Day-care surgeries help cut patients’ bills

MUMBAI: Minor surgeries needn’t result in major expenses any longer, not even at fivestar hospitals.
Hospitals have begun setting up day-care centres that are open from 9 to 5 at which patients can check in, get operated on and check out before the day is done.
All this for a fraction of the bill they would have to pay if they checked into the main hospital.Such daycare centres offer quality healthcare that results in savings for both the patient and the hospital.
At present, most hospitals expect patients, even those requiring minor surgeries to admit themselves a day before the operation.
A few hospitals, such as Hinduja, Lilavati and the Asian Oncology Institute, already have day-care centres. Others are in the process of setting them up. These include Bombay Hospital, the Asian Heart Institute and L.N. Hiranandani Hospital.
A day-care centre helps a hospital cut costs because it doesn’t need round-theclock maintenance, utilities or staff. There is no need to put nurses or healthcare workers on shift duties, pointed out Dr S. Jagganath, of the Asian Oncology Institute at Mahim. The institute’s three-month-old day-care centre has already treated over 1,000 patients.
What is prompting this proliferation of day-care centres? Insurance reforms, said healthcare experts. The insurance sector is toying with the idea of reimbursing patients for costs incurred on all daycare operations and not just those related to opthalmology, as is the practice at present.
The day-care concept is popular in the West, especially in the US, where the insurance sector decides on the mode and cost of treatment. “It’s in its nascent stage in India, but will soon find widespread acceptance,’’ said healthcare management consultant Dr Vivek Desai.
“With the day-care department attending to patients who don’t need intensive care, we had more beds free for critical patients,’’ said Anupam Verma of Mahim’s Hinduja hospital.