Healthcare System in India

In India, we don’t have a National Health Insurance or a universal healthcare system for all its citizens, because of which private healthcare sector is getting more importance. Mostly urban population is availing the services from private healthcare sector as majority of rural population are unable to afford the expenses. According to the World Bank, only about 25% of India’s population had some form of health insurance in 2010. But, a 2014 Indian Government study found this to be an over-estimate, and claimed that only about 17% of India’s population was insured. Public healthcare is free for those below the poverty line.

The Ministry Of Health was established in 1947. The government then introduced a series of five- year health plans. The National Health Policy was endorsed by Parliament in 1983. In order to bring Universal access to health, Indian Government launched the National Rural Health Mission in 2005.

Private and Public healthcare system

There is a great discrepancy in the quality of healthcare services provided by private and public healthcare system. In public health hospitals, there is lack of physician, diagnostic appliances, apathetic behavior of the healthcare providers and unhygienic environmental conditions. These above factor play a major role in footfall as people below poverty line don’t have any choice and are bound to avail healthcare service from the public health hospitals due to their economic conditions.

 In contrast to that, people from good economic background will avail the services from private hospitals as their quality of service is far better than the public hospitals.

Challenges of healthcare system in India

There are many challenges in Indian healthcare sector, few most important are:

1. Lack of skilled healthcare providers
2. Lack of resources
3. Lack of infrastructure
4. Low budget by Government for healthcare sector
5. Rural population is neglected
6. Improper implementation of health awareness program.

Solution to Above Challenges

Fund, resources, infrastructure, skilled professionals are very important but the most important aspect is awareness. Unless proper awareness of health is not there, no one from rural population will come and avail the services. So, first and foremost thing is awareness, for that we need lot many volunteers who can take initiative to bring awareness about health and benefits of healthy life style among rural population.

Volunteers we can get through Government initiative via CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility). Under CSR, corporate are required to spend some amount in social cause. So, government can make it mandatory that Rural Health Awareness should be one of the most important aspects of CSR.

We need to start from the scratch, right with the people from slums who are living in very pathetic condition. If they do not have any work for their livelihood, then how will they think of their health and hygiene? So, the literate percent of Indian Population will have to take responsibility of uneducated and illiterate group of people. This is not a One Man show; together we all can make a difference.

SWACHH BHARAT ABHIYAN launched by our honorable Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi is a very good initiative towards hygiene and health. As we all know health and hygiene are two sides of a same coin. Hygiene keeps you healthy. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan will be worthy if we implement this in our day to day life.

Implementation along with creation is very important to make your creation a successful endeavor.

By:
Dr. Rukmini Paul
Student, INLEAD         

IoT- Revolutionizing Indian Healthcare

Imagine a scenario where your wearable healthcare device detects an asynchronous heart beat which is immediately signalled as an alarming sign to your physician who in further with EICU immediately starts with preventive measures. It results in a life being saved with minimal time loss. This is what IoT and its importance is. 

‘Internet of Things’ means that consumers now have the power to take control of their own health in a highly personalized manner.

Everyone loves the Internet. In today’s scenario, we are more digitally connected than physically connected. World is getting smaller day by day and healthcare has changed in a big way from hospital care to physician’s care to care of patient at home.It has become more customer centric. As familiar surroundings has a positive outcome and facilitate healing of the person,more of the hospitals are providing the domiciliary care to the patients. IoT focusses on streamlining of healthcare delivery with better outcomes and increased efficiency which further help in making healthcare more affordable. It is the network of physical objects that are connected to the internet allowing them to send, receive and exchange data.

Internet of Things can help in equipping medics with cloud-based tools that allow them to ‘consult’ with patients who aren’t even in the same room, or even the same city.

Indian Healthcare though have progressed a lot since last decade but still we are lagging behind. As its said that health of country is measured by the health status of citizens, India with GDP of 4 percent still is lagging behind BRIC nations. Additional requirement of 1.8 million beds and 1.54 million doctors is still an understatement. Health for all which talks about universal access to all the citizens is still a promise which is getting difficult to be fulfilled and achieved. IoT can be an answer to capture real time information, collate it, analyse it and then share it with the stakeholders to create a connected environment.

