asia’s first monthly magazine on The Enterprise of Healthcare
volume 8 / issue 03 / MARCH 2013 / ` 75 / US $10 / ISSN 0973-8959
Dr Purshottam Lal
Dr N K Pandey
Rajesh Srivastva
Dr B S Bansal
Metro Group of Hospitals
Asian Institute of Medical Sciences
Rockland Hospital
RG Stone Urology & Laparoscopy Hospital
Vibhu Talwar
Dr Ajit Gupta
DS Negi
Dr OP Yadava
Moolchand Hospital
Park Group of Hospitals
Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute
National Heart Institute
Dr Dilpreet Brar
Dr DP Saraswat
Dr Mahesh Inder
Dr ND Khurana
Fortis Memorial Research Institute
Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute
Saket City Hospital
Primus Super Specialty Hospital
Dr DK Baluja
Dr Sumit Prasad
Dr Praneet Kumar
Fr George PA
QRG Central Hospital
Columbia Asia, Gaziabad
BLK Super Specialty Hospital
Holy Family Hospital
Cutting Edge
care takers NCR Super Speciality Hospital CEOs Insights
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y n or T i t S IC s er ng ank v i Co erg d b oo Em bl
volume
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ISSN 0973-8959
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08 cover story Banking on the River of Life
Dr BK Rana Joint Director, National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH)
special feature Affordable Healthcare for All Dr Purshottam Lal, Metro Group of Hospitals
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We Care for What Matters Most to You
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Offering the Next Generation Healthcare
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Dr N K Pandey, Asian Institute of Medical Sciences
Dr Dilpreet Brar, Fortis Memorial Research Institute
Pioneering a Less Painful Experience
Dr B S Bansal, RG Stone Urology & Laparoscopy Hospital
On The Growth Trajectory
Vibhu Talwar, Moolchand Hospital
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DS Negi, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute
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Multi-disciplinary Hospital is the Futuristic Need
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Custodians of Cancer Care
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Handle with Care
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Serving A Prime Objective
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Rejuvenating the Healthcare Facility
Dr DK Baluja, QRG Central Hospital
Dr ND Khurana, Primus Super Specialty Hospital
Dr Mahesh Inder, Saket City Hospital
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Customer First
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The Tree of Life Teems with Radiant Growth
Dr Sumit Prasad, Columbia Asia, Gaziabad
Dr Praneet Kumar, BLK Super Specialty Hospital
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Quality Care at an Affordable Price
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Cutting Edge Technology at Sarkari rates
Fr George PA, Holy Family Hospital
Dr Ajit Gupta, Park Group of Hospitals
Dr DP Saraswat, Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute
Ethically Correct
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When Innovation Meets Care
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Dr OP Yadava, National Heart Institute
Rajesh Srivastava, Rockland Hospital
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zoom in
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Gujarat Marching Towards Excellence
asia’s first monthly magazine on The Enterprise of Healthcare volume
08
issue
3
march 2013
President: Dr M P Narayanan
Partner publications
Editor-in-Chief: Dr Ravi Gupta group editor: Anoop Verma
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editorial
Proliferation of Multi-Specialty Hospitals The past decade has witnessed the gradual shift and proliferation from single specialty hospitals to multispecialty hospitals. The transformation was a welcome change, after all, the human body is replete with parts that are interrelated and interdependent. Depending upon individual needs, it was an ardous task to shuttle the patient from one specialty hospital to another. The solution was obvious – let the patient stay put at one place and allow the specialties come to him under one roof. The current issue of eHealth focuses on landmarks that have emerged as super specialty hospitals. We talk to the respective stakeholders to access and ascertain their views on delivery of premium healthcare. Today super multi specialty hospitals in India have come of age and are quite capable of delivering medical treatments that are at par with the best in the world. Now Indians are not going abroad for treatment but patients from overseas are pouring in as they have accepted and acknowledged Indian hospitals as viable option and alternative by way of quality and money. Considering rapid growth, potential and opportunity, large business houses continue to invest money in super specialty hospitals. This has resulted in state-of- the-art hospitals fused with cutting edge healthcare. Single specialty hospitals are winding up or paving way to incorporate the multi specialty. The assurance of quality comes from National Accreditation Board that enforces creation and maintenance of ‘Quality of Care’ across all departments, both clinical and non clinical. Out of 28,000 registered hospitals in the country, only 163 are accredited by NABH. Most of the hospital have optimised their IT infrastructure and are fast catching up with digital technology. The cover story on blood bank reflects the concern for quality, communication and delivery. Now with the blood shelf life coming down to three weeks, it acquires greater significance. We discuss the issues with the regulators and the blood banks.
