Hospital Infection Control

The health care scene is changing in India. Today two thirds of the population seek medical care in the private sector. Corporate hospitals are increasing in number as are those built with NRI funds. Medical tourism is being vigorously pursued in some areas. At the same time foreign insurance companies and Third Party Administrators (TPA’s) are entering the arena. In future it is likely that hospitals will only receive reimbursement for DRGs 1 (diagnosis related groups e.g. pneumonia, hernia etc.) and not be payed for disease complications such as hospital acquired infections. This will provide strong motivation for hospital administrators to promote infection control programmes which are already mandatory abroad for hospitals seeking accreditation. 2