Is there a need for home healthcare in India?
KIMS – IHHC. Delivering quality clinical services, backed by high-end technology and training, to the people of Kerala.
As part of the National transition, Kerala had witnessed the setting up of specialty and super-speciality hospitals, both corporate and privately held. Huge investments have been made in the medical sector - with more medical colleges being opened in the state (again KIMS is one such out-standing example); the healthcare sector is all set to get a further boost in the coming days. There are more than 1000 private hospitals , clinics and nursing homes in Kerala that supplement the government’s healthcare delivery system, Kerala is experiencing a rapid growth in healthcare facilities as result of its growing population and the steady influx of new investors in this sector.
One such major player in the private sector is the Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), Thiruvananthapuram. KIMS was founded with one objective in mind: To reach out to the community and beyond, to make quality, world-class healthcare affordable and accessible to all. This is the commitment that defines every aspect of the clinical care, research and education at KIMS. A multi-specialty tertiary care hospital, where a highly competent team of specialists, supported by sophisticated technology, deliver high-quality medical services. Launched in January 2002, KIMS has emerged as one of the leading centres of pioneering medical work, research and academics in South India - with a global outreach.
The emergence of home healthcare
India is an emerging market for the home healthcare segment – a segment that is steadily finding its own niche in the healthcare industry. Many new entrepreneurs and investors are focused on tapping the potential of this promising sector. Financial pundits have evaluated home healthcare at a whopping $2.2 billion in 2013. The projected rate of growth is about eight per cent, per annum, till 2020. Home healthcare is coming of age in India and more so in Kerala. And two key players have emerged who will play dominant roles in this field: KIMS in partnership with IHHC, will transform the home healthcare landscape in Kerala.
For instance, KIMS Home Care program also includes Critical Care at home – which often necessitates the use of complex Tracheostomy and Ventilator equipment – as well as Elder care, Palliative Care and New Born Care. Backed by IHHC’s extensive experience in delivering home healthcare par excellence, KIMS and IHHC can deploy highly trained clinical teams who are specialists in a range of medical conditions including Orthopaedic, Neurological, Transplant Care and Cardiology.
At IHHC, there’s a strong conviction that an aging population, a growing demand for rehabilitation services, new born care, skilled nursing help, and palliative care services (amongst others) will contribute to the rapid growth of this segment. The push for digitization by the government also makes it easier for people to access myriad healthcare services. Easy access to their medical data by patients, their families and other medical personnel, makes home healthcare convenient, affordable and a very good option as compared to conventional modes of treatment. Organisations catering to this segment will increasingly be better equipped to connect and improve the overall home healthcare experience for patients, their families and the doctors involved.
IHHC’s high-end Simulation Lab, located in Bangalore, train their people to constantly strive to improve on quality of care and patient outcomes. As an integral part of their commitment to providing qualitatively superior home healthcare, KIMS and IHHC are also working towards launching quality care at home for clients in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (GCC) in the years ahead.
An additional, if not vital pillar of support, is IHHC’s other partner in delivering quality home healthcare: Bayada Home Health Care. An international home healthcare company, Bayada USA employs over 18,000 nursing support staff in 250 offices throughout the United States and India. The organization provides in-home nursing services, which include physical, occupational and speech therapy. Additional services include medical social work, home health aides and hospice support. All this wealth of expertise and experience will help to enhance the clinical services that IHHC and KIMS will be able to offer.
KIMS and IHHC’s professional home healthcare services will include a broad range of care and support services for individuals recovering from a hospital stay, the disabled, the chronically or terminally-ill and the elderly – catering to patients who need medical, nursing, social, or therapeutic treatment or just daily help with the essential activities of everyday living. KIMS and IHHC both understand that nothing works better than receiving the highest standards of health care in the security of one’s own home, surrounded by family and friends.
