It’s good to see an eminent clinician like Dr Samiran Nundy write about the issue of corruption in medical practice in India and for a prestigious journal like the BMJ to feature the same. As the article rightly points out, in a society where corruption is rampant, one wonders whether it is realistic to contemplate removing corruption from medical practice.
Transparency, good governance, professional standards that emphasize ethical practice, decent salaries and opportunities for professional growth have been correctly identified as some of the enablers of a corruption-free medical environment. We are implementing a similar multi-pronged strategy in our own nonprofit hospital to ensure that we don’t fall prey to the environment – we have made a beginning in reporting our clinical outcomes with our caesarean rates (making us perhaps the first private hospital in Delhi to do so), safety is being discussed at multiple levels including the board, all new consultants are inducted with a briefing by me to genuinely put the interest of the patients first, and consultants are being employed on a fixed salary with no financial incentives for generating additional revenue.
While these changes will help, ultimate success even in our small hospital will depend on the emergence of medical leaders who can help create a system where the interests of patients, doctors, hospitals, and payers (insurance companies) are better aligned. This will require doctors to embrace the science and art of leadership practice and move beyond resignation or mere criticism. I look forward to learning more about the planned campaign against corruption in medicine and its launch in India.
Competing interests:
No competing interests
21 July 2014
Abhishek Bhartia
Hospital Administration
Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research
B-16 Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi 110038, India
Rapid Response:
It’s good to see an eminent clinician like Dr Samiran Nundy write about the issue of corruption in medical practice in India and for a prestigious journal like the BMJ to feature the same. As the article rightly points out, in a society where corruption is rampant, one wonders whether it is realistic to contemplate removing corruption from medical practice.
Transparency, good governance, professional standards that emphasize ethical practice, decent salaries and opportunities for professional growth have been correctly identified as some of the enablers of a corruption-free medical environment. We are implementing a similar multi-pronged strategy in our own nonprofit hospital to ensure that we don’t fall prey to the environment – we have made a beginning in reporting our clinical outcomes with our caesarean rates (making us perhaps the first private hospital in Delhi to do so), safety is being discussed at multiple levels including the board, all new consultants are inducted with a briefing by me to genuinely put the interest of the patients first, and consultants are being employed on a fixed salary with no financial incentives for generating additional revenue.
While these changes will help, ultimate success even in our small hospital will depend on the emergence of medical leaders who can help create a system where the interests of patients, doctors, hospitals, and payers (insurance companies) are better aligned. This will require doctors to embrace the science and art of leadership practice and move beyond resignation or mere criticism. I look forward to learning more about the planned campaign against corruption in medicine and its launch in India.
Competing interests: No competing interests