India has a huge potential though to overcome all these challenges. IoT have a huge impact on Chronic disease management,Remote Clinical Monitoring and Assisted living. As healthcare focus is changing more from curative to preventive and promotive aspect, IoT with the help of wearable technology can be an answer for providing the same.

IoT can help India achieve a paradigm shift and revolutionize Indian Healthcare. Consumers, patients and those working in medical professions will all need to alter their mindsets to take full advantage of this revolution in healthcare and be provided with innovative methods to motivate a change in behavior. And so, it will be the companies who are able to offer cutting-edge, highly personalized solutions – that are both meaningful and trustworthy – who will become our new health mentors.

So, welcome to the next era of connectivity in Healthcare. 

By:

Mr. Anurag Bora

Student, INLEAD

INLEADers @Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon

Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon is a 400 bedded multi-specialty hospital. The world-renowned hospital has around 55 specialty departments with a world class customer service to cater to many HNIs and foreign patients. INLEAD recently facilitated an Industry Visit to the hospital in order to provide its Jan’16 Batch Healthcare Administration students a deeper understanding about the working of a hospital and its various departments.

The visit gave a practical exposure to students, especially to those who haven’t worked in a hospital earlier. They were shown around all the different facilities in the hosoital like OPD, IPD, Emergency, Nuclear Medicine, Radiology, etc. The students also got an insight into the clock work activities that are performed to ensure smooth functioning of all facilities such that customers are not inconvenienced for even a small issue.

Post the campus tour, students were taken to the hospital auditorium where they had an interaction with the Medical Quality Head, HR Head and Talent and Development Head. Students got an insight into all these three major functions and were made aware about how opportunities are generated at Fortis. This will surely serve as a boon to students in the near future.

Hospitals- Go Green!

Gone are the days when hospital used to have a deadly atmosphere and an unpleasant odor being a pre-requisite of patient getting more ill during the course of treatment. With rapid development of technology, consumer awareness increasing to greater extent and hospitals taking a social responsibility of protecting environment and patient, Green Hospital concept came into being.

A green hospital is one that aims to be environmental friendly, utilizes renewable resources, reduces waste by implementing green practices and enhances patient well-being. The concept of a green hospital was perpetuated a few years back by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) through the release of their Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards for building construction. It works on the principle of the three R’s – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. These hospitals are very innovative and reduce the emission of carbon to a large extent. Although the initial cost of construction for green hospitals are high, it has a long term effect in reducing energy cost by 20-40% and water saving upto 35-40%.

Hospital planning companies should plan and design hospitals in such a way that they maximize the utilization of day-light rather than artificial light. One of the critical factors to be considered is improving the quality of air by using an air sterilizer and certain species of plants, which absorb pollutants. Gardens and parks provide aesthetic beauty, increase patient delight and enhance their well-being thereby helping them feel better faster. Implementing various tools like lean management and Six Sigma would help in reducing waste.

Kohinoor Hospital, Mumbai is the first Platinum Rated Green Hospital in India. Many others have also come up to follow green concept in the past few years, such as Asian Healthcare, Matushri Monghiben Ramji Savla Hospital and Research Centre, Max Balaji Hospital, Fortis Hospital, Continental Hospitals Ltd, Lazarus Hospitals Ltd, Govt. Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College & Hospital, ESI Hospital, Medica Hospitals Pvt. Ltd.

As per Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), introducing green concepts in the healthcare facilities can help address National issues like infection, epidemics, handling of bio-medical waste, water efficiency, energy efficiency, reduction in fossil fuel use for commuting, consumer waste and in general conservation of natural resources. Most importantly, these concepts can enhance patients' health, recovery and well-being.

Hence, it can be rightly said, Green Hospitals are not future oriented but the only sustainable thing.

