A perspective of private health care providers in the state of Madhya Pradesh on adopting key strategies of the India hypertension control initiative

The India Hypertension Control Initiative (IHCI) has been implemented in public health facilities. This study assessed the perspective of private physicians (PPs) on adopting the core strategies of the IHCI in Bhopal district of Madhya Pradesh. A semi-structured interview was purposely applied to 30 PPs to obtain their opinions on standardized hypertension treatment protocols, patient-centered services, and easy-to-use information system in their private practices. Verbatim data were recorded and analyzed thematically. Only 11 PPs followed the state hypertension treatment protocol. Among the remaining 19 PPs, the major reasons for not adopting protocol were (1) limited availability of single component hypertension drugs, (2) preferences for fixed dose combinations (FDCs), and (3) fear of either losing patients due to a lack of immediate blood pressure control or causing drug-related adverse effects. None of the interviewed doctors had resources to provide patient-centered care and use a digital health information system. Overall, the interviewed doctors identified that free supply of hypertension treatment protocol drugs, inclusion of FDCs in treatment protocol, increasing number of staff for follow-up visits, and patient education, IT-based solutions for patient records, employee incentives, and need for national data sharing policies are the key actions to accelerate the adoption of IHCI strategies in the private sector. This exploratory qualitative study suggests that engagement of private sector in the IHCI is feasible. Plans to expand the IHCI to the private sector should consider ensuring the wider availability of hypertension treatment protocol drugs and developing a simple user-friendly digital platform for patient monitoring.