Spotlight

SRMC: A Growing Empire

What started as a medical college with 100 students, today is a 1,640-bed hospital offering advanced medical care. Nayantara Som chalks the path the Hospital has chosen to diversify.

The sprawling 175-acre campus of the 20-year Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute (SRMC), Chennai, has an old world charm with the campus dotted with trees, well manicured green lawns and open fields. But the institute is far from being pastoral. One look around will bring to your notice the several buildings under construction, which in a couple of months will open additional facilities for patients and medical students.

Located on the Chennai-Bangalore highway, SRMC houses an eight-storey medical centre and medical colleges, and is home to specialities like cardiac care, diabetes and endocrinology, an interventional cath lab for interventional radiology procedures, critical care, infertility, orthopaedics, minimally- invasive and daycare surgery, neuro-care services, transplant and lithotripsy services. With increasing facilities, the number of beds too have gone up to 1,640.

This is quite an achievement for SRMC, considering its journey that started back in 1985. Starting as a medical college with 100 students, and a free hospital, over the years it has set up a medical centre and nine medical colleges that offer 75 courses in health sciences, churns out a minimum of 3,500 students and caters to over 3,00,000 patients.

Recalls Joy Chakraborty, Administrator, SRMC, Chennai, "It has been a long journey. In 1985-86, it was a free hospital, by 1992-93 we took in patients for free treatment, while some chose to pay. A little after 1995, the number of patients willing to pay increased. It was only in 1998 that we decided to separate the free hospital from the private hospital. At the private hospital, around 40 per cent of the patient beds are subsidised, while at the free hospital, all services are free except for a few high-end investigative surgeries."

Demystifying SRMC’s Logo

SRMC's logo comprises a red triangle within which there is a bow and an arrow with the arrow pointing towards the top and within the arrow are intertwined two snakes facing the north. Each incorporation has a symbolic meaning. One side of the triangle represents education, the other side suggests research and the third side suggests healthcare. This together suggests that education, research and providing healthcare facilities constitutes the forte of SRMC. The bow with the arrow pointing upwards suggests that SRMC aims for the top. Lastly, the two snakes intertwined together advocate eternity suggesting that progress and process-a continuous movement forward.

Competing Through Innovation

"Specialists at our centre are concentrating on neurology and bone marrow transplantation" - Dr Krishna Seshadari Vice President Sri Ramachandra Health International, SRMC

Quality is what drives all operations at SRMC. The latest venture is the JCI accreditation the institute expects to receive in a couple of months. A survey around the medical centre is testimony to the extensive efforts put in by the management to comply with JCI standards. Posters in blue and white, giving instructions have replaced inconsistent stickers and posters, thus bringing uniformity in the centre. To reduce infection rates, more wash basins have been installed within the premises. The shower tap at the blood bank is another example of keeping infection at its minimum. Of the 1,300 clauses penned by JCI, SRMC authorities are zeroing in on standards that need to be adopted. A committee has also been formed to study the requirements, and to offer their recommendations, which is then taken up by the Medical Staff Executive body. Other standards include free water flow, type of water storage, electrical distribution system, type of flooring, type of clinical infrastructure, type of periodical check-ups and checking of medical equipment.

A collaboration with Harvard Medical International (HMI) in September 1994 proved to be a boon not just for the medical centre but even for the medical colleges. "We will celebrate our 10th anniversary along with HMI this year. They have been responsible for our series of education, quality and accreditation drives and faculty exchange. Our ambulatory care was the brainchild of HMI," says Dr Krishna Seshadari, VP, Sri Ramachandra Health International, SRMC.

Emphasis on quality has definitely reaped fruits for the institute. Experts say last fiscal was a "growth year for the institute" both qualitatively and quantitatively. Quantitatively, by the highest number of outpatients and occupancy rates being at an all time high. Qualitatively, growth shot up by 15-20 per cent, and once the new ambulatory care comes up, this will mean a further 30-35 per cent. "A large percentage of our net profit of Rs 10 crore is spent on charity. So, our financial performance will not be on par with other commercially run hospitals," says Ravi Sankar, Chief Financial Officer, SRMC.

