Deeksha Gupta

  World over, most healthcare systems focus treatment of diseases with little input in prevention and other pillars towards comprehensive health management. This has caused increase in deaths and health care costs continue increasing in ways that are an unsustainable rate. Without mitigation factors in place, this will lead to compromised quality through too little too late.   The culture of medical intervention (help because it has happened) must change as a priority to interception (stop before it happens) if this trend is to be reversed. The cost of preventive healthcare is far much lower than of intercepting when disease happens.   The question begs then, why there is such high mortality rates due to potentially preventable conditions. This is from the mindset that everyone knows what is good for them. Unfortunately, this is not the case for all people. There are those who take what they believe is good for them. Though it is assumed that everyone has the resp...

 More and more, people are learning great lessons from the current COVID-19 pandemic. There is an exposure to the faults and weaknesses in the health care system, whether in developed or developing economies. The inequalities between the two economies are undeniable in so far as the infrastructure and resources available.   It looks like suddenly decision-makers have realized how important the medical professionals are in the success of health facilities. Interestingly, governments realized that their sometimes-unorthodox way of handling this group of people could not work and many had to accept some demands that had been pending for years just to save lives.   The pandemic has brought to the fore that a good infrastructure without sufficient medical personnel does not take care of patients; both are important and none should be preferred over the other but should be developed together. Governments have had to recall medics from leaves and even hire those who have...

With various models of payments for health services, the world over in general and Kenyans in particular, people are always seeking ways to beat the systems for maximum advantage. This queer behavior has infiltrated the health industry. Unfortunately, the enrolled members who are players in this unfortunate game have not understood the adverse effect of their actions, on themselves and on the entire health service delivery cycle. Some patients will move from one facility to another to get treatment for the same condition to get the same drugs; the intention is to sell the drugs for a few bucks, without realizing that they are depleting their own cover amounts. When they have a medical need, they realise they do not have enough balance and unfortunately, they already used the money they got from the illegal transaction for other purposes. Consider a scenario where a patient knows that they have unlimited access to their medical cover. There are those who will unnecessarily go to the...

 There is an old, yet frequently used adage that says a healthy nation is a wealthy nation…and to the most extent this is true. But isn’t it also true that a poor nation is an unhealthy nation? “This is a very interesting statement, if one thinks of it critically, was Jayesh Saini’s comment when asked on what he thinks should be a priority. He said the two must grow together, stating that if the nation is so poor, its people cannot afford healthcare services, let alone eating and living healthily to avoid sickness and diseases. On the other hand, if the nation is comprised of so many sick people or very critical diseases, the economy will not grow as the people are kept away from productive lives and whatever resources are available are used for medical bills. This is made clear in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) where there is a clear interrelationship between economic growth and health. SDG 3 on health seeks to “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ...

World over, most healthcare systems focus treatment of diseases with little input in prevention and other pillars towards comprehensive health management. This has caused increase in deaths and health care costs continue increasing in ways that are an unsustainable rate. Without mitigation factors in place, this will lead to compromised quality through too little too late. The culture of medical intervention (help because it has happened) must change as a priority to interception (stop before it happens) if this trend is to be reversed. The cost of preventive healthcare is far much lower than of intercepting when disease happens. The question begs then, why there is such high mortality rates due to potentially preventable conditions. This is from the mindset that everyone knows what is good for them. Unfortunately, this is not the case for all people. There are those who take what they believe is good for them. Though it is assumed that everyone has the responsibility to take care ...

  More often than not, when people are discussing healthcare issues, though patients are the most critical member of stakeholders, their issues are discussed as for those needing help and not those who can help in better health outcomes. It is interesting that hardly do we hear policymakers speaking like they are, can be, or have ever been patients and so they provide policies that even with time can be detrimental or retrogressive even for them when they become patients. The role and importance of patients in the broad spectrum of healthcare matters cannot be ignored. The more patients – current or past, are engaged in decisions making processes, the better it is for progressive development in the healthcare sector. Theirs are experiential and not theoretical and can and do give a clearer picture of the pros and cons of various issues in the sector, whether at a macro or micro level. Patient engagement starts from an individual level to the national level. On a small scale, it i...

The bottom line of attaining UHC is to bring life-saving health care interventions and interceptions to those who need it most when needed, irrespective of their economic status. Private health insurers for the longest have offered health coverage for those who can afford it, obviously leaving out the poor or those, who on their own cannot afford to buy insurance. In fact, their targets have mainly been employed through corporate covers or the middle- and upper-income individuals. Rarely have they had covers for the lower sector of the society, apart from the recent years where various groups have come together to contribute towards goals and have made health insurance one of the benefits and the private insurers have accepted such groups – Women, youth, men and special needs groups.  The question then begs, how does the private insurance sector fit into a universal cover for all, especially in countries that either have or are rolling out affordable public social insurance? Will t...

The best healthcare financing model remains a priority if nations are to achieve Universal Health Coverage within the stipulated timeframes; best in terms of affordability, accessibility, and sustainability across the entire population. To attain UHC, one has to consider the macro-economic, socio-cultural, and political context of each country so as to prioritize needs and intervention processes. Though there are some basic commons, it is perceived that each country must develop a system that works for it and many have borrowed diverse aspects from different countries and they are working. Jayesh Saini, an entrepreneur, believes that for any plan to work, one must remember that utilization of health care services depends on the affordability of the services, which in turn determines the survival of the health facility. He says that policies can be developed even by providers against which they provide the needed services but if the affordability is not put in the mix of things, we ca...

Besides understanding the best payment model, there are other factors needed for the success of the UHC rollout as this will affect in the long run the pricing and the raising of funds. 1) A healthcare investor Jayesh Saini points out that to ensure value-based, patient-centric care is provided effectively and in a timely manner, parameters such as how the financial resources shall be accrued, human capital requirements, and how to ensure it is available, technology within facilities and departments and across facilities. He points out that it is vital that have fees are set, the entire ecosystem is put into consideration to make sure none is disadvantaged over the other but that each has a return on their investments, whether the private or public sector or the populace who are contributing to for their healthcare. 2) The governments and other investors will also need to consider factors key to preventive health to reduce medical bills in the short term and expenditure in the long run...