Doctor Pratap Reddy : Unedited material collected for Effective People by Prof TV Rao
Doctor Pratap Reddy
When Doctor Reddy came back from the US, he had a
disadvantage being a cardiologist he can treat patients only to one extent. In
case they don't respond to medical treatment or, if they need surgical
treatment, there was no acceptable programme in India. So, he used to send
those who could afford, to US, mostly to Denton Cooley in Houston.
Dr. Reddy worked as the Chief
Resident of the Worcenter City Hospital in the US. He also had the
distinction of heading multiple research programs. On November 9, 1979, he had a young man who had an appointment for a surgery
in Houston. Unfortunately he could not go because he couldn't raise forty thousand
dollars. The result was Dr Reddy lost him that morning. He saw his young thirty
year old wife and his two children - four year old son and two year old
daughter
He thought to himself. How many such patients are going to succumb to their
ailments, just because we are not able to give them what they need at that
point of time? And, how many can afford this forty thousand dollars? This set
him thinking. If Indian Doctors are par excellent overseas, why can't we
develop similar skills in India, with the required infrastructure?
Driven by a deep urge to create world-class medical
infrastructure in India and make it more accessible and affordable to a large
cross section of our people, Dr. Prathap Reddy opted to give up his successful
practice in the US to return to India in the early eighties
That was the birth of the concept of providing to our people that level of care
with the same high quality, but at a heavily reduced cost. Dr.Pratap Reddy
revolutionized the health care system in India. He pioneered the establishment
of private hospitals in India.
Initially there were a lot of
constraints, but that didn’t stop Mr. Reddy. But many couldn't and
didn't believe to Dr Reddy concept. People thought that it can never be a
Hospital. It could be a beautiful Hotel. How can they run such a Hospital,
there was so much of disbelief.
It took Dr Reddy four years to build the first
Hospital. In 1983 he set up the first centre in Chennai, when HM
Hospital was set up as the first specialty hospital. At the time many
questioned the wisdom of setting up a hospital in south Madras when the
in-thing was to look for space on Poonamallee High Road, Purasawalkam or
Kilpauk. "At the most, you will make Rs 100 here and go back," a
gentleman warned him. However, Dr Reddy and other specialists stuck to their
task and this was the seed of the massive institution and gave the name Apollo
since he wanted to combine medicine and science and
then it was followed by the setting up of The Indian Hospital Corporation.
Dr P C Reddy had a modest earning of only 100 rupees
a day when started his own practice in Chennai. The secret of Reddy achievement
is that “I have always believed that I should do the best possible to every
person who comes to me. And to those who have trust in me, I should live up to
their trust. For motivating our people, I have told them only one thing. Don't
do anything more than what you would have done to your own kith and kin. If you
do that much, it is enough. This is where they say that Apollo care is great.
That is because we are giving to everyone the same level of tender love and
care that we would have given to our own most dear ones. This is inculcated in
each one of us. So you will do your very best, automatically.”
And secondly Doctor Reddy says that there are three P behind the success
purity, patience and perseverance. You need patience if you want to do anything
substantial. When I started this Hospital, if there are a million bricks in
this building, I had a million problems. They said, you cannot start a hospital
in more than five hundred squire yards. You can't fund a hospital. For importing
your equipment, you should file twelve applications to twelve different
offices. I had any number of such obstacles. So, I needed to have patience and
perseverance. If these two are there and if your purpose is pure, success is
yours.”
“When I came back, there was no infrastructure. My
father told me that whatever I did, they (him and my mother) would admire. I
could have told him there was no use in my returning to India when there was
absolutely no infrastructure. Doctor Reddy worked very hard to build the
excellent infrastructure and manage to attract the cream of Indian Doctors
especially from the US and UK.
