Raelene Kambli, EH News Bureau
Ensocare, the healthcare division of Enso Group, has recently signed a Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement with the Government of Punjab for providing affordable diagnostic services within 21 district hospitals of the state. This is Ensocare’s second PPP agreement in this sphere. The first PPP was signed in May 2013 with the Government of Maharashtra and GE Healthcare wherein, Ensocare will act as the operating partner and GE Healthcare as the technology partner to provide affordable diagnostic services to 22 district hospitals. Ensocare’s partnership with the Government of Punjab will run on similar lines. The PPP projects will aim to make this service available to approximately 140 million people for both the states of Maharashtra and Punjab.
Giving more details on the company’s role in the partnership, Vaibhav Maloo, Chairman, Ensocare informs, “Through the PPP, we would be setting up a well diversified range of diagnostic facilities like MRI, CT scanner, X-Ray, DR X-Ray, ultrasound, and mammography in both the states. It will include four units of 64 slice CT scanners, 13 units of advance, 16 slice CT scanners, eight units of cutting edge 1.5T MRI with 16 channels, 22 high-end digital radiography systems, 39 colour Doppler’s and 39 analog X-ray units. Women’s health is given a special boost with the inclusion of 20 screening mammography units for early breast cancer detection. However, district hospitals in Punjab, will specially include DEXA scan- a cancer scanning procedure apart from housing regular diagnostic facilities. The equipment will be procured from various original equipment manufacturers, particularly GE in Maharashtra, and combination of known few in Punjab. The centres will also be given a thorough makeover in terms of look and feel to add to the delivery of quality services. Customer-friendly IT innovations will also facilitate in adding to the targeted quality benchmark and run operations on 24/7 basis and provide services at Government recommended rate cards for the benefit of larger population.”
When asked about the time span fixed for both projects, Dr Akil Khan, Vice Chairman, Ensocare says, “We aim to be functional by the end of 2013 in Maharashtra. Punjab will take more time as standalone structures are being built for the diagnostic centres’ within the hospitals.”
Speaking about the Government’s commitment in this partnership, Suresh Shetty, Health Minister- Maharashtra said, “The Government of Maharashtra is committed to provide better and affordable healthcare to its people. Today, we are on to a first-of-its-kind, large scale modernisation of district hospitals with latest diagnostic technologies. By working together with partners like Ensocare, we can advance healthcare to support all economic groups. We hope to cover a minimum of 60 per cent Rajiv Gandhi Yojana Scheme card holders in the state and also lower the cost of treatment by 50 per cent through this PPP model.”
Furthering this initiative, Ensocare is looking forward to replicate this healthcare service model in states like Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat. The company is also working on a few private healthcare insurance models.
When asked about how will they monitor the impact of the initiative, Maloo replied, “Our processes are organised in a manner to get real time updates on timely intervals, so that we can control and command centres with reference to patients’ footfall, details of tests done and their reports. We will also be closely monitoring the time taken for various tests with the help of state-of-the-art mechanised software and hardware which will be unmatched in the country. The data will help us to improve our services. We will have ample ways for consumers to give us feedback as well. Since healthcare is a sensitive sector, we plan to stay focused and evaluate each and every details concerned.”
