“Providing healthcare solutions of International standards to every individual, by being an Organization committed to achievement and maintenance of excellence in education, research and healthcare for the benefit of humanity”.
Established in the year 1983 by Dr. Prathap C Reddy, Apollo Hospitals is renowned as the nation’s first corporate hospital. Apollo Hospitals is acclaimed for its pioneering private healthcare revolution in the country. As the forerunner of integrated healthcare in Asia, the group’s futuristic vision has ensured that it has been in a position of strength at every pivotal touch point of the healthcare delivery chain.
Apollo has over the years, impacted over 65 million individuals from 140 countries, who have honored the organization with their trust; this is the decisive measure of success for the group.
Over the years, Apollo Hospitals has carried the torch of healthcare to distant and several under-served corners of India. With an expanse of innovation, technology and commitment, its legacy remains as an unwavering dedication to clinical excellence. A relentless pursuit of expertise and the ever-tender empathy are key elements in its vision and plan for the future. Prevention is one of the best aspects of health care reform; Apollo wishes to see good health care brought to all the people at a reasonable cost.
The Visionary behind the Success of Apollo Hospitals
Dr. Prathap C Reddy is the Visionary, and Founder-Chairman of Apollo Hospitals. He is widely acknowledged as the architect of modern Indian healthcare. Dr. Reddy is best described as a compassionate humanitarian, who has dedicated his life to improving access, affordability, quality, choice of health care, and to bring world-class healthcare within the economic and geographic reach of millions.
Born in the small village of Aragonda in Andhra Pradesh, Dr. Reddy has always worked towards making healthcare reach the distant corners of India. Always the visionary, he harnessed technology and insurance to take healthcare to the masses. The ground-breaking success of telemedicine and innovative insurance in Aragonda, by becoming the world’s first V-SAT enabled remote village, validated the concept of ‘Healthcare for All’. He also envisioned the pioneering Apollo Reach Hospitals model, which takes high quality healthcare to semi urban and rural geographies. This scheme has been taking good health to the very heart of India.
A diligent advocate for creating access to healthcare through insurance, Dr. Reddy firmly believes that mandatory health insurance is critical for the nation. To uphold this thought he came up with the innovative insurance project of Re.1 a day, which he introduced decades ago in his native village. This concept has now been adopted in multiple ways across the country for the below-poverty-line population. Dr. Reddy is a firm believer of preventive healthcare, he has passionately propagated the concept of Annual Health Checks and the group has performed over 15 million health checks.
In service to the nation, Dr. Reddy has also been the Chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry’s National Health Council and advisor to its committees on Healthcare, Health Insurance, Public Health and Pharma. He was pivotal in the genesis of NATHEALTH – the Healthcare Federation of India, which today is one of the nation’s most powerful and influential forums in facilitating the shift in mind-set, delivery and policy making to nurture the gift of good health for all, in India.
Dr. Reddy’s incredible journey is captured through a biography entitled “Healer: Dr. Prathap Chandra Reddy and the Transformation of India”. He was honored with the ‘Padma Vibhushan’ and ‘Padma Bhushan’ by the Government of India, as a salutation of his untiring pursuit of excellence in healthcare.
A devoted philanthropist, Dr. Reddy introduced social initiatives, which helped surpass barriers in pediatric care and are remarkable feats. The Save a Child’s Heart Initiative that addresses the prevalent issue of congenital heart disease in India is one of the many such initiatives. Recognizing further that, there is a need to look at the overall population health, merely treating the disease is not enough; Dr. Reddy proposed and established an exemplary model of CSR in community healthcare – The Total Health Foundation in Thavanampalle Mandal of Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. This work is providing ‘holistic healthcare’ for the community of 70,000 individuals from the infants to the elderly. This project is unique in terms of scope, scale and process and promotes holistic health with a focus on physical, mental, emotional and even environmental wellbeing and its impact has been commendable.
Technology and Innovation: Apollo’s USPs
Apollo Hospitals have been pioneers of the technology revolution, the organization utilises technology in several forms – for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, to improve efficiencies of healthcare delivery, to take specialist opinion right wherever it is needed and moreover to screen and detect disease early on. In addition to remote healthcare, from a clinical perspective too, Apollo has been one of the early adopters of technology.
The group’s verticals include Hospitals, Pharmacies, Primary Care & Diagnostic Clinics and Telemedicine units across 10 countries, Health Insurance Services, Global Projects Consultancy, Medical Colleges, Medvarsity for E-Learning, Colleges of Nursing, Hospital Management and a Research Foundation with focus on Global Clinical Trials, Epidemiological studies, Stem cell and Genetic research. Additionally, ‘Ask Apollo’ – an online consultation portal and Apollo Home Health provide the care continuum.
The group has reliably led game-changing improvements in healthcare by bringing latest innovations in key medical specialties and super-specialties, to the people to bring equivalence with the West. Some of the world-class technology and procedures that the hospitals provide include Proton Treatment Centre, da Vinci® Robotic Surgical System, Renaissance® Robotic Surgical System, Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery, Cosmetic Surgery, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, Bone Marrow Transplant, Hand Microsurgery, Infertility Care, Hip Arthroscopy, Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR), The Ideal Knee, Trans Oral Robotic Surgery, and Surgery for Parkinson’s disease. Robotic Surgery is another area where technology is leveraged to improve clinical outcomes and in which Apollo is a leader.