Dr. Ravi Gupta ravi.gupta@elets.in
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cover story
Banking on the The fragmented Blood Banking industry in India is in need for a major thrust that only Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can provide. But is the industry ready for the big leap and what solutions do players have to offer? Monalisa Das, ENN finds out For a country of 1.2 billion population, having only 2,545 licensed blood banks is an abysmally low figure. This brings us down to a national average of 4.7 lakh population per blood bank. To add to the dismal state, data by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCD) shows that out of the 2,545 blood banks (as on November 2012), 1,564 are run by private players and only 981 are owned by the Government – hence explaining the existing price variations in the blood bank market. The widening supply-demand gap of blood and blood components is a major area of concern. Rotary International President, Kalyan Banerjee, in his letter to the incoming district governors of India mentioned: “Against an annual demand of 20 million units, only 15 million units are available in India.” The crucial fact is that blood banking is one of the most complicated branches of medicine, as it relies solely on the general public for blood donations and not on vendors. The consumers, too, are from the general popula-
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River of Life tion only. However, considering the myriad myths regarding blood donation, absence of a centralised donor registry and the poor donor relation management, low rate of repeat voluntary blood donations is obvious.
blood, the initial phase of ICT has already entered most blood banks, especially in metro cities. The need of the hour is a system for managing this vast information. And this calls for the next phase of ICT implementation by the blood banking industry.
Also there is no uniformity in quality inputs of the blood that’s collected from different blood banks across the nation as there are no centralised protocols regarding the tests to be conducted on collected blood. Another concern is that being a highly perishable product, blood can neither be stockpiled nor sourced suddenly. The dynamics of the blood banking industry demand a very short response time. Thus, an effective and fast communication and interfacing system becomes a must for the smooth operation of blood banks.
Online portals such as www.indianblooddonors. com, use of multimedia through voice calls, SMSs, and email alerts are already helping in bridging the huge supply demand gap. Newer technologies, such as ‘Bloodline’ – a mobile web-based service that leverages upon smartphone technology, webmapping, GPRS and cloud computing facilities – are entering the market too, thus enabling realtime communication between healthcare facilities and blood donors. Social media too has a big role to play in addressing the challenges. Facebook pages like ‘Blood Bank India’ and ‘Jeevan Blood Bank’ are a classic example of this change.
Technology helps ICT solutions provide an immediate and effective mechanism for connecting the donor with a recipient in real-time. Apart from offering an effective communication interface, ICT can also offer meaningful analytics of the data available, hence improving end-to-end supply chain management of blood banks.
Recently a commendable initiative of Gujarat FDCA aims to provide quick access to healthcare in emergency situations and has set up a network of blood banks. Plans also seem to include an SMS feature in the portal to further improve the efficiency of this process. More such initiatives need to be undertaken by regulators of public health in the country.
“ICT helps collate all information and maintains a centralised database, which improves the overall supply chain management. Through effective ICT, patients have an access to updated information regarding the availability of blood and blood components online,” says Dr Anju Verma, Chief Medical Officer, Rotary Blood Bank. “We need to further work on maintaining blood donor registry and perform advance tests in order to make compatible and safe blood available for all patients,” she adds.
