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Written By: Agencies | Published : October 29, 2013 5:14 PM IST
From discounts on medicines, to reserved seats in the OPD, to fast-track billing and admission, hospitals in the city seem on an extensive drive to appease the elderly.
With offers and schemes to facilitate easy access to their services, hospitals are targeting the 60-plus segment, which usually comprises a major chunk of the overall patient population.
Alongside the usual special billing counters, home lab sample collection, counseling over the phone during post-treatment care; hospitals are expanding their basket of elderly care schemes in quick succession.
Doctors say that other than joint problems, orthopaedic problems, diabetes, heart ailments, even issues like anxiety, depression, hypertension are on the rise among the elderly population in Bangalore.
'Almost every senior citizen ends up spending from thousands to lakhs annually for various ailments and hospitalisations. Discounts thus prove beneficial,' says a cardiologist working with a corporate hospital.
According to Ashish Bhatia, chief operating officer, Fortis Healthcare, the aim is to bring a change in not just the services offered, but also in the attitude towards serving the elderly, and in creating a senior citizens friendly hospital. Many hospitals including Fortis and Apollo have started giving discounts to senior citizens on medicines, diagnostics and radio-imaging services.
'Senior citizens who register for our gold card get up to 20% discounts on diagnostics, 10% discount on medicines and room rent if admitted,' says Ravindra Pai, senior vice-president, marketing, Apollo Hospitals.
He adds that people above 55 years of age can avail of the gold card by paying a one-time registration fee of Rs500. 'We have more than 2, 500 senior citizens who avail of discounts at our Bangalore hospitals,' says Pai.
Fortis' Senior Citizens Loyalty Programme offers discounts on OPD consultations and investigations. (Read: Max Super Speciality Hospital launches Citizen Plus card for elders)
Crores of elderly
India had 10 crore people over the age of 60 last year, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF). This number is expected to be 30 crore by 2050, when the country's population would tower over 1.6 billion.
The UNPF further states that about two-thirds of the 10 crore people over 60 years of age suffer from chronic ailments.
Fighting the stigma of old age
Unfortunately, the ones who have laid the foundation for the society we live in face stigma in the form of abuse, neglect, insufficient care, etc. mostly due to financial reasons. Sensitizing our youth to their problems, developing a society that is considerate for them and promoting healthy living among our youth so that they don't face problems during their old age are some of the things that can be done.
With inputs fromDNA
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