Dr. Kiran Patel, new president of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, says he will mobilize the grassroots

CHICAGO : Dr. Kiran Patel, the new president of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), says he is planning to make the organization reflect corporate America more.

In an exclusive interview with News India-Times, Patel, who is a cardiologist but has built a billion-dollar insurance business, said: “In my vision and dream, we are going to move from a mom-and-pop organization to more of corporate America.”

He became president at the annual five-day convention of the organization in Chicago from June 26. The Zambia-born Indian American runs Wellcare, Healthease, and FirstChoice — insurance companies that cover the states of Florida, New York, and Connecticut, reported to be serving some 450,000 members and employing 1200 people.

According to AAPI, which has worked on several projects in India, it has a membership of 9,000 and represents the 35,000-strong community of Indian-American physicians in this country, and has more than 120 chapters. Over the years, it has gained visibility, and lately has achieved delegate status in the premier American Medical Association.

“Up until now, it was truly a voluntary organization. Doctors put in a lot of their personal time,” said Patel, adding that in Indian culture, what is regarded as voluntary differs radically from the nonprofit culture in the U.S. “Whether good or bad, in our culture, when we say voluntary, we truly feel we should put in the man-hours and labor. In America, it is more to do with hiring a director, etc. We are going to run the organization professionally and raise funds and build the organization. It is time for us to adapt to the norms of this country.”

Patel is also about to launch his latest venture, Visionary Office, a practice management software company that brings him in direct competition with established entities like Medical Manager. “My determination gives me the edge. I will be fighting a billion dollar company. But being a small company that can move and adapt to market forces quickly, be creative and have a pricing edge over competitors, I will also be more responsive to physicians.”

He has the same attitude toward building AAPI. “We charge $75 annual membership and that’s the problem, because everyone wants the services they are used to in corporate America, but nobody wants to pay for it.” At the same time, he said, AAPI “is truly growing and that’s a credit to us because most professional organizations are struggling for membership.”

He was critical of Indian-American attitudes. “The problem is: Our people are apathetic. In an environment, when we have achieved much, our tendency is to look less at what is happening to those (who are) just entering. They think what the heck, I went through the same thing.”

AAPI could become an income-generating organization even as it helps others, he said. “We’ve got to spread the message that there are people who are being discriminated against, who need help to start their residency, there are people we can help to establish new practice. There are multiple opportunities out there that can be both revenue-generating and assisting.”

As an example, he said that AAPI could have a business placement service, finding residents jobs —- a service that the organization could derive revenues from. The corporate offices of AAPI will remain in Chicago, and its arm in Washington would continue to focus on legislative issues, he said, adding that the most important priority as of now would be to ensure that Medicare pays physicians fairly and their earnings are not cut disproportionately.

“There is a medical malpractice crisis because of rising claims. We have to make the legislators aware of this time bomb, and they should consider some kind of tort reform so that these unrealistic claims for pain and suffering etc., or frivolous lawsuits, will be stopped.”

While AAPI was not focused on politics because of its nonprofit status, Patel said, individual physicians had been active in this sphere. “As individuals, there is significant contribution in cash and kind, that we do in this country’s political process,” he said. “I think, AAPI should find a way to harness that energy and work for common good of our patients and physicians in general, and Indian Americans in particular, as well as on India-United States relations.”

Asked if he saw any problems currently in AAPI that he needed to address, Patel, the quintessential entrepreneur, said: “I don’t see problems anywhere. I see challenges.”

He said mobilizing the grassroots and making them part of the headquarters were the primary challenges. “At this time, they are moving on their own and not synchronized with grassroots. Imagine, how much we have achieved, even without that grassroots connection. We would be in a different league, if we were connected.”

Patel said he was calling a leadership-brainstorming meeting on July 19 in Florida to draw up an agenda. “It will not be (AAPI) agenda, but of the Indian-American physician. I think then we will see a little more energy.”

A board-certified cardiologist, Patel studied in Zambia under the British educational system and obtained his diploma from the Cambridge University and the University of London, before attending medical school at the Gujarat University in India. He fulfilled his internship in Africa, and his residency in internal medicine in New Jersey in 1980. Two years later, he completed a fellowship in the cardiology program, affiliated with Columbia University of New York. He lives with his pediatrician-wife, Dr. Pallavi Patel, in Tampa Bay, Florida.