With growing awareness, increasing efforts to make quality blood available to all, stringent regulatory and healthcare policies adopted across the world, the global market for blood banking and blood products is expected to touch USD 36 billion by the year 2015 and USD 43 billion by 2018. In the future, more and more blood banks will adopt ICT to increase blood donation rates, ensure safer blood transfusion and enhance haemo vigilance.
With advancement of newer technology in collection, separation of components and storage of
We talk to industry experts and players for their insight on these issues. Excerpts:
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cover story
We Choose the Best of Solutions Kabita Chatterjee, Faculty in charge, AIIMS, Member, National Blood Transfusion Council , Member, Specialty group of Transfusion Medicine, MCI In what ways can the adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) help the blood bank?
Kabita Chatterjee
Implementation of ICT in blood banks helps in the following ways: Maintenance of large volume of data, donor identification and screening, unit identification and labeling, haemovigilance of units issued
Please update us on the latest technology solutions that you have adopted and how do they enhance your work process ? Since ours is a premier, apex institute of the country, we chose the best solution from proposals invited via competitive process. As per our evaluation, we decided to implement the software made by the team at acuis. The software is called acuVena, blood bank software that has a comprehensive approach to all the key aspects in blood banking that mattered to us such as: High volumes (we are performing over 40,000 donations per year) and issuing in excess of one lakh units for transfusion. Traceability of all data from donation to transfusion is important and ICT plays a vital role here. The software has been running successfully since January 2011 and is able to manage this volume of data very easily.
Donor identification and screening All our donors are enrolled using biometric (fingerprint) registration as well as photo capture for the purpose of unique identification. This helps us track previous visits by any donor. The software automatically prevents the donor from proceeding ahead in case
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a donor returns before his/her eligibility date. The software also automatically calculates deferral periods based on when the donor is next eligible for donation in case the donor is found unfit. This helps us ensure we screen only healthy donors and rule out professional donors who may attempt to change their names or appearances as they are identified by their biometric parameters (fingerprint).
Unit identification and labelling All bags are identified with a bar-coded unit number that co-relates to samples that are tested for blood grouping, antibody screening, TTI and NAT. The software only accepts bags into stock after all the requisite infectious tests are screened as non-reactive and the grouping is confirmed. The laboratory testing equipments are able to scan
these barcoded samples to minimise human error.
Haemovigilance of units issued All units that are issued to patients are traceable right from the purchase of bag, donor details, preparation details, testing history, storage information as well as compatibility testing. The software also lets you key in transfusion details and record any adverse reactions suffered by the patient. This enables vein-to-vein tracing which forms the basis for ensuring patient as well as donor safety.
How do you foresee the future of ICT in the blood bank industry? Blood banks must adopt a system to help them tackle routine issues like documentation and tracking which ICT can resolve.
(With inputs from Poonam Coshic, Blood Transfusion Officer, AIIMS)
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cover story
NABH Accreditation Matters
Dr B K Rana, Joint Director, National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH) Besides licensing of blood banks, how important is accreditation by NABH ? Blood bank is the only regulated health care facility. Licensing is a must under ‘Drugs and Cosmetics Act’ but NABH accreditation is not mandatory. It is just a public recognition of the achievement of accreditation standards by a healthcare organization, demonstrated through an independent external peer assessment of that organisation’s level of performance in relation to the standards. Accreditation translates into assurance of high quality of care and patient safety where patient satisfaction is respected and protected. Moreover, it adds to the confidence in the services provided by the health care organisation.
A license is given for five years but accreditation is granted only for three years. Moreover, we conduct surprise checks and routine monitoring to ensure that things are in place as stipulated in the guidelines.
The appeal of accreditation is great as it enhances the status of the blood bank. How many blood banks are accredited so far ? Out of 2535 blood banks in the country, 49 are accredited and 16 have filed applications for the same but a huge chunk seems to sleeping over the issue. Accreditation by NABH sets in place a set of standards that ensures compliance by way of organization and management, accommodation and environment, personnel, equipment, external
services – supplies and reagents, process control, identification of deviations and adverse effects, performance improvement, document control, records, internal audit and management review.
