technology is completely for the customer’s benefit and for increasing the efficiency of the medical system.”
However, IT penetration in the health sector across the globe is low. In the US too, there is less than 10-16 per cent of IT penetration in health care. “In health care IT needs to be used effectively.
In the US, 3-5 per cent of revenue is spent on IT whereas we have not done that. We have a unique model where we pay as we go. It is a fraction as compared to other countries”, noted Dr Shetty.