Doctors’ sharing the risk in health insurance makes it a win -win situation for all!

In India a doctor’s crucial role is to diagnose

1. Diagnosis is of two types:

a) The Doctor’s analysis of the patient’s reports.
b) The Doctor’s perception of the patient’s symptoms.

The formidable factor is that there is an acute shortage of doctors in this country.

Could we ensure high quality in the doctor’s diagnosis if he is made responsible for his own feelings?

The point is this: When a doctor consults, he is doing a risk-free business. No one can hold him responsible for his failures.

Its like the McKinsey who told Rahul Bajaj not to launch Bajaj Pulsar, or AT Kearney who told Jagdish Khattar that they should get out of the small car business by 2002, or the famous McKinsey recommendation to Tata Steel that they should get out of the steel business by 2000, as the prices are going to go down on a spiral. As we all know, Tata Steel is on the verge of becoming the fifth largest steel producer in the world.

IBM often gets into a profit sharing agreement with a client. If they believe that their solution is going to give savings of 10% of operating costs to the client, their payment for the deal could be half of that savings (apart from a fixed payment).

A consulting assignment is more about the paper. It’s about the change management, the implementation, and the sustainability of the assignment.

Then why should the doctors get away by talking through their hats and giving any recommendation they want. They need to share the risk, either mentally or monetarily.

For example, you could say, that hospitals could integrate with Health Insurance companies. This means that if the doctor does not take care of the patient, and provide him the most cost effective solution, the attached health insurance company would suffer. This would put a driver on the doctor to keep the costs down, hence reducing the risk factor, reducing the premium for users, and making it a win-win situation for all.