Have you approached them with list of benefits that goes with NABH accreditation ? Periodically we organize seminars and workshops to familiarize the health care industry with added advantages and benefits of NABH accreditation.
Don’t you think accreditation should be mandatory, just like licensing ? There is no such provision as of now but in future it may be a possibility, given the high standards of health care we aspire to achieve.
National Blood Policy was framed a long time ago, don’t you think we need to upgrade or revise them time to time ? Disease profile is changing and standards need to upgrade. They need to be reviewed time to time. Healthcare is fast emerging and evolving area where technology and disease profile is changing. Therefore, it is important that any standard should be in compliance with the latest technology. Chronology of blood screening and storage is very interesting. Initially, whole blood was stored but now it is components.
How do you rate and compare our blood banks with those in developing countries ?
Dr B K Rana
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Each country has its own policy and parameters. We follow the blood safety standards set by WHO. We comply with the basic and essential tests.
cover story
Solutions for Every Blood Bank
Aditya Mani, Director, Technology, acuVena, Blood Bank Software
Please tell us about the technology solutions that you offer? At the micro level, we have solutions for every blood bank in India today. We cater to the needs of independent trust based blood banks that have their own admin, HR and procurement sections as well as departmental blood banks that are within a hospital that needs to closely interact with an HIS system. Our software today is spread across multi-
ple sites of the Max Healthcare network. The same application is being used by five different sites across the country. Our software products are built on web technologies and can be deployed over cloud services as well. We are currently interfaced with third party HIS products via HL7 and proprietary interfaces, laboratory equipment, SMS modems, third party SMS services, biometric scanners, digital signature tablets and handwriting recognition, to name a few.
Aditya Mani
Could you share the initial hiccups that you faced while introducing your technology? Many a times our customers, who are departments of a hospital, think the process of activating a software is literally plug and play. With time they realize it is as comprehensive a product as a full-fledged HIS and often requires a configuration time. Though most IT departments within the hospitals are well versed with this configuration process and help us to a great extent in calming the user’s nerves in the interim period.
How has your experience been in dealing with blood bank owners so far? Are they willing to adopt latest trechnologies? In the past we used to struggle explaining to users why they must try and understand how our data is linked and how they must try and follow the workflows defined by us. Over the years, we realized the importance of having different workflows for the same process. The learning has been two way and we are keen to learn more!
What are the other technologies or solutions that are in the pipeline? Our customers want information outside the LAN on their smartphones at home, often available offline as well in an app like environment. This excites us and we are happy to deliver them the same though every customer’s use case differs.
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cover story
ICT is a Great Enabler Shimona Mani, Director, Business Development, acuVena, Blood Bank Software To start with, could you give a brief overview of the current status of the blood bank industry in India?
Shimona Mani
According to the latest statistics published by the drug controller, there are nearly two and a half thousand blood banks in the country. Since one requires a license to operate a blood bank, it is a regulated industry. The licensed blood banks broadly come under three categories: a) Trust based voluntary blood banks which are often independent entities b) Those within government hospitals c) Those within private tertiary care hospitals
What are some of the major challenges that the blood bank industry is facing in India? Since most of the modern blood banks reside in super-specialty tertiary care hospitals, the primary focus becomes serving the internal needs of the hospital. As a result, a large percentage of the donors are replacement donors versus voluntary donors. When a patient is in need of blood, he and his family may face a harrowing experience of looking for safe blood or a replacement donor. Also, there may be an ironic scenario where two blood banks within a short distance of each other want to collaborate and help each other but one of them has to throw away precious blood because of expiry while the other may be in need of it.