Doctor Reddy has been pro-active in modifying government
regulations to suit current medical trends. (Resource spotting and
Management).For this Doctor Reddy gives credit to Ms Gandhi. “I told Madam that
only the powerful and rich can today have the best medical treatment. She
didn't get annoyed. She asked me, 'What do you mean?' I said, 'Powerful, that
is, those who wield power with the government will get free air ticket and get
their medical reimbursement in the US. For the rich, they don't bother about
the money they spend. But it is the others who need this.' That is how she
brought down the duty for medical equipment from 180 per cent to zero.
Doctor Reddy was told that Rajiv Gandhi doesn’t read long letters. And then
Doctor Reddy sent a brief, crisp letter. “I said I wish I had started a beedi
factory or a beer factory instead of a health-care project. If health has to
come along with your vision of the twenty-first century, I would like one, two,
and three. The first one was, I need funding for hospitals, which should be
treated as an industry. Today if there is an ultra sound machine in a village,
you must give credit to Rajiv Gandhi. In three weeks, he got the act amended in
Parliament so that clinics and Hospitals became eligible for funding by Banks
and other financial institutions. The second thing I sought was, 'Treatment
today with all the technology we have is certainly more expensive, because we
handle more things. But nobody could afford it at that time. So, we need access
to the mechanism through health insurance or health plans.' He asked me what
was needed. I said what was needed is tax exemption. He gave Rs 10,000 tax
exemption. The third was much more. Suppose someone has a surgery in our
Hospital. The guy who had had a by-pass surgery in my hospital would get a
second heart attack when he sees the Income Tax notice. He said this was
stupid. Thus he did these three major things in 1989 when he was the Prime
Minister.
Dr.Pratap Reddy started India's first hospital
consultancy body-the Indian Hospitals Corporation. He consequently commissioned
two more tertiary health centers in India.
The Government of India soon recognized his enterprising efforts leading to
» Financial institutions amending their funding legislation to include
hospitals
» Board basing the scope of medical insurance.
From then onwards it was an
upswing for the Apollo Group. It presently has over 22 centers in major
metropolis in India and has a combined turn over of $100 Million.
Dr. Pratap Reddy is a doctor and a businessperson
credited with establishing the first chain of corporate hospitals in India-the
Apollo Hospitals Group. Dr Reddy, 76-year-old currently holds the post of
Executive Chairman in the group.
Having steered the Apollo Hospitals Group to a number of locations within
India, Dr. Reddy embarked on an Asian expansion plan with the first clinic in
Dubai established in March 1999. Now, projects in Sri Lanka, Africa, Bangladesh
and Oman are on the anvil.
Doctor Reddy plan for improved accessible and affordable healthcare for the
millions of our people are an ongoing process and to bring country-wide,
comprehensive health insurance scheme to people is now his obsession.
The telemedicine technology that has been successfully introduced by Dr. Reddy
and it will be a key enabler in transforming the healthcare delivery in India.
His blueprint for the nation includes setting up of many rural hospitals. Dr.
Reddy is now looking at secondary health centers in semi urban and smaller
cities and has already identified 23 sites for the same. The maiden effort in
this venture has been at Aragonda, his native village and Dr. Reddy envisages
that this center will serve as a model for all such projects of the Apollo
Group in rural India.
Dr. Reddy has been a keen promoter of active research and exchange programmes
for doctors at Apollo with leading medical institutions for providing excellent
opportunities for clinical interaction with their counterparts abroad and also
for constant update of their knowledge for the optimum benefit of the mankind.
Dr. Reddy's firmly believes that the Indian doctors have not got their true
entitlement. He is convinced that India is not only well poised to meet the
healthcare challenges of the millennium, but also equipped with the talent and
strength to contribute in further developing the health and economy of the
world.
Dr.Reddy has also been pro-active in modifying
government regulations to suit current medical trends. He helped to ease import
restrictions and made the government take a more liberal view on organ
transplants among others.
“I want to create a ‘health super highway’ that will
touch every doctor, in all small and medium hospitals, and help them work
together, towards a healthier India. The next decade will be one of inclusive
healthcare, when we will take all our challenges and turn them into
opportunities,” he said.