Of the 1,640 beds, only 450 beds are 'earning' beds, the remaining are given at subsidised rates. "Our policy is to keep minimum profits," adds Sankar. Moreover, since 2002, the number of foreign patients has increased to 160 from 40 patients per year.

The Naming Ceremony

A patient suite at SRMC

Early on, the institution was the first of its kind in the city which offered patients all specialities. "Patients mainly came because they could avail of an entire treatment under one roof," says Chakraborty. This was possible as doctors were available at all times, since they were debarred from practicing in other institutions. In the 1990s, when privatisation was in vogue, the institution followed suit as it could help them cater to the needs of the patients. Thus, SRMC as a brand was born, although both the medical centre as well as its colleges were not in favour of it.

"We do not stretch that extra mile to brand ourselves. We adopt technologies, improvise our services often and update our research in possible fields. That has helped us evolve as a brand," points out Chakraborty.

What about competition? Competition, they believe, is all about complementing with other hospitals. "Competition is good. We do a lot of national and international work. We strategise innovations and accordingly take decisions," says Dr Seshadari. Regular feedback from patients and customers help the institute to zero in on achievements and requirements. These requests have led to the establishment of a separate division for international patients.

Employees too Benefit

For SRMC, another strong road to growth lies in its ability and to stress on programmes aimed at training all levels of employees. A four-year undergraduate programme, Allied Health Managers, with 30 different units, has been initiated. Students are trained for cardiac surgeries, laboratories, radiology, thus ensuring a steady stream of qualified technicians, technologies and professionals. Other than that, a physiotherapy college, a speech-hearing college, a nursing college, a pharmacy college and a management college also focus on hospital management.

"We have a system of training wherein we provide in-house orientation programmes for employees. A new recruit, irrespective of whether he or she has passed out from our own college, is asked to undergo an orientation programme. Different modules are designed for the purpose," says Chakraborty.

Higher calling

For SRMC, regularly investing in cutting-edge technology is now a norm. Perhaps, the most talked about ongoing project is the stem cell transplantation centre launched in January 2007. A joint venture with Chennai-based Life Cell (parent body Asia Cryo Cell), the institute now plans an exclusive private centre for stem cell transplantation. This multi-crore venture is the first of its kind in India where a hospital has joined hands to create a milestone in the field of stem cell therapy in India. "We are always on the look out for breakthrough opportunity that comes our way. We always wanted to translate research into medical trials. Stem cell therapy is bound to create waves, and at the moment, specialists at our centre are concentrating on neurology and bone marrow transplantation," informs Dr Seshadari.

SRMC also houses a sophisticated high-tech blood bank using an area of 10,000 sq feet, operating 24x7. "The Government approached us for this. The other new facility we have set up is the cell separator, whereby blood is differentiated into different components rather than using the frozen plasma technique," informs Chakraborty. The medical centre has also come up with a sophisticated cath lab dedicated for interventional radiology procedure.

This is not all. A seven-storied Ambulatory Care Block is expected to be ready soon. Here, almost four floors will be dedicated to outpatient and diagnostic services which is right now a part of the medical centre. This will provide more room for inpatient beds for the main Hospital. The Hospital is also going in for an advanced level of clinical HIS, which will keep a check on doctors' prescriptions. The vendor for this project is New Jersey-based company, Quintegra.

Other investments will be in PACS, a 64-slide CT scan, a four-dimensional echoes, and a PET Scan. "We will use these to teach our students," informs Dr Seshadari. The medical college will also have a new dentistry college within the campus and there are talks of one coming up overseas too.

The Hospital is not stopping at this. It plans to take up a large number of clinical research projects, be it insulin, basic sciences, environmental health, genetics and genomics. Currently, the chosen research is interventional cardiology and studies in stem cell research. "One of our forays in the next few years is to set up a top notch clinical research centre. We aspire to become a top notch research centre in the world," adds Dr Seshadari. With so much in hand, SRMC is on a roll.

nayantara.som@expressindia.com