NEW DELHI: Hospitals in India must focus not only on patient care but also on patient safety and quality standards, said NITI Aayog Member Prof Dr M Srinivas on Tuesday.
“The country should have a basic minimum standard of quality and safety at every hospital. As a country, we must come to a level where the world should recognize that Indian hospitals have a minimum standard of patient care,” he said at the 20th edition of FICCI Heal 2026, themed “HEAL@20: From Vision to Value”.
Srinivas, former director of AIIMS, Delhi, said the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission had created a robust digital health ecosystem. He said its data could be a gamechanger for India and the Global South, enabling transformative outcomes in healthcare.
“Once this data is harnessed, AI can be optimally utilised, allowing us to achieve transformative outcomes not only for the nation but also for the Global South."
“Through the National Health Authority(NHA), we are coming out with structured data with interoperability, like one nation, one election. We will have one platform of ABHA ID and electronic health records which will be interoperable. That's something which we are pushing for,” he added.
He urged private hospitals to adopt the universal health scheme and extend affordable healthcare to tier-2 and tier-3 cities to address the unequal distribution of healthcare services.
Placing people at the centre of the healthcare system is essential, he said, stressing the need to provide the right treatment at the right time while protecting patients from additional financial burdens, a key focus of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PM-JAY).
“We have seen an increasing number of non-communicable diseases, we must focus on preventing these diseases rather than just treating them at tertiary care hospitals,” he noted.
Srinivas also stressed the need for government and private hospitals to combine hospital care with hospitality.
Dr Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, chair of the FICCI Health Services Committee and MD and CEO of Fortis Healthcare, said, “As we look towards Viksit Bharat 2047, the healthcare sector must work towards a system that combines world-class capabilities with affordability, access, and trust. This will require sustained investment, stronger prevention and early diagnosis, a skilled healthcare workforce, and closer collaboration across the public and private sectors.”
Anuj Pasrija, country lead, J&J MedTech India, and vice-president of surgery at Johnson & Johnson, said, “Hospital of the future will not be defined merely by its buildings, beds, or operating rooms. It will be defined by its ability to stay connected with the patient across the entire journey of patient care.”