Today in India there are not enough teachers in
every discipline and the worst affected is health. There are not adequate
numbers of teachers in medical colleges, nursing colleges and para-medical
institutions. Then, Doctor Reddy created eight years ago Medvarsity, a virtual
Medical University. And they have the largest content, about twenty thousand
hours of content for undergrads, postgrads, practicing physicians, specialists,
nurses, technologists, and the whole range of it. "Med Varsity" is a
virtual medical university providing total access to experts in the field of
medicine anywhere in the world- and "MEDNET" - Hospital Systems
Management package. Both the initiatives are expected to transform health care
sector in India. He has a good foresight and work towards making it more
systematic.
http://www.caclubindia.com/forum/-indian-business-tycoons--52260.asp
Doctor Reddy works in bringing quality health care in India by telling his team
that if you are a wonderful factory, 99 per cent of what you produce is of
excellent quality. The remaining one per cent is what you call the reject. So I
tell them, please remember that the reject in a Hospital is human life. So you
will have to maintain hundred per cent efficiency and you should be probably
able to help almost all of them.
Doctor Reddy has a great sense of networking. In
Metro cities, there are not only Apollo Hospitals, but other hundred hospitals
too, which are giving excellent care in some of the specialized areas. Now,
Indians need not go abroad for treatment. They are coming here from abroad.
Seventy percent of Apollo patients are overseas patients. But then, this is a phenomenon
restricted to the metros. But seventy per cent of people living in small towns
and villages are left behind and now we need to do something for this. I am
happy, on the basis of our representation; our Finance Minister has in the
budget announced that Hospitals in non-metros will have a five-year tax
holiday. At Apollo, we formed a new entity called Apollo Reach Hospitals. There
is a potential to start seven hundred to thousand of these. We would start with
twenty five to begin with Already we have procured twenty one sites. We want to
launch it during our twenty-fifth anniversary.
Doctor Reddy has huge responsibility, but then also he manages to take out some
time for his patients. “What I do is,
when patients meet my secretary - I have four Doctors who are with me for ten
years - they are escorted to one of them. They get all the investigations done.
I see all the patients whenever I am free - between 5pm and 8 pm, once a week
or once in ten days. They are very happy.”
Doctor Reddy want to start Grandma's Medicine Centers. When he was young, He
has seen a lady suffering from cancer in her jaw. Even major institutions said
she would live for only six weeks. She lived for sixty years after that. But
the barber who came and operated on her and applied some leaves there, died a
few years later. And, we lost that medicine. What is it that he did? So, he
seriously wants to rediscover, reinvent. As alkaloids used for cancer treatment
are from the roots of plants. Doctor Reddy determination to put forward his aim
is always seen. He says that “we have already formed the Advisory Committee. I
told them that at least twenty five per cent of whatever is spent should be on
alternative system of medicine.”
The ambition of Doctor Reddy to make India the
healthcare destination of the world is by
Firstly, there are a number of people who do not have the facilities, like
those in Africa and some other countries. They go to US or UK. But in US and
UK, they are not able to treat all those who are sick either because there is
no space in their hospitals and there is a waiting time or, it is too
expensive. In US, there are three strata- one which is covered by Medicare, the
second which is covered under insurance and the third, who have nothing. The
third strata have no access to health care. And, we should be the saviors for
them. Even the second strata who have insurance cover feel that the insurance
cost is going up steeply. We must be able to help them as well. I think if
India continuously develops our skills and develop enough institutions, we
should become the global destination. The advantage is, when a foreigner comes,
we are happy, because we are attracting foreigners. But, from day one we strive
to produce the best of quality.
There is an important thing that we at Apollo are doing. We don't take them to
general wards. We take them to Special rooms. That cost subsidies my general
ward. So, I have done two things at a stroke. I am able to treat more number of
those belonging to the lower middle class who are in my general wards with the
subsidy. This, we thought on day one - to have a general ward, single rooms and
deluxe rooms. The treatment is the same for all three - the same operating
room, the same post-operative care. This is how I could bring in international
level of care for various cross sections of our people.