The Apollo hospitals are well equipped with various diagnostic tools, which are state of the art and provide precise diagnostics within minutes, some of which are CyberKnife®, Novalis Tx™, G Scan, 320 Slice Advanced Technology, OCT Technique – Optical Coherence Tomography, Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold (BVS), Single Port Endoscopic technique of Carpal Tunnel Release (ECTR), and TrueBeam STX.
Apollo e-ICU is an interesting example, wherein the intensive care personnel can monitor the vital stats of ICU patients remotely or if travelling, from another Apollo hospital. This technology is currently available in 13 different Apollo locations. Apollo also makes use of IoT technology and wearable devices, that are used to monitor fever in pediatrics patients in real time where data is directly transferred from wearer to doctor. Apollo has leveraged technology to increase consumer convenience and engagement. For instance, a combination of telecommunications, IT and EMR, help deliver medicine remotely.
Furthermore, another interesting initiative is ‘Apollo PRISM’ which allows doctors and patients to access medical records from anywhere, anytime. Also, ‘Ask Apollo’, a tool for patients to book appointments digitally across all super specialties, has been very well received by the medical fraternity as well as the patients.
Tele Health Programs Apollo caters to
A healthy population is the bedrock of a healthy economy and Apollo Remote Healthcare was purposely-designed to provide specialized solutions such as Tele Consults, Tele Radiology, Tele Cardiology, Tele Ophthalmology, to name a few, to reach remote geographies. A few of the noteworthy initiatives would include:
- Tele Ophthalmology – A Public Private Partnership project with 115 centres in association with Government of Andhra Pradesh.
- e- UPHC (electronic urban primary health centre) with 164 centres all across Andhra Pradesh.
- Tele Emergency services in the Himalayas.
- Partnership with the National Thermal Power Corporation of India.
- Tele Geriatric Care – Tele consultations and Tele emergency services provided through skilled manpower.
- Common Service Centres (CSC) – In partnership with the Government of India, Apollo remote healthcare supports over 60,000 CSCs where primary healthcare is rendered across remote geographies.
- Beat Diabetes – A social initiative to screen and treat Non-communicable diseases.
Each of these partnerships underscores a commitment to deliver care seamlessly to fellow Indians and the passion of the organization to facilitate timely medical attention, critical to saving lives.
Present Trends in the Healthcare Sector
Today the private health care industry addresses over 60 percent of India’s medical needs. India is undergoing a tremendous transition from communicable diseases to non-communicable diseases or NCD’s (like cancers, cardiovascular disease, respiratory illnesses, diabetes etc.). The rise of NCD’s presents a great challenge for the nation’s healthcare ecosystem. Addressing this changing pattern of diseases on a war-footing is the organization’s main aim. With this in mind, Apollo has been promoting preventive medicine.
The country faces challenges on the health infrastructure and resource front. The number of trained doctors, nurses and allied staff fall greatly short of the required numbers, to efficiently treat the growing population of India. Also, there is a shortage of beds that can deliver effective care to all our citizens. Therefore, the need to aggressively increase the availability of health infrastructure and resources, this is the duty of all the stakeholders. At Apollo hospitals each and every person, institution and organizations that can work to alleviate the health, is welcome. Any steps were taken towards – the creation of additional infrastructure, ensuring the viability of existing hospitals and resources is welcome.
Future of Healthcare Industry from Apollo’s Perspective
India is known as the ‘Land of Healing’ forever now, and even today, patients from over 140 countries come looking for advanced medical care at an optimal cost. The most competitive advantage for India lies in its large pool of well-trained medical professionals who have been delivering clinical outcomes equivalent to that of their best counterparts in the world. The cost of surgery in India is about one-tenth of that in the US or Western Europe with minimal or zero waiting time and this makes it very attractive for many. Moreover, medical tourism can be a significant foreign revenue generator for the nation.
Apollo having achieved noteworthy success, and as a responsible forerunner, is well-aware of its role to keep supporting positive change and accelerating inclusive progress. By harnessing contemporary technologies and its sharp clinical acumen, Apollo is leading transformational shifts in diagnostics, preventive healthcare, advanced medical care, hospital management processes and in remote healthcare to name a few aspects. Healthcare is one of India’s largest sectors both in terms of revenue & employment. With a CAGR of 16.5 percent, the industry size is expected to USD280 billion by 2020.
In addition, Apollo is also working closely with central industry bodies and the nation’s administration to introduce and facilitate progressive policies, which would help fulfill their mission of taking an international standard of healthcare closer to all in need. To closely address this issue, there is an urgent need to expand health insurance coverage for all citizens. A protective Universal Health Coverage model is a must; to achieve this, first steps have been taken by the Government through the announcement of the National Health Protection Scheme. Ultimately, the pooling of health risks will be the most effective means to ensure adequate protection from disease for the country’s citizens.
Source :-The 10 Most Trustworthy Healthcare & Life Science Solution Providers
