The Challenge
- In India, 12 million deaths a year are associated with chronic diseases. Low income families are heavily and disproportionately affected, owing to the lack of affordable options for frequent and consistent treatment and preventive care.
- A vicious cycle exists where treating chronic disease increasingly drains away resources, while also affecting the ability to earn a livelihood. This creates a downward spiral of worsening disease and poverty.
- The Ayurveda system of traditional medicine is the first choice for a significant section of India's population for meeting healthcare needs. Ayurveda physicians undergo rigorous 5-year education programs that include detailed study of the classical Ayurveda medical science, as well as the essentials of modern medicine, surgery, and pharmacology. Despite demand for their services, however, the country's large reserve of qualified and government accredited Ayurveda physicians goes underutilized, due to the shortage of health infrastructure and the absence of an organized, professional support system.
The Innovation
- Kerala First Healthcare Services has pioneered its successful AyurVAID hospitals as a replicable and scaleable model that appropriately integrates classical Ayurveda practice with modern allopathic practice to treat chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, and stroke. AyurVAID Hospitals are the only Ayurveda hospitals currently accredited by 12 of India's leading medical insurance service providers.
- AyurVAID employs a patient-centric and standardized process approach to deliver safe, effective, and affordable care to poor communities. The hospitals' comprehensive approach to medical management, focused on preventive, promotive and curative care, offers an alternative to the costly and mainly curative system that presently exists to treat chronic illness.
- AyurVAID's protocol and standardized process driven healthcare delivery model for chronic illnesses can be positioned across the value spectrum ranging from BoP patients to high-end patients, thus, allowing cross subsidization.
The Impact
- Over the next five years, AyurVAID will establish 50 small hospitals (15-30 beds) in urban and peri-urban areas across the country.
- By using low-cost and cross-subsidy models, as well as partnerships with leading insurance players, AyurVAID will bring affordable services to low income communities, increasing both the quality and the accessibility of treatment available.