Doctor Reddy devotion towards health care is visible by various incidents which
shock the country. He has set an example to others and especially to private
hospitals. His team work and synergistic thinking is remarkable.
”I think we have succeeded in creating a feeling in all of us that when someone
is in distress, you must give top priority, attention and everything that is
possible. When the Latur earthquake occurred, my ambulances flew from Hyderabad
and Delhi. The Railways were considerate enough to give me eight bogies.
Doctors, nurses and technicians, equipment and even operation theatres went
there and we looked after them almost for seven weeks.
When Tsunami struck, Apollo ambulances in Hyderabad, without even waiting to
seek our approval, rolled out and reached all places from Chennai coast to
Nagapattinam. What I must admire there is not merely the work of Apollo doctors
and Apollo ambulances, but the help and assistance they got from the local
nursing homes and local doctors. That is what I appreciate. If I have done so
much, it is not because of us alone. It is because we could easily bring them
into the picture. And they all cooperated across. In Colombo at 4'O clock they
said they are short of medicines, a container of medicines left by that
evening's flight. That is the response system to any emergency. I think we have
succeeded in creating a feeling in all of us that when someone is in distress,
you must give top priority, attention and everything that is possible. When the
Latur earthquake occurred, my ambulances flew from Hyderabad and Delhi. The
Railways were considerate enough to give me eight bogies. Doctors, nurses and
technicians, equipment and even operation theatres went there and we looked
after them almost for seven weeks.
Similarly, when the bomb blast took place in Hyderabad, all Apollo ambulances
were pressed into service. Our entire lobby was turned into an examination
room. All our routine surgeries were stopped. All the eleven operation rooms
undertook only the emergency surgeries for those affected in the blast. Almost
all of those who arrived alive were saved. This is our response. We did it for
floods as well. This is not something that we should boast about. We are humans
and we are doctors. Therefore we respond to any disaster or crisis. http://www.chennaionline.com/personality/interview_with_pratap01.aspx
Doctor Reddy says that the best innovation that is
available today for India is our superiority in technology. Fortunately two
thirds of our country is wired. I thought, why don't we use it; touch every
single doctor along the length and breadth of the country and the small, medium
and large nursing homes; and support them, so that they who are treating a
billion people are automatically facilitated with the means of better care. For
this, I have brought IBM as a partner for data storage. Today, there is no data
storage. The doctor prescribes on a piece of paper and it goes off. Hereafter,
when this is launched very soon, things will be different. I have termed it the
Health Superhighway. This will reach all doctors. Wherever there is no power
connection, I have tied up with Erricson to use wireless technology. With this
I will be able to reach every single nook and corner of the country and help
every doctor to treat the patients better. By providing connectivity, the power
and capacity of those hospital managements could be increased.
Dr. Reddy’s pioneering leadership has laid the
foundation for making India a global health care destination. In globalization
of healthcare Dr. Reddy has led hospitals to become health clinic, illness to
health, surgery to healing & patient treatment to patient care. He is
making the brand APOLLO a globally recognized health care facility and also
putting effort to make a footprint world wide.
Apollo over the last decade has demonstrated that
Indian skills are equivalent to the best centers in the world and has produced
world-class results in the most complicated Cadaver Transplant.
Recognizing his pioneering role in transforming the Indian healthcare industry,
the Government of India awarded him the prestigious Padma Bhushan in February
1991. He was also presented with the Sir Neel Ratan Sarkar Award for medical
excellence in June 1998. Nominated by Business India as one of the Top Fifty
personalities, who have made a difference to the country in the fifty years
since Independence, the country has certainly recognized his contributions. The
Royal college of Surgeons of Edinburgh has conferred the Award of fellowship Ad
hominem.
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