By Pt Jyothi Datta
Copyright thehindubusinessline
It’s co-management, not “mixopathy”, says Rajiv Vasudevan, who helms Apollo AyurVAID Hospitals, on the ongoing controversy involving integrative medicine.
“This whole conflict comes from incomplete understanding, just a perceived sense of threat, due to this incomplete understanding people are taking positions,“ said Vasudevan, Founder, Managing Director and Chief Executive of Apollo AyurVAID Hospitals, that’s been providing integrative care for about 20 years now. The chain expects to have its first centre, a 18-room boutique centre in Navi Mumbai in about 45 days, he said, as part of its expansion plans.
“The way I see integrated care – it is not mixopathy, it is not one doctor doing both (allopathy and ayurveda/ traditional systems of medicine). If they have to do both….they have to be not only qualified but they have to be certified that they are capable of practising both medicines, as and when such a course comes up”, Vasudevan told businessline in Mumbai, adding that he was personally not in favour of rushing into such an approach.
Maharashtra strike
His comments come against the backdrop of Maharashtra’s doctors threatening a 24 hour strike on Thursday, against the State’s decision to recognise homeopaths who had completed a one-year Certificate Course in Modern Pharmacology (CCMP) that would allow them to prescribe allopathic medicines in select cases.
Vasudevan clarifies, integrated care involves handing over care from one system to another, in the interest of the patient’s health. Further, he points out, top US universities are having integrative medicine departments in their facilities, as high healthcare spends are not getting the best outcomes.
Co-managed care helps for those with multiple health issues, a serious concern these days – where people have “multiple morbidities like Parkinson’s, diabetes, asthma, (blood pressure) all together in one person…. no one system is good at all ailments.”
Expansion plans
The Apollo Hospitals Group holds about 60 per cent in this hospitals chain, said Vasudevan , adding that the next four months could see about five new centres in Hyderabad, Chennai, North Delhi and Bengaluru, besides Mumbai. The hospital chain will set up some new centres, while others would be centres in other hospitals, he said. The ₹60 crore company looks to clock revenues of ₹100 crore in 12-15 months, he said, with the aim of touching ₹500 crore by 2028. The expansion will increase the number of beds to 385 (from about 250), targeting 1,000 beds by 2028.
Published on September 17, 2025
