KOCHI: The Health Ministry would provide necessary support for the initiation of ‘Hospital Medicine’, a relatively new subject which is crucial for making India a global healthcare hub, Union Minister JP Nadda today said. Addressing the first ‘International Symposium on Hospital Medicine’ at Amrita Institute of Medical Science here, the Health Minister said there was a growing need for improved healthcare infrastructure in tier II and tier III cities. “This is just about the right time to develop this speciality of Hospital Medicine not only for providing standard care to the patients but to deal with entire gamut of issues around the acutely ill patient viz – antibiotic resistance, synchronisation of the services, discharge and follow-up policies, patient safety, tracking of the patients, minimisation of stay in the hospital etc. “In short, the care services for patients need to be designed smartly. There is a need to start this speciality of Hospital Medicine in India so that the care givers can bear the dual responsibility of care management,” Nadda said. The Minister said deliberations in the symposium should bring out a working document “which will enable us to propagate this speciality in our health system.” “I seek the recommendations emanating from this symposium and assure you that the necessary support required for initiation and augmenting the speciality in India would be extended by my ministry,” he said. Noting that healthcare industry in India is growing at a rapid pace due to investment by both private and public sectors and will be around USD 160 billion industry by 2017 attracting medical tourism, he said hospitals contribute 68 per cent to the healthcare investment followed by pharma and medical equipment. “Of these hospitals, 33 per cent are in metros and tier I cities. Therefore, there is a growing need for improved healthcare infrastructure in tier II/tier III cities,” Nadda said. On multi-speciality and single speciality hospitals coming up in a big way in the country in the past couple of years, the Minister said the medical tourism industry is expected to reach USD dollars within two years. “…This is one of the areas our government plans to tap to drive a growth in tourism sector. The government aims to develop India as a global healthcare hub. Therefore, quality consciousness and interdisciplinary comprehensiveness should become a culture in every hospital/healthcare set up. “Investment in healthcare infrastructure in hospitals, R&D and education is further set to rise,” Nadda said.