Seminar

'Governance is about Processes & Not about Ends'

The 10th national seminar organised by Symbiosis Centre of Healthcare, Pune addressed diverse issues in healthcare

The learned and well-known experts of the healthcare industry congregated at 10th national seminar of Symbiosis Centre of Healthcare, Pune to address key issues in the healthcare sector. The four-day seminar attracted around 450 delegates and students from across the nation. Healthcare in all its dimensions were deliberated upon— be it the latest medico-legal issues, quality assurance and accreditation, corporate governance in healthcare, IT, branding, health insurance and healthcare financing or healthcare education.

Speaking on HR Policies and Labour Laws, advocate Malegaonkar said, "There are laws which define 'workmen' in an industry. So, even hospital employees are considered workmen as dispensary falls under the ambit of the industry. A doctor who is a consultant is not a workman but an employed doctor retained by the hospital is considered a workman." He further highlighted as to what is meant by 'industrial dispute.' "Section K of Industrial Disputes Act- 1947 defines industrial dispute as any dispute or difference between employer and employee, employer and employers, workmen and workmen. But the nature of the dispute should be such that employer should be able to remedy the dispute. For example, workmen of JJ Hospital cannot go on strike against the management over solving the Kashmir issue!"

Prior to this informative talk, was an interactive discussion on branding by Marketing Consultant Vivek Shukla. "To create brand loyalty and brand difference, you need to create top-of-the-mind awareness. If I ask you about who was the second person to go the moon, chances are high that you may not recollect. But everyone knows about who was the first person to land there. You need to create a niche. You need to market the experience instead of advertising first-of-its-kind equipment because at the end of the day, nobody cares or remembers about the latest machine you have got. They would rather want to know what does it 'feel' like to be in your hospital. It is best to keep it simple and avoid medical jargon as much as possible."

Leaving aside branding, the much debated discussion was the Clinical Establishment Act which is yet to be passed. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) is strongly opposing this act wherein clinical establishments of different systems shall be classified into different categories as may be prescribed by Central Government from time to time, and these standards would differ from local needs.

Said Dr Devendra Shirole, President of Maharashtra State, IMA, "Health is a State subject and the proposed legislation is retrograde in nature. There are already adequate regulations in different states and this bill will duplicate harassment. It will pave way to 'inspector raj' and increase the cost of the treatment. Most medical bodies, for instance the Medical Council of India, since the past 10 years are indeed dormant and you need to make them functional first. It is a classic case of who will watch the watchdogs. The IMA strongly opposes this bill." Echoed Brig Joe Curian, President, Global Hospitals, who was extremely vocal against this Bill. "There is always this perception that all the seats of wisdom are sitting in Delhi. There is no co-relation with the problem and solution. Uniform standard kills creativity. This bill doesn't take into account all stakeholders and would further encourage babudom and corruption."

After much introspection and contemplating over the adverse effects of the Clinical Establishment Act, it was time for another educating lecture by Dr YP Bhatia, MD, Astron, who spoke on corporate governance in healthcare. "Governance is about processes and not about ends. It is also a pre-conceived notion that corporate governance can be effectively practiced only in private institutes. The best example is the Hong Kong healthcare system wherein majority of the services is public and they are functioning beautifully under corporate governance. Hence, the principles of corporate governance can be applied in any kind of organisation, private or public. Governance impacts the entire organisation. No longer can you have a board which can sit back and relax."

When it came to insurance, Dr Nilima Kadambi, Head of Risk Handling, Swiss Re, felt that it is only micro-insurance that is the most sustainable and effective model that will succeed in a country like India. "Forty per cent of those hospitalised are pushed below the poverty line. Today, 75 per cent of healthcare expenditure is out-of-pocket which is too high by far and definitely not a healthy model of financing. Insurance is possibly the most effective and the only cost-effective solution that will cut across all the socio-economic conditions in India."

To sum it up, the four-day event was an excellent networking and educative platform for healthcare management students to interact with experts from the industry, so that they can move beyond the world of theories and get a reality check of the ground situation.

EH News Bureau