No person must be denied healthcare because he cannot pay: ACE Healthcare

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This is how Dr Jagadish J Hiremut (Dr J as he is called by his colleagues and staff) started his conversation with us and it sticks as he has a unique ability to come back to where he started and exclaim “No person must be denied healthcare especially so when he/she is critically ill because he cannot pay”.

We came across Dr J online in social media; he writes regularly for e-magazines with good reach and has a good following on the microblogging site Twitter. Dr.J claims his twitter persona is a bit different as he tries to give his perspective on everything under the sun including the sun but as a healthcare professional he is a different person immersed in the art and science + technology of healthcare.

Dr J gets passionate when we ask him about his company ACE Healthcare and its journey. According to him; the first revolution in modern medicine was due to “Pharmacology or the science of drugs”, that along with our increased understanding of disease pathology and interventions required. It saved a lot of patients, however the drawback of modern medicine as stated by him; is “only those who can pay or are insured; benefit from the abject commercialization and commoditisation of healthcare delivery we see and experience today”.

He talks about Rs 1 lakh/day bills charged to patients in Intensive Care Units of corporate hospitals run by MBAs or Doctors (who themselves have become businessmen) owning vast medi-cities or hospital complexes, answerable only to their shareholders and investors. The only concern of these investors is profit on investment and not the lofty ideals of healthcare to the needy. He talks of his own initial enthusiasm to work in corporate hospitals that left him and his wife Dr Rekha (an accomplished Radiologist) disillusioned after a stint of 15+ years across corporate hospitals.

Dr J says ACE Healthcare is about democratization of Healthcare and reaching it to all with focus on needy. He talks of a new revolution in healthcare delivery which is on a much bigger scale than the first revolution started by science of drugs a century ago, and how it will reach healthcare to all. Dr J says this new revolution is being spearheaded by technology, IOMT (Internet of Medical Things) and digital design architecture. ACE Healthcare according to him will be one of the lead players in this revolution.

We are excited by his passion for healthcare and probe more: Dr J talks about his friend V Alva and the beginning of Skanray Technologies by Alva and his friends. He talks about Skanray’s growth as a Multinational company which manufactures medical equipment in eight different countries across Europe plus Americas and its lasting impression on him. Today Skanray sells medical equipment in more than ninety countries. He talks animatedly of his own humble role in that company as a Director responsible for clinical services and implementation of advanced medical Technology. Dr J says his friend Alva inspires him to test himself and break the boundaries he had made for himself thinking like a conventional doctor.

Dr J talks of his association with various IIT professors & IIS scholars (many actually his friends and contemporaries) working in life sciences and medical related technology and how the design architecture and digital platform used by ACE Healthcare was constructed. He says India cannot invest in super computers for healthcare delivery today but this gross lack of super computer is overcome by the super brains we have in our IITs & IIS. ACE according to him can boast that many among these super brains are its core intellectual capital.

As a Doctor he says he was always passionate about pattern recognition in diagnosis and standardisation of treatment which has now become “the strength” of ACE Healthcare; as it follows a set of standardized protocols in healthcare delivery which is well accepted by the stalwarts in practice across the globe. ACE Healthcare protocols used in care of the critically ill patients, is what is bringing more and more hospitals to enrol under ACE for ICU care. He says Doctors and hospital owners seldom understand the contribution of the digital design team.

Finally after sharing a delicious meal with the couple before leaving we ask Dr J what is the future of Healthcare and Doctors, is the new age technology going to replace doctors with intelligent medical equipment and platforms? Doctors cannot be replaced he says but immediately appends that we will see medical engineers in near future. Engineers who are driven by Data will shape healthcare delivery maybe as early as 2030, however the human touch that doctors give can never be replaced is the final word of Dr J. He says the era of big corporate hospitals with MBAs running hospital complexes and medi-cities talking business of scale is over!! He professes that healthcare delivery will happen at your doorstep for primary and most secondary requirements and hospitalisation will be only for tertiary and quaternary care.

by Indsamachar Bureau