Hospital Chains in India: The Coming of Age? Asie.Visions, No. 23, January 2010
In many countries, the provision of hospital care is turning into an industry with the increasing presence of large corporate hospital chains. Along with public agencies and small private operators, corporations are now investing in the Indian hospital sector.
Since the 1980s, health sector reforms and the liberalization policy in India have created new profit-making opportunities in the health care market for local and international corporations. A new pro-market regulatory environment has helped private corporations to invest in the hospital sector.
While the demand for hospital care has increased in India, public and private hospital care providers failed to deliver not only in terms of volume (i.e. number of beds) but also in term of quality of care. With such an untapped market and a favourable regulatory environment, corporations see a tremendous growth potential in Indian hospital care.
This paper documents the formation of corporate hospital chains in India, their increasing prominence in the delivery of hospital care, and central and state government's role in this transformation.