Innovation 08

'Technology would be the biggest driver for the healthcare industry'

Leaders unite at the 2nd National Conference on Healthcare Leadership organised by Padmashree College of Hospital Administration

The leaders of today amalgamated to ideate, implement and innovate concepts for hospitals of the future at Padmashree College of Hospital Administration, Bangalore. The annual conference called Innovation 08 was organised by Padmashree College of Hospital Administration that aimed to create a platform where one could enhance their knowledge about the recent developments in the field of healthcare administration. Express Healthcare was the official media partner of the event.

The verdict was clear. Quality is what patients expect and they are in no mood to compromise on that. It is only when administrators innovate and think out-of-the-box, they would be able to meet the rising demands in this changing dynamics.

UK Ananthpadmanabhan

Hence industry experts shared their views and gave some practical lessons to improve operational efficiency to the mangers of tomorrow.

The foundation of any good manager would be a good educational background and this is what UK Ananthpadmanabhan, President, Kovai Medical Center & Hospital, Coimbatore, and the Chief Guest of the event, stressed upon. He started off giving an overview of the past, present ad future healthcare scenario. "I think India has always been a very health-conscious society and we had the best healthcare system in the world. It's only post colonisation that Alloapthy crept in. But I firmly believe that a system that has stood the test of 1,000 years cannot be uprooted by a system that is just a few hundred years old," he said, amidst a huge round of applause.

When it comes to the future, technology and insurance would act as the fuel that will drive this ever growing industry. "Earlier, we used to receive cashless payments from around 10 per cent of our population which has now gradually risen to 30 per cent. There has been a slow but a steady progress in this sector."

Dr SV Joga Rao

After his idea sharing, it was time for the first speaker. The first session kick started with Dr SV Joga Rao, Legal Expert, Legal Excel, Bangalore who enlightened on 'Hospital Accreditation-Its legal Implications.' Taking cue from Ananthpadmanabhan, he said, "I do agree that insurance would be the panacea of healthcare, but it comes with the tag of alleged frauds by providers which you need to take care of."

When it came to rising accreditation frenzy amongst healthcare groups, he admitted that it is more of a marketing tool than a quality tool which only big corporate groups can afford.

He further cited a study over the reasons for the rise in accreditation. "The Harvard Medical International has quoted that increased competition is leading hospitals to differentiate themselves from all and get accreditation by internationally recognised healthcare evaluators. Accreditation becomes a good measurement tool to evaluate quality."

Whilst there are many accreditation bodies and many hospitals running for the same, the fundamental question that people need to be asked is "as to what are they accredited for" which means as to which arena have they been accredited for.

The next speaker Dr Lloyd Nazareth, Associate Vice President, Wockhardt Hospitals spoke on 'Building Organisational Excellence- One service Experience at a time.' He gave a glimpse of the successful business models worldwide in all kinds of industries and how they can be used in the healthcare space to improve efficiency. "Every time a patient is called a 'customer', an angel dies. This is a comment made by a US senior surgeon and head of a large hospital made in the 199s. Thankfully since then, things have dynamically changed in the healthcare industry. Management principles are trickling down in this industry as well which is like any service industry."

He further emphasises, "Cost of poor quality service can be as high as 30-40 per cent of an organisation's cost. They are in lost customers." "However," he clarifies, "customer satisfaction need not guarantee customer retention. A satisfied customer will still look to competition. Hence you need to constantly innovate and think out-of-the box to be one step ahead of competition."

Dr BK Rao

While speaking on 'Glimpse of Future Technology in Hospitals: what hospital managers need to do today to be prepared for a different hospital tomorrow?', Ananthpadnabham cited examples of hospitals worldwide that are tech-savvy and how he has tried to integrate some of those technologies like the pneumatic system pipeline, touch screen, bluetooth in his own hospital. "When I decided to implement touch screen in our hospital, everyone was apprehensive. But to our surprise, the maximum users are the ones who are from rural area who are not very confident in communicating with the receptionist."

Dr BK Rao, Chairman, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, shared his thoughts on improving patient flow in the theme titled 'Useful ideas in patient flow: if it is good for the patient it is always good for the hospital.' "The main objective is safety, reliability and efficacy. People will always remember how they were treated. Communication is extremely important as often people complain about a female anaesthetic patient being transported by a male ward boy. Hence, there needs to be right training to the transportation staff."

This event was a welcome break from the routine lectures and provided a platform to learn management principles straight from the horse's mouth. It successfully triggered innovation and prepared young minds to become the healthcare managers of the future.

EH News Bureau