- Mr. Anurag Bora, Student, INLEAD 

FICCI - HEAL Conference 2016

Indian healthcare sector is estimated to reach $280 bn by 2020. However, unprecedented demand due to demographic changes and disease patterns calls for a complete re-engineering of India's healthcare. The FICCI HEAL conference aimed to shift focus to re-engineering India’s Healthcare and also focus on innovation. The conference provides a platform for industry members to come together and deliberate on emerging trends and strategies. The ultimate goal is to move closer to provision of universal healthcare.

In order to keep our Healthcare Administration students abreast with the changing healthcare scenario of the country, INLEAD arranged for them to be a part of the FICCI HEAL conference 2016. The two day conference was extremely enlightening for students as they got to listen to a large number of business heads in the Healthcare sector.

The conference commenced with an opening session by Ms. Shobha Mishra Ghosh (Sr. Director, FICCI) which was followed by other members of FICCI.

Mr. J P Nadda(Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare) was the keynote speaker and he talked about giving importance to Healthcare system rather than Hospital care System and also National Indicators should successfully address both Communicable and Non-Communicable diseases.

Directors from Eminent Corporate hospitals like Max, Apollo, Fortis, Columbia Asia, P.D. Hinduja and other delegate members (Prof. Stephen D. Sisson, Ms. Sasa Bozic, Mr. Matthew Eliot, Dr. Peter Bauer) were present and panel discussions were conducted on important and emerging issues of Indian Healthcare.

‘Triple Aim or a Triple Threat’ by Prof.Stephen D.Sisson talked about increased Patient Satisfaction and Outcome with decrease in cost of healthcare. This was followed by a talk on Organ Donation by Dr.(Col)Avnish K.Seth) which  was a real eye-opener about the statistics of number of donors required in India.

Panel discussions were focused on important topics like re-engineering Indian Healthcare, Emerging Power of the Healthcare Consumer, Human Resources in Healthcare – Challenges and Solutions, Emerging Financing Models in Indian Healthcare, Technologies driving new models in Healthcare , unlocking India’s potential as the Emerging Hub for Healthcare Start-ups and Role of Innovations in Healthcare.

Towards the end of the two-day conference, INLEADers came back with truckloads of knowledge and a refreshed enthusiasm to do something concrete and meaningful in their field. 

Medical Errors- A Reality Check

Medical errors are unfortunate but preventable adverse effect of Medical care. Cases of wrong limb being operated, administration of double dose of medicine beyond the permissible limit, wrong diagnosis of disease, health care associated infections are some of the Medical errors which we are coming across every day. But, reality is that Medical errors is reported as 3rd reason causing death in US. WHO lists it among the top 10 killers in the world. Harvard University study in 2013 estimated that 5.2 million injuries occur across India each year due to medical errors and adverse events-majority of them being preventable.

Medical errors are associated with inexperienced physicians and nurses, new procedures, extremes of age, and complex or urgent care. Poor communication (whether in one's own language or, as may be the case for medical tourists, another language), improper documentation, illegible handwriting, inadequate nurse-to-patient ratios, and similarly named medications are also known to contribute to the problem. Patient actions may also contribute significantly to medical errors. The vast majority of medical errors result from faulty systems and poorly designed processes versus poor practices or incompetent practitioners.

“To err is human” but to not accept the err and not to take preventable measures for is grossly inhuman. Majority of errors go unreported and un documented because of the fear of blame and reprimands. Our culture only believe in identifying and putting a blame to the person who has committed the mistake but fail to identify how, when and where. 

Data says that there is one in 1,000,000 chance of traveler being harmed in an aircraft and on the other side there is one in 300 chance of patient being harmed while given health care. Key word is prevention as Patient Safety being the utmost goal of any healthcare organization. Measures like informed Consent,availability of a second practitioner's opinion, voluntary reporting of errors, root cause analysis, reminders to improve patient medication adherence,hospital accreditation, and systems to ensure review by experienced or specialist practitioners should be diligently followed.

- Dr. Anupreet Vig,

Faculty, INLEAD

Importance of Fitness in the 21st Century

Picturize this – It’s 6 o’clock in the morning. You wake up and peep through the window. What’s the most common sight you’ll get to see? Apart from the winter fog, you’ll see an army of uncles and aunties, grandpas and grandmas walking briskly up and down the alley or the nearby jogger’s park. They do this mostly in hopes of “losing weight“. But, how much have they changed ever since they started their “morning walks”? 

