A study in India by IMS Health has revealed that the price of stents in their country is not the highest contributor to the overall angioplasty cost.The studyvreveals that stent prices contribute only 20 – 25% to the overall angioplasty procedure costs. It was also found that prices of stents declined by 6-10% per year over the last four years (2011-15) across private healthcare establishments, whereas procedure costs increased by 2-7%.

The study is an eye opener for the medical devices industry. The findings clearly reveal that there has been significant reduction in stent prices but it does not make much difference on overall procedure cost. Improving access to these coronary stents would require a comprehensive approach, and not just capping of prices. All stakeholders should look at the study findings as a gateway to understand the real issues that impact access to quality healthcare and improves health outcomes in India.The real barrier to access is not the cost of medical devices but infrastructure and manpower constraints. For example, a patient will not be able to access stent therapy in spite of lower prices, in the absence of an adequate number of trained physicians and paramedical staff to effectively use these devices. As found by the IMS study, while the majority of the population resides in rural and tier-2/3/4 towns, infrastructure to provide healthcare services including hospitals, hospital beds per patient, cath labs and trained doctors is limited.
Source BusinessWired India