Can insurance and hospitals work together? Policybazaar hospitals may have answers

A new integrated healthcare model is preparing to enter India's private hospital sector. Here's what has been announced so far, how it aims to work, and the questions that remain before patients walk through its doors.

In Short

• The company plans to raise Rs 1,500- Rs 1,600 crore for construction and acquisitions
• A Noida unit nears launch, with Gurugram and Faridabad projects lined up
• Services span check-ups, imaging, teleconsultations, rehabilitation, pharmacy and home healthcare

For years, Policybazaar has been known as an online platform where people compare and buy health insurance policies. Now, through its healthcare venture PB Health, the company is stepping into a different role, that of a hospital operator.

The company has soft-launched its first hospital in Delhi-NCR in DLF Phase 2, Gurugram. Although the hospital is yet to officially begin treating patients, its website is live, the Google listing is active, and the company has started sharing details of its services and medical team on social media.

Alongside this, PB Health is planning to raise around Rs 1,500– Rs 1,600 crore to build and acquire hospitals. Its stated goal is to create a network of six to seven hospitals with nearly Rs 1,200– Rs 1,300 beds across Delhi-NCR before expanding to other cities.

Rather than operating as only a hospital chain, PB Health says it wants to create an ecosystem where preventive care, consultations, diagnostics, pharmacy, home healthcare, digital records and insurance support are connected.

Since the hospital has not yet become operational, many aspects of the patient's experience remain to be seen.

WHAT HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED SO FAR?

According to the company, PB Health plans to invest in both building new hospitals and acquiring existing ones.

Besides the Gurugram hospital, a 250-bed hospital in Noida is expected to launch soon. Another 240-bed facility is under development in Gurugram, while a 150-bed hospital is planned in Faridabad. The company has also indicated that it intends to expand beyond Delhi-NCR within the next year, with Jaipur, Indore and Nagpur among the cities under consideration.

WHAT SERVICES DOES THE HOSPITAL PLAN TO OFFER?

According to information available on PB Health's website, the hospital plans to provide services including preventive care, outpatient consultations, diagnostics and hospital treatment.

The listed services include:

• Preventive health check-ups
• Specialist consultations
• Chronic disease management
• Laboratory testing
• Advanced imaging
• Pharmacy
• Home healthcare
• Teleconsultations
• Rehabilitation
• Vaccination services
• Digital health records

The website also lists doctors across multiple specialities, including gastroenterology, orthopaedics, cardiology, internal medicine, pulmonology, paediatrics, ENT, surgery and gynaecology.

Among the specialists listed are Dr. Rakesh Aga (Gastroenterology), Dr. (Col.) CM Singh, Dr. Sumit Batra and Dr. Saurabh Bansal (Orthopaedics), Dr. Niraj Kumar (Cardiology), Dr. Dharmender Sharma (General Surgery), Dr. Beena Kumar, Dr. Manjeeta Nath Das and Dr. Hina Thapliyal (Internal Medicine and Family Medicine), Dr. Payal Agrawal (Paediatrics), Dr. Nehal Dhaduk (Obstetrics and Gynaecology), Dr. Aarti Mishra (Pulmonology), and ENT specialists Dr. Melba Napolean and Dr. Sadaf Saleem.

The website also mentions features such as zero waiting time and free second opinion, although these claims will only be tested once patient services begin.

HOW IS THE MODEL DIFFERENT FROM A REGULAR HOSPITAL?

Traditionally, healthcare involves separate players. Hospitals provide treatment, insurers process claims, and patients often have to coordinate between both during admissions and discharge.

PB Health says its model is intended to bring these services together. Along with hospital care, it plans to integrate preventive care, diagnostics, pharmacy, home healthcare and insurance support through one platform.

The company has also said that, over time, it wants to simplify cashless treatment and reduce paperwork by integrating insurance support with healthcare delivery.

Exactly how this will function in everyday hospital operations, including admissions, approvals and discharge, will become clearer after the hospital begins functioning.

PUBLIC EXPECTATIONS ARE ALREADY EMERGING

Even before the hospital had officially opened, discussions about the model had started online.

In a post on X, healthcare entrepreneur Deepak Abbot shared a list of features he hopes hospitals like PB Health could eventually offer. His suggestions included transparent pricing, smoother discharge processes, assigned relationship managers for admitted patients, easier access to medical records, affordable pharmacy options, free follow-up visits, better communication for ICU families and dedicated support for elderly patients.

While these are personal expectations and not announced features of PB Health, they reflect some of the pain points patients commonly associate with hospital care today.

QUESTIONS THAT REMAIN

Since the hospital is yet to become fully operational, several questions remain unanswered.

Among them are:

• Will cashless admissions actually become faster?
• Will insurance approvals require less paperwork?
• How will patients with insurance from different companies be treated?
• Will digital health records improve continuity of care?
• Can preventive care reduce hospital admissions over time?
• Will the promised services work as described once the hospital begins seeing patients?

These are questions that can only be answered after the hospital starts functioning and patients begin sharing their experiences.

A MODEL TO WATCH

Integrated healthcare models are gaining attention as hospitals, insurers and technology companies look for new ways to improve patient care and simplify healthcare delivery.

PB Health's first Delhi-NCR hospital marks one such experiment. While the company has outlined an ambitious roadmap and made several promises about how its ecosystem will work, the hospital is still awaiting its formal launch.

For now, what is publicly available comes from the company's announcements, website and social media channels. Whether the model delivers a noticeably different experience for patients is something that will become clearer once the doors officially open and the first patients begin receiving care.

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