Express_Healthcare__February_2018

TRADE AND TRENDS
I N T E R V I E W
In India, we aim to focus on
providing high quality care
Aditya Singh, MD, DaVita Care India in an interaction with Express Healthcare, talks about
DaVita’s latest offering in dialysis treatment and the company’s growth prospect
How do you foresee growth
in the Indian dialysis
market?
Less than 10 per cent of End
Stage Renal Disease (ESRD)
patients who need dialysis
are currently on dialysis
treatment, which is
indicative of a huge need-gap.
Most of the need gap exists in
Tier-II and Tier-III cities,
where there is considerable
potential to offer treatment
and bring quality care to
patients. In metros and Tier-
I cities, where capacity for
dialysis treatment is already
in place, there are
opportunities for qualityfocussed
providers like
DaVita to offer the latest in
dialysis treatment and
excellence in clinical
outcomes. As such, there
exists a potential for double
digit growth in the number of
dialysis patients, especially
in Tier-II and Tier-III cities.
Would you like to share
some insights on the
challenges and
opportunities to improve
dialysis access and care in
India?
There are three key
challenges to overcome: 1)
lack of awareness and
diagnosis 2) affordability 3)
infrastructure and trained
manpower
1) Diagnosis and
awareness: There are
approximately 1,200
nephrologists in India for a
population of over 1.3 billion
people or approximately one
nephrologist per 1,100,000
DaVita, which focusses on
dialysis care, helps build
operational efficiencies for
healthcare providers and creates
opportunities for clinical
excellence
population. In comparison,
the US has roughly over
10,000 nephrologists for a
population of about 323
million people or
approximately one
nephrologist per 33,000
population. The obvious
answer is that we need more
nephrologists. However, that
can only be a long-term goal;
in the short term, there is a
need to train more
physicians to be able to
detect and manage kidney
diseases in its early stages.
2) Affordability: In most
countries where dialysis
treatment has evolved, there
is a well-developed
government and charitable
support structure that
subsidises dialysis as it is an
expensive life-sustaining
therapy. In comparison,
approximately 60 per cent
dialysis patients pay-out-ofpocket
for their treatment in
India. While the government
has done a commendable job
in launching the National
Dialysis Programme, the
programme needs to be
revisited to ensure
outcomes-centric results for
patients and provision of
adequate remuneration
levels to sustainably support
quality treatment.
3) Infrastructure and
trained manpower:
Significant investment in
infrastructure and capacity
is needed along with the
creation of training
programmes for dialysis
therapists and medical
officers.
How can hospitals benefit
by outsourcing or bringing
in speciality providers?
Dialysis is a highly
specialised therapy and
needs considerable
expertise; often it is not the
core competency or focus of
a hospital, but it is necessary
to offer a full range of
services. In this context, a
speciality dialysis provider
can add value in the following
ways:
1) Standardised and
industry-recognised clinical
policies and protocols
incorporating global best
practices.
2) Ability to recruit and
train dialysis manpower at a
much larger scale as
compared to any single
hospital.
DaVita envisions building
the greatest healthcare
community the world has
ever seen. What
opportunities does this
present for healthcare
providers and hospitals?
Hospitals are faced with a
challenging business
environment and providing
quality care requires
meticulous efforts. DaVita,
which focusses on dialysis
care, helps build operational
efficiencies for healthcare
providers and creates
opportunities for clinical
excellence. DaVita is
committed to providing
quality care for their patients
and achieving high patient
satisfaction.
EXPRESS HEALTHCARE 51
February 2018