Most often than not, these morning walks are usually touted as “the tool” for getting fit. Next one is yoga. However, “practitioners” still don’t achieve their goals. So let’s find out what are the effective ways to get fit. Oh wait, lets understand fitness first. 

Fitness - the way we see it

Fitness is a concept that’s majorly misunderstood and every individual seems to have his/ her own definition of this concept. What we need to understand is that fitness isn’t just one thing but a combination of five components. If you want to get fitter, you need to improve these five components within yourself.

It doesn’t matter who you are as an individual (housewife, corporate executive, athlete, actor, teenager or geriatric {Senior Citizen} etc.), physiologically all human beings are the same. Hence, there isn’t a single category of people who wouldn’t need to work on all the components of fitness.

So what are these five components of fitness? Let’s have a look:

1.       Cardio-vascular Endurance: the ability of the cardiovascular and the respiratory system to transport oxygenated blood to the working skeletal muscles for an extended period of time without fatiguing.

2.       Muscular Endurance: Ability of a skeletal muscle or group of skeletal muscles to continuously contract at submaximal levels for an extended period of time without fatiguing.

3.       Musculoskeletal Strength: It is the combined strength of muscles, bones, tendons and ligaments. It includes muscular power which is defined as the ability of a skeletal muscle or group of skeletal muscles to perform maximally against load/ resistance in a given timeframe.

4.       Flexibility: it is the ability of the body to sustain full and complete range of motion (ROM) around joints.

5.       Ideal Body Composition: It is the ability of the individual to maintain the ideal ratio of adipose tissue (AKA Fat under the skin) to lean body mass. A man should have a body fat percentage of no more than 15% and a woman’s body fat ratio shouldn’t go beyond 20%.

So how do we work around the 5 components?

These five components are all inter-related. When you take a walk around the park or go running or rigorous dancing or even swimming, you’re only addressing one aspect of fitness – cardio-vascular endurance. Yoga is best for flexibility alone- these postures do not give musculoskeletal strength or cardiovascular endurance. Resistance training will make you strong. And, in spite of doing these three types of activities, if you don’t watch your food habits, you’ll still not be called fit because bad food habits will add to fat in your body.

After all, yoga won’t make you better at lifting heavy household items when the maid bunks work. And neither will your morning, evening or even afternoon walks let you do that. Remember, fitness is an integral part of life today. The fitter you are, the more productive you will be in office.  

Prosenjit Sarkar,

Student, INLEAD

Jan 2016 batch, INBM

Do Non-Medicos make good Healthcare Administrators?

According to a survey done by Frost and Sullivan, the healthcare industry is expected to grow at a rate of 17-22% by the year 2020. This growth can be attributed to rise in incomes, easier access to high-quality healthcare facilities and greater awareness amongst the consumers. Simple derivations of the above facts lead us to the conclusion that there is a definitive increase in the demand. And, balancing this increase in the demand, the supply of the concerned product will also have to increase at the same pace. So, which means more Hospitals and more managers to manage these facilities. 

With the growth of the healthcare industry has come the simultaneous growth of  Hospital Administrators- “The New Age Influencer”. They are the leaders who often operate as the “face” or “first point of contact” for their organization. The big question here is who is a better administrator, a medico or a non-medico?

Health care administrators must always maintain professionalism in behavior and presence. They must be proficient at adjusting to new developments in technology, legal matters and policies. Apart from being flexible, creative, analytical and organized they should most importantly be able to effectively communicate with people at all professional levels, specialties and roles. An effective hospital manager should be aware of what is going on in their department or facility, and should have details of all employees’ daily responsibilities.

A bachelor’s degree in health administration is typically minimum requirement for entry level positions in healthcare administration. However, it is important to note that those who hold a bachelor’s degree might not be qualified for higher positions, and thus their chances for advancement could be limited. A master’s degree in healthcare administration is a more common educational path for those who wish to reach upper management, and can open doors to positions with much more responsibility.

