eHEALTH-June-2011-[24-26]-Patients are true Beneficiaries of Accreditations-Vibhu Talwar

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Vibhu Talwar Chief Operating Officer Moolchand Medcity

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“Patients are true beneficiaries of accreditations”

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oolchand has been one of the foremost healthcare providers for over five decades now. Can you reflect upon Moolchand’s journey over the years?

For over five decades we have been providing healthcare services to three generations of Delhites with care and dedication. Our vision at Moolchand is to create a truly unique institution that delivers world-class healthcare with a conscience of trust. As a result, Moolchand has built an outstanding legacy of touching people’s lives.

Millions of people owe a debt of gratitude to and share a special bond with Moolchand due to its unparalleled legacy of philanthropy.

We have played an instrumental role in the development of institutional healthcare services and have long-term relationships with the government and leading corporates. We pride ourselves on having a range of comprehensive offerings to meet the healthcare needs of institutional clients. In addition, we have worked with multiple institutions to develop offerings tailored to their specific needs.

Our commitment to redefine healthcare has resulted in Moolchand winning innumerable awards and accolades for quality and excellence over the years. As a result,

patients can count on consistent and extraordinary quality. At Moolchand, we take pride in being differentiated by our DNA of uncompromising ethics and our tradition of ‘seva’. For Moolchand, healthcare is not a business, but a vehicle to make a difference and create a better world. We do understand that modern healthcare is expensive and are focused on being more affordable to our consumers than other hospitals of equivalent quality.

On an average, how many in and out-patients does Moolchand get daily?

Generally, we receive 30-40 patient requests for IPD cases and get 300500 OPD cases on daily basis.

What are the various technologies currently installed at your hospital?

What portion of your budget do you set aside for technology installation?

At Moolchand, we are using the electronic medical records (EMR) as computer-based medical records for our patients. We are India’s first multi-specialty hospital to get connected with Akhil Systems Pvt. Ltd. for an integrated hospital management system (HMS) process. We use ‘lotus Notes’ as a knowledge management portal whereas now we do have a separate intranet portal based on sharepoint named as Veda.

We do have the facility for online appointment system on our corporate

website and barcoding technique to reduce medication errors in laboratory testing methods. Our Laboratory has been upgraded with a series of fully automated diagnostic equipments like coagulator, ESR, cyto— centrifuge, bio safety cabinet and steam sterilizer. Our external counter pulsation (ECP) department at Moolchand Heart Hospital has been upgraded with new ECP therapy system from USA. A new sleep lab has been launched at Moolchand to treat sleep related disorders. The state-of-the-art Moolchand Renalcare and Dialysis has been established comprising 30 stations. A state-of-the-art Cath lab has been designed in our OT complex. Our Blood Bank has recently been upgraded with refrigerated centrifuge machines, higher capacity -40* deep freezer for blood storage and plasma bags from USA. Our Operation Theatres are equipped with cameras and first to use the telemedicine facility at our Centre for Telemedicine.

Out of the annual financial budget of our hospital, we have kept aside 5 percent for technology upgradation.

What are your views on hospital accreditation in India? What are the various accreditations that Moolchand has received?

Healthcare industry is witnessing a metamorphosis, and we all are a part of this change. Now-a-days patients require world-class facilities, state-of-the-art infrastructure,

Vibhu Talwar, Group COO of Moolchand Healthcare Group, has played a pivotal role in the transformation of the hospital.

In the capacity of a COO, he has developed deep expertise in the healthcare quality, systems and process development, operations excellence and organisation design and development.

In conversation with Divya Chawla, Vibhu talks about Moolchand’s journey and how it has positioned itself as the most preferred healthcare provider in North India

June 2011 < www.ehealthonline.org <

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Specialties and Services • Moolchand Women’s Hospital • Centre for Fetal and Genetic Medicine • Fertility & IVF • Centre for Cosmetic Surgery • Gynaecology • Gynaecological Oncology • Mother’s Nest (Birthing Centre) • Centre for Neonatology • Specialty Clinics -Adolescent -Cancer detection -Infertility -Menopause -Reproductive endocrinology • Specialty Diagnostics -Bone densitometry -Colposcopy -Mammography • Wellness Programs -HealthCheck healing environment and above all knowledge of their rights. As a healthcare service provider, the accreditations help us develop and maintain a culture that benchmarks excellence.

