This and other posts that follow are taken from an interview with Dr. Ian in the Summit Business Review.
Dr. Ian Clarke: Chairman International Medical Group
Summit Business Review: Quality health care is very expensive in Uganda. What do you think should be done to make it affordable? What is IHK doing in this regard?
Dr. Ian Clarke: Good health care is not necessarily expensive, but private healthcare is just perceived by the public to be expensive. This of course depends on where they have gone for treatment and the drugs which have been prescribed. At International Medical Group (IMG) which operates International Hospital, International Medical Centres, IAA health care, International Health Science University and International Medical Foundation there are different ways of accessing medical care. International Medical Foundation takes care of charity and community projects and is non-profit. International Hospital provides secondary and tertiary level care. International Medical Centres provide primary and family practice care. IAA Healthcare is a health maintenance organization (HMO) which provides prepaid schemes for both individuals and companies at affordable prices. For example a company would generally pay not more than 350,000 per person per year for the delivery of medical services which includes ambulance in emergency situations, general practitioner (GP) services, drugs, consultations, investigations and hospitalisation. I would say that this kind of package is affordable for many people, but Ugandans are not good at budgeting, especially planning for their medical care and the related emergencies. It is only after they are involved in an accident and are taken to the intensive care unit (ICU), that they find it expensive, but such emergencies would be covered if they were on an insurance of a prepaid health scheme.
At IHK, our fees are below the industry rates, considering the nature of treatments we provide. Some of them are complex diagnoses and obviously the pricing is a bit higher, although affordable. IMG seeks to provide a complete medical service, with compassionate nursing and excellent patient conditions at an affordable price. This is achieved by using modern medical equipment and the highest standard of medical expertise.
IHK and the IMC centres seek to provide quality healthcare to the middle income segments of the market. For the very low end market, we operate the foundation, People who have complex medical conditions like heart related diseases can be taken care of through IMF and Hope Ward.
