by Shrutee K/DNS
Mumbai, 17th August 2018: Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI), which represents leading research-based medical technology companies with significant investments in India, today pointed out key areas that require urgent attention of the government to make National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS) a success.
NHPS is a public healthcare scheme announced in Union Budget 2018-19. In the scheme the government will provide health insurance worth Rs 5 lakh per family. It will cover 50 crore people, or nearly 40% of India’s population. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is likely to launch the scheme on 15th August 2018, the 72nd Independence Day of India.
According to MTaI, the following points require urgent resolution:
Healthcare sector drives on four major wheels – healthcare provider (hospitals), pharmaceutical industry, medical technology (MedTech) industry and the Health Insurance industry. While the government has recognised the role of hospitals and insurance companies in implementation of NHPS, pharma and medical technology sectors have not received a reasonable acknowledgement so far. Pharma and medical technology are ingredients in healthcare. Therefore, the two sectors should be considered in all government deliberations on NHPS.
As the successful implementation of NHPS will be a result of seamless amalgamation of all players in the healthcare value chain, the necessity of a regulator should be evaluated.
Package rates for each healthcare process should be decided keeping the long-term sustainability of all stakeholders. The system where the cost of medical equipment is subsumed in the overall package rates may lead to supply of sub-standard devices, which may in turn deteriorate the quality of treatment under this trailblazing scheme.
A related point is who will keep an eye on the quality of drugs and medical devices used for treatment in the scheme? Given the scale of the scheme, an appropriate mechanism to monitor the quality aspect will need to be found.
One important component of NHPS is that the government will create 150,000 wellness centres to provide primary care in areas where such a facility is absent. This will require a massive skill development exercise to train the healthcare professionals. MTaI members annually train 2,50,000 healthcare professionals including doctors, nurses, and primary healthcare service providers in the country and make them patient ready. These companies cover the entire spectrum of medical devices and can contribute immensely to this cause under the umbrella of MTaI.
As these points require continued discussion to finalise the intricate details, MTaI is organising a summit entitled ‘MTaI MedTekon 2018- MedTech Vitalizing Ayushman Bharat’ to be held on September 20, 2018. The summit will bring together people from the government, NITI Aayog, hospitals, pharmaceuticals, medical device manufacturers, doctors, et. al to deliberate on the role medical technology sector can play in conjunction with other stakeholders for successful implementation of NHPS.
About Medical Technology Association of India: Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI – pronounced as Em-tai) is a not-for-profit organization duly registered under sub-section (2) of section 7 of the Companies Act, 2013 and Rule 8 of the Companies (Incorporation) Rules, 2014. MTaI is an association of research-based medical technology companies who have made remarkable investments in Manufacturing, R&D and Health Care Workers Training in India. MTaI represents a wide spectrum of the medical device industry with global experience in innovation and manufacturing. All the time stressing on the three hallmarks of healthcare - Quality, Consistency and Patient Safety, MTaI wants to be a responsible voice of the industry. The association is committed to improving access to affordable and quality healthcare for patients. MTaI looks to partner with the Government of India in setting a roadmap for the growth of medical devices sector by bringing in even bigger investments in this sector, through 'Make in India’ and through technology upgradation and dissemination in the provider space. Join MTaI on Facebook: @mtaiorg | Twitter: @mtaiorg | Website: http://mtaiindia.org/
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