Accreditations are not limited to the national boundaries but also go beyond it. For instance Moolchand’s passion for excellence has been recognised by JCI, the highest benchmark for quality healthcare worldwide and by NABH (National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers) in India. Moolchand successfully meets the international set of 1,150 stringent standards covering patient safety, continuity of care, continuous quality improvement, medication management and patient and family education.

Needless to say, patients are

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the true beneficiaries of the accreditations, not only do they receive excellent care and safety but also avail the services of the credential medical practitioners.

In fact, accreditations are nothing but certified and reliable information on infrastructure, facilities and quality of care.

Moolchand’s quest for quality has been recognised by many awards and accreditations such as ISO, NABH, IMC Ramkrishna, Asia-Pacific Quality, CII-EXIM Bank, Rajiv Gandhi National Quality, Century International Quality ERA, JCI and NABL. It is indeed a matter of great pride that Moolchand has become India’s first comprehensive JCI and NABH accredited hospital.

Our quest for quality is not just limited to winning awards and accreditation but also run deep in every Moolchandite.

What is the role of medical tourism in the growth of the Indian healthcare market?

Medical tourism is a concept which is growing now-a-days; allowing people from various countries to visit India for medication and at the same time providing them with an opportunity to discover the rich Indian heritage. The infrastructure of Indian hospitals is world-class and the costs of treatment are significantly lesser in comparison to other Asian countries, making it the most sought-after medical tourism destination. India as a medical tourism destination provides internationally trained physicians, who are globally acclaimed for their unmatched quality. What is most interesting to note is that India has 6,40,000 physicians with more than 20,000 physicians being produced every year. Moreover, Indian doctors undergo rigorous capability building by perform-

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ing every surgery many times over. All this contributes in making India a preferred medical tourism destination.

At Moolchand, we offer a comprehensive programme to meet the special needs of international patients. The International Services Centre at Moolchand is focused on ensuring a supportive experience for international visitors and assists with airport pickups, meals, translators, billing and any special need of our guests. We understand the stress international visitors face in receiving overseas medical care. We have structured our programmes to ensure that they do not have to worry about anything beyond the excellent and compassionate medical care. Our international guest care managers have extensive experience in caring for international visitors in terms of medical care, communication essentials, financial information, stay, trips and tours, and much more.

What is the role of operations management in successful running of healthcare delivery centres? What are the key opportunities and challenges in this space?

Operations management is the strategic implementation of programmes, techniques, and tools for reducing costs and improving quality of healthcare. Effective use of operative management tools outcomes into improved quality of care, reduction in medical errors, better utilisation of existing beds, increase in patient throughput and volume of medical/surgical patients, reduction in bottlenecks and waiting times in departments like ED and ICU, reduction in staff overtime and increase in staff satisfaction and finally improves the financial performance of the hospital.

Generally, hospitals face challenges in healthcare operations management in the absence of a mechanism to capture, analyse and present real-time performance about clinical and financial processes. To improve the quality of healthcare, for optimal clinical and financial outcomes and real-time performance optimisation, the solution is to create an in-built notification and alerting mechanism. This benefits by providing an opportunity to recognise and respond to the event on immediate basis and react proactively, also it enables clinicians to significantly improve clinical outcomes while reducing mortality, length of stay and avoiding the increased costs associated with treating complications.

What are the future plans, in terms of growth at Moolchand Medcity?

At Moolchand, our game plan is to emerge as one of the top 3 healthcare services providers in North India. We aim to grow by developing a portfolio of hospitals and Medcities. We plan to expand with more green field acquisitions, which are in line with our strategic plan.

This transformation has already begun at Moolchand Trust’s landmark South Delhi campus, which is being developed as India’s largest city centre medical destination. It is envisioned that Moolchand will emerge as a premier medical hub in North India in the near future.

To encourage medical tourism, we are working on a pattern to streamline international patient fraternity as a separate desk so that their work doesn’t get suffered with other regular patients. This will enable us to bring down the patient waiting time to almost nil to provide quality care at the earliest.