Indian Business Podcast I Spent 3 years Investigating India's Hospital Industry & Here's What I Found? : Ex Apollo Explains
Sep 18, 2025
Varun Dubey, former Apollo CRO and founder of SuperHealth Hospitals, shares his insights on transforming India's healthcare system. He exposes the dark realities of unethical practices and high costs in current hospital models. Varun discusses SuperHealth's innovative approach, featuring hyperlocal hospitals with zero wait times and transparent pricing. He emphasizes a patient-first mindset, detailing plans to establish 100 'mom-approved' centers while reimagining doctor compensation and care delivery. This conversation is a bold look at the future of healthcare in India.
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Capex Creates Perverse Hospital Incentives
- High hospital capex drives perverse incentives because operators must recover large debt quickly.
- That recovery pressure pushes hospitals to prioritise revenue over patient-centric care.
Doctors Hired As Revenue Channels
- Hospitals recruit doctors primarily for revenue, not clinical skill, and use minimum guarantees to lock them in.
- This creates daily operational pressure measured by metrics like MG recovery that distort clinical behaviour.
Conversion Targets Warp Clinical Decisions
- OPD→IP conversion targets become the instrument to force more high-margin procedures.
- Doctors face subtle pressure: meet conversions or be sidelined, which co-opts clinical judgement.