Nowhere in the academic eligibility or personal trait requirement is it mandated that you require a healthcare degree to become an administrator. For me, it hence becomes a myth that “medicos make better administrator”. If I need to quote names for non-medicos who have succeeded more than their medico counterparts, the list will be endless.

According to Dr. S K Biswas, Academy of Hospital Administration (AHA), “I believe non-medicos can make better administrators because unlike doctors their minds are less occupied. Therefore, they are better performers. On the other hand, the skills of a doctor should not be wasted especially in developing countries where the doctor to patient ratio is already low. Moreover, most of the work health administrators do in administration doesn’t require medical knowledge.”

Summarizing the entire discussion, I would say, that it isn’t “what you were” but it is “what you are” and “what you will be” that matters!

- Ms. Ginny Kaushal

  Faculty, INLEAD 

Is it ethical to market Healthcare?

The debate about whether it is ethical to market healthcare or not has been on like forever. Traditionally, healthcare marketing was limited to only “word of mouth” and now it has reached a point where it includes everything and anything ranging from customized food to the patient’s travel package in the most exotic locations as an adjunct to his healthcare.

Can we actually compare two extravagantly expensive and lavish corporate hospitals with each other and say one is less than the other. Is it morally correct to say that one hospital is doing better than its competitors or their doctors are more qualified than the ones working with others? Maybe not, maybe there is hardly any difference in the scope of services these two are providing and the efforts and budget they are sparing for attaining the wow levels of satisfaction amongst their savvy customers (read patients). How many of these are real differences and how many are just perceived differences?

What has led to this trend?

So, what has led to this “Star Wars” in a profession as noble as healthcare? It’s the sudden growth of the corporate hospitals, globalization of healthcare trends, medical tourism, increasing customer centric approach and increased number of private players in the industry which has contributed to this hoard of new-fangled selling strategies. Along with this come the unethical practices, false promises, gimmick marketing and fraud claims. So how does a patient differentiate between a genuine customer communication made to introduce a new innovative technology and a claimant indulging in act of puffery?

The Solution

I think, all we need to focus here is on drawing the line. Healthcare Marketing shouldn’t be focusing on portraying yourself as superior than the other where in reality you are not. Healthcare Marketing should rather be concentrating on highlighting your efforts towards building your brand values and working towards the ultimate focus of patient centric approach.

If done appropriately, ethical healthcare marketing can get you more profits, patients and cases you want and build your brand image as you have missioned.

So, I think, in the end, it is all about doing it with the right attention and hopefully the healthcare representatives will soon choose to follow this path rather than going for over-the-top marketing tactics.

-Ms. Ginny Kaushal

 Faculty, INLEAD 

Capacity Building in Hospitals: From Knowing to Doing!

Albert Einstein once rightly said, “Education is not the learning of the facts, but the training of the mind to think.” Learning is an ongoing process. One learns with all the experiences and people that they encounter on a daily basis.  The world today is advancing at such a supersonic speed that what was in trend yesterday becomes a stale news tomorrow.  Hence, there’s a continuous needs to innovate and reinvent yourself every day in order to survive.  Capacity Building is one such process which helps us to achieve this. 

Capacity Building in health is basically “the development of sustainable skills, organizational structures, resources and commitment to health improvement in health and other sectors, in order to prolong and multiply health gains many times over”. One of the main components of capacity building is Skills development, which entails creating and providing knowledge and training to professionals within the respective organizations.

Your staff might have a current level of competency and skill set which is at par with the current industry benchmarks but as the time progresses or as the industry sets its new yardsticks, the skills which were once sufficient and up to date become trivial by the then standards. So, the mantra is to continuously keep building your capacity. 

A study done in Two Intensive Care Units of a 500 Bedded multi-specialty hospital of Delhi NCR echoed the same thing. The report showed the significant positive impacts a particular training program can have  on improving the Knowledge and Practices of Critical care nurses.

