Creating Its Own Road, Off The Trodden Path

Manipal Hospital in Bangalore has set a precedent in creating a Hospital having five star hospitality facilities and services, yet accessible to the poor, finds out Sapna Dogra

Imagine you step into a hospital apprehensively with trepidation in your heart, but instead of morose atmosphere you are pleasantly shocked when greeted with a smiling face and ushered in with utmost care. This is not a dream but reality.

Setting a new precedence: Manipal Hospital, Bangalore

Welcome to Manipal Hospital Bangalore. Here the ambience is nothing short of a five star hotel and the moment a patient crosses the threshold, he is engulfed with warmth. Right from the genial security guard to the smiling receptionist to the beautiful décor, every facet of the Hospital has a calming effect on the nerves.

World Class Services

"We believe hospitals need not be the gloomy places that they often are. They don’t have to smell like hospitals and remind the patients they are in a hospital" R Basil, CEO, Manipal Hospital

Says R Basil, CEO, Manipal Hospital, “We believe hospitals need not be the gloomy places that they often are. They don’t have to smell like hospitals and remind the patients, visitors, doctors, and nurses that they are in a hospital.”

Keeping in mind this dictum, in a very short span of just three years, the Manipal hospital has carved a niche for itself not only in India, but also globally. The 600-bed hospital has recently bagged the prestigious Golden Peacock National Quality award for excellence in the innovative product/service category. This is the first time that a healthcare institution has been awarded in service category. According to Basil, the award is recognition of unconventional initiatives and efforts undertaken by the hospital for patients’ benefit. “We wanted to make Manipal Hospital one of the friendliest hospitals in the country and at the same time, we introduced international standardisation on all procedures and activities in the hospital,” he adds.

In about three-and-a-half years since Basil joined here, the hospital has undergone transformation at both levels- human resource and processes. Earlier, Manipal Hospital became India’s first and only multi-specialty, tertiary care hospital to be ISO 9001: 2000 certified by TUV Rhineland for clinical protocols, nursing care, support service (laboratory & pharmacy) and administration. Besides, the Manipal Hospital Diagnostic Services is the first hospital-based laboratory in the country to be accredited by National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratory (NABL).

Says Dr Ramdas Pai, Chairman, Manipal Education and Medical Group, “The group has a structured quality initiative that helps in achieving business specific accreditation, which are above the quality management systems in practice. These accreditation and certifications are reassurances to patients, consultants and referring laboratories that our services are aligned with the best practices across the globe.” The idea is everyone should feel like home because brightening up the physical environment helps significantly in the healing process and lifting the sagging spirit, asserts Basil.

Treating Patients As Blood Relatives

A very unique feature of the Manipal Hospital is that people from the hospitality industry are heading important departments such as HR, finance and facilities. In addition, presence of value added services like valet parking, priority parking for visitors, a personal care cell for handling complaints and grievances and stringent hygiene standards make Manipal only one of its kind hospital.

Basil with his team is behind the successful management of this hospital where the staff has been asked to treat patients as their own relatives. Interestingly, the exercise started about a couple of years back wherein the employees and medical staff were asked to adopt an attitude to treat a patient first as a customer, then as a guest and finally a blood relative.

Does it mean that the poor and people from lower social strata feel uncomfortable entering such a grand hospital? No, absolutely not, avers Basil. For the poor, the security guard and support staff is there to take care of them, the moment somebody steps in. The HR department of hospital is responsible to train and educate the staff about treating patients cordially irrespective of their social standing. Doctors have been exhorted to be affable towards patients.

The unique approach of the management has helped increasing the patient traffic and hence business. “Quality initiatives in Manipal Group are driven by a cross section of people from various functions and are strategised by the management with a goal to develop a Manipal business excellence model,” says Somnath Das, Vice President quality and compliance, Manipal Education and Medical Group.

Along with patients, equal attention is paid to the comfort of visitors and the family. Simple and aesthetic things like plants, soft lighting and even music to create non-institutional environment make the hospital appealing and help people unwind. These amenities contribute to positive results for the patients, and greater job satisfaction for employees, too.

HR Initiatives

The HR department is responsible for brining about the positive change. In order to study behavioral aspects of the employees, there are microphones and CCTVs installed in various location of the hospital. The aim of this electronic HR tool is to keep a watch on the happenings in the hospital and not to reprimand the staff. At every floor, lobby co-ordinators are present to make patients’ stay as comfortable as possible.

In order to make doctors more approachable and humane, the HR organsies training sessions for doctors on humility and other behavioural aspects like controlling irritation, anger etc. and stress management. The OPD at Manipal is opened seven days a week, including the evening OPD.

Future Course Of Action

Endeavor is on for the hospital going paperless with HIS, electronic patient records and PACS.

By the month end, it would own a PET machine. Its organ transplant programme will cover liver, lung and heart; right now it conducts kidney transplants.

Robotic surgery is another future initiative. Another hospital is in the offing in Bangalore, which would be ready in two years. After leveraging on core strengths in the Southern region, gradually the Manipal Hospital will branch out to North.

sapnadogra@gmail.com