Hyderabad: As healthcare costs spiral and corporate hospitals and specialists make a killing, there are still some doctors in Hyderabad who charge minimal fees and in some cases even nil.
Some of these doctors revealed that change in attitude towards the profession by doctors, greed of hospital managements, commercialisation of healthcare even by the government and change in attitude of patients were the main reasons for the present situation of the healthcare system.
Dr R. Sukumar had left a plush job at a private hospital and shifted to treat poor patients in Kondapur more than two decades ago when the area was an underdeveloped village. Now he gets patients from a cross-section of society. Dr Sukumar said, “The healthcare system has become highly commercial. Doctors in corporate hospitals get directives from their managements on revenue targets that they have to achieve on each patient. That is how it works.
As competition in healthcare increases, each hospital goes for high-end expensive equipment and ensure good return on investment from each patient.” The fear factor of patients are also being en-cashed by hospitals.
Dr Sandhya Madhusudhan, a gynecologist and obstetrician, apart from charging lower fees at her clinic near Amberpet, often visits health camps to give free consultation and perform free surgeries. She said, “The concept of a family doctor is almost extinct now. People do not have enough trust in doctors and have been brainwashed into the concept of going for second opinions. If a doctor does not ask for enough tests for ailments, the patients do not trust the doctor. There are cases wherein patients say they want to get tests done just because their insurance can pay for it.”
Dr Ravindra Rao, who has a private hospital at Hayathnagar, charges only '150 as consultation fees from his patients. He says, “The government itself has commercialised healthcare. To establish a hospital, one has to pay fees for various commercial licences and registrations. On top of this, corruption in government departments makes it an even costlier and tedious affair. Water is an essential requirement in a hospital but it is charged commercial rates. The change in attitude of doctors towards the profession, especially those who pass out of private medical colleges.”
