Redefining Healthcare Facilities

Project: Healthcare Facilities at Lucknow and Delhi/NCR. Architects: RSMS Architects Pvt Ltd, New Delhi

- Ar Manu Malhotra

The evolution of healthcare in India over the past 25 years has been quite metamorphic. The industry is shifting to a value-based service model, where outcomes and satisfaction drive reimbursements and the patient experience is taking on a whole new level of importance for providers who are looking to add value by designing more patient and family-friendly spaces.

Despite the fact that India has far lesser number of beds available for the population when compared with WHO recommendations, yet healthcare in India remains inaccessible and unaffordable by majority of the population. The Government of India in its recent National Health Policy has provided thrust on three things to overcome some of the challenges faced by the healthcare industry: Increased investment, by way of spending approximately 2.5% of GDP; Providing policy support– the ambitious ‘Ayushman Bharat/Modicare’ to bring accessibility and affordability to approximately 40% of India’s population; and attractive opportunities– the government has a lot of physical infrastructures available in district hospitals (especially in smaller towns) but it remains underutilized owing to manpower and lack of state-of-the-art medical technology. PPP initiative may act as a boon.