Check into a cocktail clinic for the right therapy
As healthcare develops across all systems of medicine - allopathy, homoeopathy, ayurveda, unani or siddha - you could soon be offered all these therapies under one roof.
By Vishal Dutta, ET Bureau |
AHMEDABAD: When music and drinks can be mixed and remixed, it���s time we had the real elixir served up as a cocktail. As healthcare develops across all systems of medicine ��� allopathy, homoeopathy, ayurveda, unani or siddha ��� you could soon be offered all these therapies under one roof.
The healthcare sector, which is importing ideas from other sectors like the hub-and-spoke model, franchisees, pharmacy retail chains, in-house stores, wellness centres, medical tourism, cocktail clinics is the latest buzz. The hub-and-spoke model relies on a main centre supplying to constituent outfits.
The medical streams will join forces to offer an array of treatments to choose from. A nagging backache, the first stage of jaundice, bleeding gums, fungal infection, or even something as common as hair loss ��� can be treated at these clinics.
Nationwide hospital chains like Fortis, Sterling and Apollo are open to the idea which has been floated by Ahmedabad-based Aditya College of Engineering and Advanced Studies (ACEAS).
The institute is engaged in clinical research training. Says ACEAS executive director Dr AK Batham: ���Cocktail clinics are a noble idea. It will gain momentum in the coming years.���
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ACEAS plans to open seven such clinics in Gujarat, starting with Ahmedabad. The clinics will have a medical practitioner each from homoeopathy, ayurveda, allopathy, unani and siddha. Initially, the panel of experts engaged by the clinic will discuss the ailment with the patient and suggest the right therapy. As for the business aspect, there will be more numbers as patients seeking various streams can come to one clinic.
According to Apollo Hospitals CEO Dr Praful Pawar: ���As more and more patients become aware of alternative therapies, there seems to be a market in the urban areas for the cocktail clinic.���
���Today, patients are more aware than they were 10-15 years ago. They are open to experimenting and checking out alternative ways on the net to find the best treatment,��� Dr Pawar says.
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Apollo Hospitals is coming up with a hub-and-spoke model in Gujarat and in other parts of the country, a model imported from the retail sector. ���Experimenting with new business models (concepts) has certainly increased,��� says Dr Pawar. At Ahmedabad, Apollo Hospital has started yoga classes for patients and will soon have wellness centres. Dr Pawar says, ���I believe the concept of using all systems of medicine under one roof will be successful, provided it is managed properly and propelled in the right direction,��� he said.
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���A cocktail clinic would give patients the choice to determine which therapy he/she would like to undergo,��� says Fortis Healthcare���s president of strategy & organisational development, Daljit Singh. While he says he does not see any conflict of streams here, Mr Singh points out that there have been instances where modern medicines failed and alternative therapy clicked.
���If the community wants, there is no harm in integrating other streams with the modern medicine system,��� he adds. ���We are also looking at introducing such a concept at Fortis,��� he adds. Fortis might come up with wellness centres or alternative medicine or a mix of both.
Commenting on the cocktail clinic concept, Sterling Hospital CEO Rajiv Sharma, says: ���We have to wait and watch, as I have certain reservation on this concept.��� According to him, the referral patterns are a bit confusing. For example, how would a doctor proceed?
The success of innovative ideas, especially in the medical world, largely depends on the reception of patients and the results delivered. Chairman of Ahmedabad-based Shalby Hospitals, Dr Vikram Shah said, ���In the healthcare sector, results are the only parameters. If such a concept delivers results, it might turn out to be a successful model,��� he added.
He, however, pointed out that Ahmedabad did flirt with an ���Australian Clinic��� model that mushroomed in the city during the early 90s. The model used alternative therapies prevalent in Australia.
���About 12-14 years ago, the concept of ���Australian clinic��� gained popularity. But within two years the clinics vanished from city as they were not delivering any results to the patients.���
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