Stories
AHPI Demands Broader Assessment of Medicine, Consumable Pricing in Hospitals
- •The Association of Healthcare Providers of India (AHPI) advocates for a comprehensive evaluation of medicine and consumable pricing, considering the full spectrum of healthcare service costs.
- •AHPI Director General Girdhar Gyani emphasizes that hospitals provide extensive, round-the-clock clinical services, not just medicine sales, and pricing should reflect overall patient care costs.
- •AHPI highlights that hospital revenues should not be confused with profitability, noting typical operating margins of 8–12% due to significant operating and capital expenses.
- •The association points out that hospitals often dispense medicines at MRP for many patients and receive bundled payments under insurance schemes, where medicine costs are integrated.
- •AHPI raises concerns about a uniform 16% margin on medicines and consumables, arguing that diverse products, especially in oncology, have varying procurement, storage, and handling requirements.
Key Questions Answered
The Association of Healthcare Providers of India (AHPI) has called for a broader assessment of medicine and consumable pricing, arguing these costs should be examined alongside the wider expenses of providing healthcare services like clinical staff, infrastructure, and patient monitoring.
AHPI stated that products have varying procurement, storage, inventory, and working-capital requirements, especially in categories like oncology, making a uniform margin difficult to apply across all items.
The CCI concluded that no competition law violation occurred, noting that super-speciality healthcare functions as an integrated delivery system and that hospital pricing reflects extensive investments in clinical infrastructure and specialized personnel.
