Turning doctors into business owners could reshape health care
· Citizen
In present-day South Africa, it’s easy to be cynical about the future… but every now and then someone comes up with an idea which has the potential to change our society in the years and decades ahead.
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A new national programme aimed at turning doctors into business owners and health care innovators is set to launch this month and, says the Regenesys School of Entrepreneurship, the re-education of medics could reshape how medical services are delivered and funded in South Africa.
Working with the health and welfare Sector Education and Training Authority, the programme aims to give doctors the business savvy to build and run sustainable medical practices, promising also to make accessing funds and business mentorship easier.
It is commendable that the programme is targeted at those who could benefit most – unemployed doctors, those undergoing community service after completing their degrees and those moving into private practice from the state sector.
One hopes that the initiative might see more doctors opening small practices and going back to the community, to take health care to the grassroots in a sustainable fashion – in a way which can co-exist happily with the National Health Insurance, if that ever gets off the ground.