‘Branding is empowerment of the Indian healthcare consumer’

Vishal Bali is currently Vice President - Operations, Wockhardt Hospitals Ltd and director of Wockhardt Maharashtra Hospitals Limited. He is a visiting faculty at ASCI - Hinduja School of Hospital Management, Hyderabad Symbiosis Centre of Healthcare, Pune, besides being on the advisory Board of Harvard Medical International and a member of National Healthcare Committee, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). He did bachelors in Science and Master’s in Business Administration from Bombay University followed by an advanced course in Hospital Management from Harvard. Bali has been actively involved with the Indian healthcare industry for more than a decade and has presented 30 papers on hospital management in various national and international conferences. In an interview with Falaknaaz Syed, Bali makes a powerful case for branding healthcare institutions.

How far is branding important in healthcare?

Branding in the healthcare sector is as important as the concept of branding in other service sectors. Consumers trust brands, similarly healthcare consumer trusts healthcare brands.

Today when hospitals don’t make public their nosocomial infection rate and various information? How can they think of branding?

Quality and accreditation standards are soon going to become mandatory for healthcare institutions, these will enhance the brand image of institutions. It is therefore important that all healthcare institutions start identifying their quality needs and implement processes which create transparency in consumer experience.

Why are corporate hospitals suddenly opting for branding? What are the factors that have fuelled branding in healthcare?

The healthcare industry is moving towards corporatisation. Unlike other industries, healthcare is highly consumer driven. Since branding goes parallel to any consumer related activities, hospitals are moving towards satisfying consumer needs. Therefore, the need of getting branded is originating from the consumer itself. Branding is an empowerment of the Indian healthcare consumer.

Why is branding in healthcare a lengthy process?

Unlike consumer brands, healthcare is a very sensitive, personal experience. It depends on a patient’s experience in a hospital. Brands are established in healthcare through word of mouth and therefore brand-building in healthcare is a lengthy process.

What according to you is the mantra of an outstanding brand strategy?

Healthcare brands emerge not through advertising but through the power of patient experience. Hospitals should see things from a patient’s perspective. Each patient has different needs. The hospital should be able to satisfy every patient’s needs. Brands communicate in a certain language. A Hospital should ask oneself- Which language does my hospital speak? A lot of factors work towards brand building. Service delivery, clinical expertise, and medical technology help to create an image. Brand speak a level of reputation. If you have developed a good reputation, this will lead to creating a brand. When you achieve a superlative reputation, it extends into a great brand. Besides, there should be consistency in the process of delivering healthcare in a hospital. A patient’s experience differs from hospital to hospital. If there is consistency in your processes it will relate to the consistency in your image the patient carries in his mind.

What will happen to hospitals who are not into brand building?

We live in a very different healthcare world today where the consumer is far more knowledgeable about the diseases and their choices of treatment. Institutions which will focus their energies in identifying the needs of their patients and create seamlessness in the experience of their patients will become the trusted brands of the community.

What are the trends you have noticed in this area?

We have great success stories in India where there are institutions at one end which have become great brands in themselves and there are clinicians at the other end who are great brands in themselves. Both have contributed immensely to India’s healthcare delivery.

In your experience, which hospitals have been the ‘fore-runners’ in this area?

Across geographical regions in India we do find hospitals which are powerful brands in those specific regions. Apollo and Wockhardt Hospitals are the Indian healthcare brands which have a pan India presence.

How is your hospital branding itself?

The Wockhardt Hospitals brand has been established over a time frame of 15 years. Our brand has been built by a synergy of excellent clinical expertise with a professional management team which has constantly strived to give our patients a great healthcare experience. Our entire focus is to excel in our health care delivery process. We started with a single speciality cardiology institute in Bangalore which is a front runner in the country, followed by a kidney institute in Calcutta, followed by cluster of specialty hospitals in Bombay which have excelled in the area of cardiology, orthopedics, neurology and ophthalmology. We have also established a single speciality heart hospital in Nagpur which has made its mark as a cardiac institute of central India. Today Wockhardt is a super specialty brand.

-falak@expresshealthcaremgmt.com