Devi Shetty is transforming global healthcare.
Highlights:
- Dr. Devi Shetty is revolutionizing global healthcare with a focus on addressing the high cost of medical treatment.
- He founded Narayana Health (NH) in 2000, a network of hospitals in India dedicated to providing healthcare for all, regardless of socioeconomic status.
- Dr. Shetty’s innovative approach includes reducing healthcare costs through economies of scale, with NH achieving high-quality results.
- He emphasizes the importance of medical education and training to expand the healthcare workforce.
- Dr. Shetty advocates for affordable health insurance as a transformative force in healthcare, challenging the notion of putting a price on human life.
A mother carrying her blue-skinned baby arrives at a hospital. The doctor must tell her that her baby has a hole in the heart and needs an operation. She asks, “how much will it cost?” If she can afford the surgery, she can save her child, but if not, she will lose him. This is what most healthcare systems around the world do from morning to night: put a price on human life.
Most of my patients come from a lower socioeconomic background, and most of them are children.
Devi Shetty
And we call ourselves a civilized society? A society that has granted itself the privilege of putting a price on human life? Dr. Devi Shetty, a heart surgeon in India, continuously revolutionizes models to address the greatest challenge in global health: its high cost. “It’s very difficult to practice as a doctor in a developing country because we see hundreds of patients every day. Most of my patients come from a lower socioeconomic background, and most of them are children,” he says.
There is some reason that we all get chosen by God to do something bigger and something different.
Devi Shetty
I had the opportunity to have a close conversation with Dr. Devi Shetty a few days ago: a call that moved me to the point of feeling an electric charge run down my spine. He founded Narayana Health (NH) in 2000, a network of hospitals in India whose purpose is to “care for all.” Private hospitals designed to meet the needs of everyone. “I think that’s something which is a cosmic force. You may call it God or Destiny or whatever. It is the power of purpose in the end. There is some reason that we all get chosen by God to do something bigger and something different,” he comments.
There is no point in talking about advances in healthcare if ninety percent of the country’s population cannot afford it. That has been the single most important driving factor: making things affordable.
Devi Shetty
Dr. Devi Shetty, who also served as Mother Teresa’s physician, has a dual vision: that of an entrepreneur and a doctor. “When you become both, you can change the rules,” he says. He explained that what led him to create this network was when he realized that “There is no point in talking about advances in healthcare if ninety percent of the country’s population cannot afford it. That has been the single most important driving factor: making things affordable.“
Building hospitals was not initially on his agenda. His revolutionary model was born in a population of 1.4 billion people. There are many more things one can do as a doctor to touch the lives of millions of people. Today, NH handles around 14 to 16% of all heart surgeries performed in India.
The media has compared him to Sam Walton, who used the principle of economies of scale at Wal-Mart. With the number of patients they serve at NH, they are in a position to find new ways to acquire things and provide healthcare at a low cost with high quality. This principle reduces acquisition costs, based on volume. Forty percent of NH patients receive treatment for less than what it costs the hospital to treat them, and most importantly, the results are as good as the best hospitals in the United States. Additionally, Narayana Health’s doctors become experts with 10,000 hours of exposure to all possible conditions.
Healthcare is not limited by any finite components.
Devi Shetty
“Healthcare is not limited by any finite components,” he explains. It is provided by people. And every year, 130 million people are born worldwide. What we need to do is “train them as doctors, nurses, and technicians. So essentially, today all parts of the world should liberate medical, nursing, and paramedical education.“
So essentially, today all parts of the world should liberate medical, nursing, and paramedical education.
Devi Shetty
Mexico has 2.5 doctors per thousand inhabitants, while the OECD average is 3.4. Worldwide, certain policies contribute to the creation of a simulated medical shortage. In Mexico, specifically, the number of doctors is limited through lengthy accreditation systems, restrictions on the number of students who can enter university, insufficient funding for medical residencies, and resistance to allowing nursing staff to assume more responsibilities. At Narayana Health, “we decided to train young ladies who couldn’t become nurses because they didn’t have the money. We started training them to assist in heart surgeries. It took them three to four years, and they became very skilled at it.”
“Compassion is the very foundation of delivering healthcare,” Dr. Shetty reveals emotionally. Speaking about the future, he explains that “everyone should have health insurance. It is going to be the strongest force that will transform healthcare.” A system solely funded by taxes is not the way forward. “Large countries in the world, like your country or my country, have a low tax-to-GDP ratio.” What if there were affordable health insurance? He tested the model in Karnataka, India, in a cooperative where each person paid $0.060 per month. For 12 years, they managed to give 130,000 farmers access to heart surgeries.
Compassion is the very foundation of delivering healthcare.
Devi Shetty
Dr. Devi Shetty’s story confronts us with reality: healthcare systems around the world are forced to put a price on human life. A violation of a human right? Dr. Shetty shows us that it is possible to offer high-quality healthcare at affordable prices for everyone. “Most of us who are in a position to address it believe it’s not our problem because we can afford to get our family members treated. We are really privileged.“
