AHMEDABAD: The general perception about healthcare is that the economically weaker section’s primary choice is public or government-run hospitals. But is it due to preference of citizens of Ahmedabad? The answer is no, finds a study conducted by a group of four researchers including an IIM Ahmedabad professor. The study found that the general perception about public hospitals is poor and given a chance, the patients in public hospitals might switch to private ones.

A study titled ‘Socio-Cultural Sustainability of Private Healthcare Providers in an Indian Slum Setting: A Bottom-of-the-Pyramid Perspective’ by Prof Anand Kumar Jaiswal from IIM Ahmedabad along with Prof Federica Angeli from

, the

, Prof Shila Teresa Ishwardat from Maastricht University from the Netherlands, and Prof Antonio Capaldo from University of Sacred Heart,

, has been published in MDPI’s Sustainability journal recently.

Although private providers are associated with higher status and attributed higher quality and socio-cultural adherence to BOP patient needs, affordability aspects hinder consumers from choosing private healthcare, the study reports. The researchers suggested improving perceived quality of public hospital services and underlined need for a third set of healthcare enterprises apart from solely public or private.

The study took into consideration a total of 436 patients from three areas of Ahmedabad — Vadaj, Kalupur and Dariyapur — and six hospitals including three private hospitals, Jivraj Mehta Hospital, Civil Hospital and Shardaben Hospital, and carried out an in-depth survey. Two of the three private hospitals were providing services under Mukhyamantri Amrutam (MA) yojana of the state government.

The study found that the bottom-of-the-pyramid (BOP) patients were more likely to get treated in public hospitals. However, the respondents criticized these hospitals for long waiting times, excessive bureaucracy and unqualified personnel — all of which are perceived to have dreadful consequences on the quality of care delivered.

‘Our quantitative findings indicate that BOP patients visit public hospitals significantly more often than wealthier individuals, regardless of the type of treatment sought (inpatient or outpatient care), and our qualitative results provide insights into why BOP patients refer most often to public providers,” the study reads.

It adds, “However, the qualitative findings also powerfully highlight a strong aspirational demand of BOP patients for private healthcare services, which appear to be of high perceived value, highly socio-culturally attuned to the needs of the BOP community, and easily available in terms of number and reach.’ The study added that the discrepancy between quantitative and qualitative findings point towards concepts of aspirational demand.