During the study, a structured questionnaire was developed in consultation with   WHO Standard Precaution of infection control. The findings of the study showed that the majority of the nurses were females in the age group of 20-30 and had good (KAP 81-90%) Knowledge, Attitude and Practice related to Standard Precautions for Infection Control. The results further stated that there is a significant impact of Knowledge and Attitudes of critical care nurses on their self-reported practices. The study also analyzed the impact of a training intervention on the KAP Scores of Nurses and showed that training has a positive impact and significantly increases knowledge levels related to standard precautions of Infection Control.

The study thus concludes that as Knowledge and Attitude of the Critical care nurses significantly affects their practices for infection control, it becomes imperative for the hospitals to ensure that the nurses have a good level of knowledge and positive attitude for infection control. By implementing regular training programs we can ensure that the staff has sound knowledge and positive attitudes and hence we can inculcate an environment of patient safety. Skill development will not only help in building capacity of efficiently trained staff in healthcare organizations but will also safeguard the basic right of patients of having a safe and healthy environment during their stay at the hospital.

“Everyday is a learning process. Life is a marathon that needs a lot of perseverance.”

-Ginny Kaushal, 

 Faculty, INLEAD 

Images Courtesy- Google Images 

Effective Patient-Physician Communication - Key to Effective Patient Care

          News Headlines:  Communication breakdown leads to Patient Death

A 67-year-old patient, referred to emergency with a suspected transient ischemic attack. He was seen by a junior doctor on duty, who arranged a CT scan for the following morning. The radiologist was not able to report the scan straight away, but the patient was told that he could go home and that his doctor would be contacted in due course with the result of his tests.Two weeks later, the patient was found dead. 

Yes, Dead. You read it right.

What went wrong?

The hospital in which the patient was admitted was changing their systems from paper records to electronic records. The radiologist had lodged his report in the electronic system, but this had not been transferred to the patient’s case notes, hence it could not be communicated to the doctor which ultimately costed the patient his life.

The current scenario

Courtesy- http://healthbizinforma.com

According to the Joint Commission, which is a United States-based organization that accredits health care organizations and programs in the United States, “Medical Errors” appeared on the National Center for Health Statistic’s list of the top 10 causes of death in the United States,—ahead of accidents, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease, as well as AIDS, breast cancer, and gunshot wounds. If such is the case with developed countries,we can only predict the situation in developing and under-developed nations. More specifically, the Joint Commission cites “Communication Failures” as the leading root cause for medication errors, delays in treatment, and wrong-site surgeries, as well as the second most frequently cited root cause for operative and postoperative events and fatal falls.

The way ahead

Responding to the current scenario,International bodies like JCI (Joint Commission International) have introduced International patient safety goals which focus on the importance of effective communication in healthcare settings and how it leads to patient safety. National standards like National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare (NABH) have also emphasized on the need of effective communication regarding treatment, prognosis, discharge and patient rights.

Safe practices and effective patient-centered communication is the basis of quality care. The first visit for a patient is a crucial encounter that can either lead to the development of a therapeutic patient-doctor relationship or end in patient harm or extreme dissatisfaction. The entire process from entry to discharge has to be completed within a stipulated time frame and hence it becomes imperative for all the crucial communications to be made within that time with regard to treatment plan, possible complications, medication, prevention techniques etc.  A review of reports from the Joint Commission reveals that communication failures were implicated at the root of over 70 percent of sentinel events.

Courtesy- www.medicineforchange.com

Patient Physician communication plays the most vital role in building a good doctor patient relationship and eventually good care. While modern and sophisticated technologies may be used for medical diagnosis and treatment, inter-personal communication is the primary tool by which the physician and the patient exchange necessary information. Hence, the healthcare facilities need to make extra efforts in ensuring that they treat the patient with the best Patient Physician communication along with the treatment.

Ginny Kaushal, 

Faculty, INLEAD 

Healthcare Administration as a Career Choice

Chanakya once said, “A person who cannot decide his goal, simply cannot win.” Clarity of mind and a determined approach towards the goal is the reason for the success of all the Ambanis, Adanis and all the other successful people that we rave about. They became what they are today because they had a clear goal in mind and the courage and passion to diligently work towards it.

