INDIAN HOSPITALS CORPORATION Ltd. (IHCL), the pioneer in bringing the concept of world class healthcare to India was established in early '80s by Dr. Prathap C. Reddy, a practicing Cardiologist of over two decades and a half of experience in USA, UK and India. Publicly funded and commercially oriented, multi-speciality hospital was his brain child and the Apollo Hospitals Enterprise at Madras is the forerunner of the Apollo Group setup by the highly professional IHC which has acted as the Group's nucleus for more than a decade.
 

The pioneering concept of investor owned hospital was an instant success and brought to surface a deeply felt need for medicare of very high international standards. As was to be expected, the successful Apollo Model immediately attracted the interest of many an entrepreneur in the country.

In the short period of thirteen years the Apollo Vision has embraced many related fields of activity. The Group is into retailing of pharmaceutical products and hospital supplies, medical insurance, trading in healthcare equipment of repute, software systems for hospital administration, and so on.
 

The Group has also extended its activity to a number of unrelated activities and a more recent addition being a company that offers a wide spectrum of financial services.  IHC is presently poised to expand its activities substantially which will increase its presence  nationally through its pharmacies, day care medical centres etc.
 
 

In all of Group's expansion and diversification programs, IHC has played the central role and continues to be the moving spirit and a guiding force. IHC is the largest healthcare consultancy organization in India working to international standards and is developing a score of major hospitals in various parts of India, in partnership with state governments and highly respected business houses and trusts.
 

IHC is the largest hospital consultancy company outside the USA to own and manage hospitals. With more than a decade's experience, in corporate health care, IHC owns five state-of-the-art tertiary care multi-speciality hospitals in the metros including the fourth largest corporate hospital in the world, Indraprastha Apollo, New Delhi and two speciality care centres for cancer treatment in Madras and Hyderabad. Apollo Hospitals in Madras is the first hospital in the country to have been awarded ISO 9002 certification. This is in consonance with IHC's mission of bringing international quality of healthcare into India and its strategy to achieve an all India presence through the Centres of Excellence in the major metros and then the smaller cities and towns and finally to reach the rural areas.
 

IHC's services have been requisitioned by foreign promoters in Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Dubai  etc., for setting up similar tertiary care hospitals. Projects are already in progress in the capital of Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Very soon Malaysia, Indonesia, Bahrain and other neighboring countries are expected to be added to the existing list.

Apollo Hospitals at Madras and Hyderabad were set up by IHC with tertiary care facilities of all disciplines. Most modern facilities and state-of-the-art equipment of all specialities available in these hospitals under one roof, were an instant success and achieved two very important gains. Not only was the trend of seeking expensive treatment abroad reversed, with attendant foreign exchange savings, but also, practicing doctors abroad of Indian origin who saw an opportunity to return to the motherland and practice in modern high-tech environment they were used to,  were attracted to these hospitals. The valuable experience gained with this pioneering experiment is today being replicated in hospitals that are being set up for clients. IHC is proud to have played catalytic role in upgrading the entire medicare scenario of the country by setting very high standards of medical services that are second to none in the world.

Prompted by the desire to extend high quality medicare beyond the confines of urban limits, IHC has drawn up plans for setting up Diagnostic cum Medical Centres which will offer state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment facilities. IHC has targeted scores of such medical centres by 2000 which will coincide with the commissioning of a number of multi-specialty Apollo Hospitals around the country that will make tertiary care accessible to one and all. It is hoped that by early next century an Apollo Medical Centre or an Apollo multi-speciality hospital will not be further than a few hours journey from anywhere within India.

Besides hospitals project management consultancy and operational management, IHC has also got expertise in running state-of-the-art pharmacies. IHC owns a chain of 25 pharmacies in the major metros and is expected to own a hundred pharmacies by the turn of the century. IHC has also introduced health insurance for the first time in the country. IHC has also pioneered the concept of managed care which IHC believes will aid in the formation of high quality provider network while ensuring standardization and high quality of service across the Indian subcontinent. It is a vision of IHC that managed care will eventually control the various sub systems of healthcare industry and IHC plans to be well ahead of the race.

As a part of IHC's growth plans, it is also proposed to establish life style clinics in the smaller cities and towns, to propagate preventive and periodic health checks for the entire spectrum of the population.

The Group's two main strengths are its conceptual ability and sensitivity to opportunities. These have enabled its rapid growth and expansion; an expansion that is purposeful and timely in meeting the latent need of the suffering public. The Group's Chairman has philosophized that to treat the suffering is important, but to prevent suffering is even more of an obligation to society. This has found definite expression in the marketing thrust of the Group. Expensive but essential diagnostic facilities enable early detection and spare the patient pain and expense. But most importantly, citizens;- not patients are increasingly encouraged by the Group Hospitals to get special checks to understand their state of health through several well conceived diagnostic packages. The Hospital's interaction with the public through the medical profession has laid great emphasis on prevention. This concept serves as a forerunner for Health Maintenance Organization to follow.
 

contact:
ihcl@vsnl.com
sasidhar@nda.vsnl.net.in