Ascension to replicate low cost model of Narayana Hrudayalaya

Anthony R Tersigni hopes to learn a great deal from Narayana Hrudayalaya on providing medical care at an affordable price in the US. He would know best how important it is to find cost-effective means of providing quality healthcare, being the president and CEO of Ascension Health Alliance, the Catholic healthcare organisation and which is one of the major healthcare providers in the US.

In 2010, the US had seen a spending of $2.6 trillion on healthcare which is 18 per cent of the GDP, and cost has only been rising.

Dr Devi Shetty-promoted Narayana Hrudayalaya had been invited by Cayman Islands government to set up a health city and Ascension got to hear of it and decided on a joint venture.

The project will be put up with an investment of $50-$60 million. He hopes for the experience of working with Narayana Hrudayalaya to help Ascension know how to eliminate costs. “Our costs are significant and we need to take many out. We need to reduce costs through innovative approaches and bring it to the US,” he added. According to people familiar with the development, the cost saving from the hospital project vis-a-vis the US would be in the range of 30 per cent or more, which is a 50 minute flight. Significantly, Cayman Islands which is better known as a tax haven will not impose any taxes on the medical equipment and other consumables that the hospital will import. Tersigni insisted on the need to get creative and try everything within the realm of possibility to check the rising cost of healthcare delivery while hoping that the Cayman hospital will be able to provide affordable healthcare to patients from the US at a significantly lower cost than in the US.

On the funding for the hospital, Dr Shetty did not give details on how he planned to fund the project, only saying that he could raise it from anywhere and that there were people showing interest in investing in it.