FICCI signed an MoU with healthcare industry body Healthcare Federation of India (NATHELATH) today to jointly strengthen healthcare systems through policy advocacy and public-private-partnerships.

Speaking at the MoU signing ceremony, (Hony) Brig Dr Arvind Lal, Chair, FICCI Health Services, said, "FICCI has set up several task forces to recommend measures for strengthening number of specialist doctors, pricing and accountability in healthcare and bridging the trust deficit. Through this collaboration both FICCI and NATHEALTH would be able to present a unified voice for the healthcare industry in critical areas such as capacity building, quality and Patient Charter".

The MoU aims to provide a wider representation of the healthcare industry to key stakeholders in areas of policymaking and creating a suitable environment to benefit all stakeholders. Under the agreement, the two apex industry bodies intend to co-operate and focus their efforts on creating and implementing policies that help build trust, share knowledge and resource, and create commercial opportunities for the mutual benefit of its members.

Dr H Sudarshan Ballal, President, NATHEALTH, said, "We have common interest and objectives. We will establish channels of communication and co-operation that will promote and advance the objectives of the members through common dialogue and representation. NATHEALTH, in association with FICCI, will formulate joint representations on behalf of the members on matters relating to the successful implementation of the government's program under National Health Mission and AB-PMJAY."

Through this collaboration, FICCI and NATHEALTH have identified five major areas of collaboration viz. Policy Advocacy, Public-private partnership, Recommending financial models, Patient Charter and Capacity Building. They have also agreed to develop a common minimum agenda for the year, aligned to national healthcare goals and work towards getting the government's support in taking this agenda forward.

Dr Lal added, "While we would work towards capacity creation in smaller cities and recommend locations that are best suited for the government to initiate public-private partnerships, we will also explore sustainable PPP/philanthropic/CSR models for efficient running of the 150,000 HWCs under Ayushman Bharat for imparting quality primary healthcare, control of NCDs and availability of high-quality diagnostics."

Capacity building in Tier II and III cities is a priority for the government and the industry is committed to extending all its support. FICCI and NATHEALTH will work together in recommending reference cost structure for building and operating hospitals in non-metro locations and suggesting models for revenue and costing that meets the 'inclusive healthcare' objective of the government.