Mission Successful

HOSMAN 2006, the first annual national conference of FHA was a huge success. The reason — parley with choicest of healthcare industry experts

EHM News Bureau

The advent of super specialties and the Consumer Protection Act have made it imperative for hospitals to ensure ultimate quality in their organisation. To cater to this need, Federation of Hospitals (FHA) organised HOSMAN 2006 to bring together all the hospital administrators along with hospital management students. The conference was held at Ooty from 25-27 August, 2006. It was the first annual national conference of FHA and saw exchange of ideas, knowledge and views on the management of healthcare to enhance professionalism in hospital management. Express Healthcare Management was the media partner for HOSMAN 2006, which saw numerous healthcare experts from all over India putting forward their views.

The inauguration of HOSMAN 2006 was initiated with lighting of Kuthuvilakku by Dr Ramesh Babu, General Secretary-FHA and Administrative Director, Meenakshi Mission Hospital, and other office bearers. About 200 delegates including students and senior hospital administrators from various parts of India were present.

Audience in rapt attention

The first day started with the welcome speech by Dr Babu, and was followed by paper presentations by the hospital management students. The first talk by Dr Selva Annamalai, Managing Director, Heartline Telemedical Services, Chennai, was on Telemedicine Initiatives. He demonstrated how a busy person in his office or at home with chest pain will be able to get an ECG done by himself with a pocket size instrument and transmit the message by landline to the diagnostic center where the ECG recording has been transmitted and the doctor with the help of a cardiologist will be able to read the ECG and by phone communicate the patient the necessary advice as to how to proceed further. The next talk was on the Role of Hospitals in Social Responsibility given by Dr RP Pai, Professor of Community Medicine and Public Health MAHE, Manipal, Karnataka. He spoke on how hospitals should be a part of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and the various ways in which hospitals can fulfil their corporate social responsibilities (CSR). He also suggested the norms the hospitals should follow when they execute CSR. This was followed by a presentation on Medical Tourism — Potentials & Pitfalls by Dr Arjun Rajagopal, Trustee & Medical Director, Sundaram Medical Foundation, Chennai. "Medical Tourism, which fetched Rs 1,500 crore last year, has the potential to earn 50,000 to 1,00,000 crore in the next 10 years," said Dr Rajagopal. The medico legal issues, the litigant attitude of the West, and the unpaid bills for which no way of recovery, all would stand in the way of welcoming such clients to the majority of Indian hospitals. In conclusion, he quoted a Chinese proverb, which talks of danger and opportunity. Yes. Medical tourism has potential for both. This saw the end of the first day of HOSMAN 2006.

U K Anandapadmanabhan, Sr Vice President, Kovai Medical Center & Hospital, Coimbatore

The next day started with a presentation on Hospital Accreditation by UK Anandapadmanabhan, Senior Vice President, Kovai Medical Center & Hospital, Coimbatore and has 20 years of experience in hospital administration. "From the last 5-6 years, hospital accreditation is happening in full swing in India. Hospital management methods like Six Sigma and ICRA are also pushing hospitals for accreditation," said Anandapadmanabhan. Hospital accreditation is directly linked with the quality of services offered by the hospitals. "Quality is doing things right the first time. For this, we should satisfy all the stated and implied needs of the patients," he said. "Quality assurance is required to provide adequate confidence to external and internal customers, ie both to the doctors and the patients," he informed. He said that hospitals must benchmark their quality status and there is a need to work on internal medical audit. He added that this is a bureaucratic hassle and like hotels and airports, hospitals should also have accreditation. "Medical tourism works as a catalyst in accreditation," he said. The cost of accreditation for a 600-bed hospital would come to around USD 10,000 and the organisation has to re-accredit itself every three years," he concluded.

This was followed by a session on Utilisation of Human Potential in Hospitals by Dr G Bakthavathsalam, Chairman, KG Hospital, Coimbatore. "Work force in hospitals is what drives them and makes hospitals the best of the lot," he said. Adding that in India, standards are set by the owner of the hospital and not by certified agencies. Hence, many hospitals are not aware of the basic tests and scans. “We only consider the academic qualification of doctors. The doctors must be approachable, sympathetic and empathetic. What is the use of a doctor who is able but not available?" signed off Dr Bakthavathsalam.