In order to provide our Healthcare Administration students with that clarity of mind, INLEAD recently facilitated an industry expert workshop by Dr. P.N. Kakar on the prospects of Healthcare Administration as a career choice.

Dr. P.N. Kakar, Director-Medical Services, Anesthesia & Critical Care (Surgical), Panacea New Rise Hospital, Gurgaon, is an eminent personality in the healthcare sector with over 32 years of experience in Critical Care & Anesthesia. He has an extraordinary track record of giving anesthesia to over 75,000 surgical cases.

The session, which lasted for two and a half hours, proved to be an extremely enchanting and mind-stimulating experience for the students.

Talking about the role of healthcare administrators, Dr. Kakar emphasized that Healthcare administrators are like the leaders of the pack as they work as an interface between the internal management and outside community. He further discussed about the various types of hospital administrators, their scope of employment, job profile, key responsibility areas and salary potential prevalent in the field.

 Dr. Kakar even shared experiences from his three decades long career in order to give the student’s an insider opinion about the working of the industry.


The lecture concluded with Dr. Kakar providing the students with a few expert tips on keeping abreast with new technologies, laws and regulations in order to become a successful and efficient hospital administrator. This was followed by an extremely enthusiastic and interactive question answer round.

Technology in Healthcare, the new member!

India’s healthcare professional and infrastructure shortage is one of the major reasons for its high mortality rate. According to statistics available from World Health, India ranks among the lowest in the number of hospital beds per 1,000 people. With just 0.9 beds per 1,000 people, the country is far below the global average of 2.9 beds.

In an effort to change this scenario and provide the healthcare industry with the best lot of Healthcare Administrators, INLEAD recently facilitated an Industry Visit to Columbia Asia Hospital, Gurgaon.  The visit to the 100 bedded multi-specialty hospital was a part of the institute’s continuous Corporate Training Initiative for its students.

The industry visit provided INLEADers with a great opportunity to closely observe the working of an International Hospital like Columbia. They also came face to face with various modern and international technologies being employed by different departments of the hospitals for various hospital processes.

Technology has now become an integral part of the modern day healthcare. A lot of healthcare of the present and the future have their foundation in Technology.

The visit began with the hospital’s HR Manager briefing the students about the hospital and then taking them for a facility tour. The hospital staff was more than welcoming towards the students and answered their each and every question with much enthusiasm.

Columbia Asia Hospitals Pvt. Ltd. is known in the industry for their clean, affordable, efficient and accessible Hospitals. It is one of the first healthcare companies to enter the Indian market through 100 % Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The hospital established in 2008 has been successful in becoming one of the prominent names in healthcare in Gurgaon in no time.

Management and Healthcare- the new best friends

For most of us hospitals have always been synonymous with Doctors and nurses as these are the people with whom we mostly interact with while in a Hospital.  But, there is more to a hospital than just them. Every hospital has an army of people managing the daily working of the hospital in order to make sure that each and every patient is treated at the right time and by the right specialist doctor.  They are the ones who foresee that each department works smoothly and the hospital is able to meet its healthcare objective.

In order to make our healthcare administration students acquaint with the basic functioning of a Hospital and its services, INLEAD recently organized a visit to Max Super Specialty Hospital, a 504 bedded super-specialty hospital located in the heart of South Delhi, Saket. The hospital divided into East and West Wings, is one of the premier names in the healthcare industry.

Healthcare in India has grown at an unprecedented pace over the last ten years and has now become one of the largest sectors in India-- both in terms of employment and revenue. India with its well-trained pool of medical professionals is considered as a major player in the healthcare industry all around the world.

The budding Healthcare professionals of INLEAD had an awe inspiring and knowledgeable experience at the Industry visit. Meeting the hospital’s experienced management team gave them an extensive exposure of how to run and manage a large chain of hospital like Max. Accompanied by the Hospital’s HR representative, INLEADers were given a facility tour of the hospital and its various departments.

The visit gave the students great insights into the in-patient and support areas of a Hospital. It also gave them a broad overview of the industry that they are going to enter in the near future.
INLEAD believes in a perfect amalgamation of practical knowledge with theoretical knowledge and such Industry visits are a step towards just that.