Next was a session by Dr Alexander Kuruvilla, CEO, Apollo, Ahmedabad on Making Healthcare Affordable and Accessible to Rural People. "The healthcare industry is in a position to help people out there. If we won't then who will? Ultimately our country will suffer," he expressed. Affordability to the poor can be taken care by health insurance and the private sector and the Government should work closely for this, he said. Dr Kuruvilla informed about the project named Yeshashvini which was done to provide health insurance in rural India and has now completed two years. "We cover pre-existing disease along with surgery cover. In the first year, we only had 77 hospitals enrolled with us and now we have 114," he concludes.

Vivek Shukla's presentation on Marketing Strategies for Hospitals stepped next. Shukla is a Hospital Marketing Consultant at Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh. He discussed about various rules to be followed while marketing a hospital and listed some points that can hamper the marketing process. Cut practise, default, knee jerk and copy cat are the points which are a strict no-no in hospital marketing. "Customer relationship is of utmost importance, as healthcare is a high involvement industry and word-of-mouth is the strongest tool," he opines. Adding, "The hospitals should always be ready for marketing wars. And the target is hit when they reach from customer satisfaction to customer delight." Also, he stressed the need to be unique, but in a relevant manner. "If other hospitals have their bed height at four feet and you make it three, it is irrelevant," stated Shukla. "Short term view and short cuts can be detrimental. Replace it by strategic thinking and vision," said Shukla, giving a final touch to his informative session.

Sybil Fernandes, Chief Finance Officer, Father Muller's Medical College Hospital, Mangalore, came up next with a presentation on Strategic Hospital Financial Management. She spoke about various financial controls, finance management and the need for networking and communication to be followed in any hospital. "Hospitals should have departmental manuals and reports need to be designed in a meaningful manner and should have specific deadlines. Also, ensure quarterly budget review, however small the organisation," she informed. She concluded by saying that the dual challenge today for hospitals is to be financially sound and be a profitable organisation.

Dr Vivek Desai, MD and CEO, Hosmac, Mumbai

Planning of Hospital Infrastructure came next with Dr Vivek Desai, MD and CEO, Hosmac, Mumbai, giving a presentation on it. "We lack knowledge about how to plan a hospital. Planning must be done keeping in mind the next 40 years," he opined. Adding the need of global benchmarks for hospital engineering in India. "The concern here is hospital buildings are highly engineered and usually the client's subject understanding is not much," he avered. He suggested the planning steps in the given manner: project conceptualisation, feasibility study, architectural design, project management and commisioning. "Always look at realistic cost, practical expenses and practical incomes," he suggested. The day came to an end by various interesting cultural programmes arranged by HOSMAN. Third day was flagged off by Rita Dutta, Senior Correspondent of Express Healthcare Management, by giving a session on Harmonious Relationship with the Media. She informed the hospital administrators on how they can improve their rapport with media houses. Dutta discussed various issues that needs to be sorted out to have a smooth relation among hospitals and the media. "We need you as much as you need us," she averred in her concluding statement.

Subsequent presentation was by Dr N Sethuraman, Founder Chairman, Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre, on Brand Building. "Branding is an experience, feeling of difference, and emotional relationship. It is difficult as it is intangible and the trust and confidence provided by the physicians should be high. "Multiprong brand development programme should be conducted every year by hospitals," he connoted in the end.

Health Insurance Industry in India, delivered by Deepak Mendiratta, MD, Health & Insurance Integrated, Noida. He presented it with striking figures in the health insurance industry. "Right now, health insurance is a demand-driven growth but this industry has huge potential, and it will grow manifold when insurance companies start promoting aggressively," Mendiratta stated. "Soon there would be entry of niche players in this market, the dependence of hospitals on insurance companies will increase and the pressures for adopting clinical protocols will rise," he concluded. Dr N Sethuraman Endowment Oration was flagged off during HOSMAN 2006, which was delivered by Dr Sanjiv Malik, CEO, Max Healthcare, New Delhi.

The audience was spell-bound when he put forward his practical theories. This was followed by the Vote of Thanks by Dr Ramesh Babu and the distribution of momento amongst the hospital administration students, who helped make this programme a success.