In what ways can the adoption of ICTs help address these challenges? ICT is a great enabler that helps bridge demand supply inequalities. While at the micro level a blood bank software helps streamline donor and stock data
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making the enterprise more efficient, a product like ours is built on the vision of a converging health ecosystem where all stakeholders get connected via the right information sources. As important as it is that the blood bank performs efficiently, it is equally important how well it can communicate the right information to the right stakeholder in a timely manner. Our software helps us recall donors when they are next eligible to donate, converting them from replacement donors to voluntary donors. We are happy to be a part of this uphill journey of
solving a national issue like voluntary donation.
How do you foresee the future of ICT in the blood bank industry? While most of our customers currently use the enterprise version of the software installed on their premises, we foresee smaller blood banks feeling the need to avail a service hosted elsewhere. We support this technology and can make this happen today. This will truly help us deliver on our original vision of working in an ecosystem.
In Pursuit of Uniformity Dr R C Khurana, HOD, Transfusion Medicine, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, New Delhi To start with, could you give a brief overview of the current status of the blood bank industry in India? The total number of blood units required in India is 12 million, but availability is only about 9 million. We are perpetually short of this life-saving elixir. There are about 2,600 licensed blood banks in India, out of which about five percent are standalone blood banks and the rest are hospital-based facilities. Depending on the management, they could be classified as – Government blood banks, private blood banks, and NGO blood banks (such as Rotary, Lion’s, Red Cross Blood Bank, etc).
What are some of the major challenges that the blood bank industry is facing in India? The biggest challenge is that the rate of voluntary donations in India is very low. Awareness in our country is poor. In fact, people hesitate to donate blood even to their own relatives. Donor cards issued to voluntary donors are not honoured by all blood banks. This further de-motivates prospective donors. Moreover, the quality of blood supplied by different blood banks is not the same – some do Nucleic Acid Amplification Technology (NAT) test, some do leucodepletion, some do antibody detection, while some don’t even make components. Due to different quality inputs, we are not able to have a common pool of all the blood available. Ideally, all blood banks should pool their resources and exchange blood, wherever required. Currently
RC Khurana the situation is that blood may be going waste in some blood banks, while others may be suffering with major shortage. There is also the urban-rural divide. Metros are better off when it comes to quality and availability of blood, but there are none or very few blood banks at district levels. We need a centralised facility, which should maintain a list of all blood donors, blood group wise.
Please give us details about the latest technology solutions that you have adopted and in what way are these helping in the better management of your work process? We have adopted the best possible technologies to supply safe blood by: • 100 percent component preparation, whereby one unit of donated blood can be used by four different recipients • 100 percent leucodepletion to mini-
mise the transfusion reaction and immune modulation • 100 percent NAT to reduce the possibility of transfusion-transmitted diseases • 100 percent antibody detection in donor / recipient blood to avoid blood transfusion reaction • Best possible quality controls of blood components and equipment calibration, adequate training and education of blood bank staff, optimum storage, transfusion facility and computerised inventory control
What are the other technologies or ICT solutions that are in the pipeline for adoption? We are looking forward to adopt software-based technology for – inventory control of blood, components and expendable items; quality control of blood bags, anti-coagulants, testing kits, reagents; and investigation of any transfusion reaction or any adverse events. We are also planning to adopt technology for environmental control of blood banks (temperature, humidity, dust, etc); and for adopting personal protective measures of staff / inoculation of staff against transmissible disease.
How do you foresee the future of ICT in the blood bank industry? ICT is picking up at least at corporate level slowly and steadily. Further efforts are required at all levels to maintain common quality goals, so that blood banks would have common stockholdings / inventories and issue blood to all those who need it.
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cover story
We are Still in Premature State Anupam Chhabra, Head of Department, Blood Transfusion Pushpanjali Crosslay Hospital, Ghaziabad What are some of the major challenges that the blood bank industry is currently facing in India? As per WHO, 85.4 million people donated blood in 162 countries and around 7.4 million donations were made in India. Transfusion Medicine in India is still in premature state. There is lack of awareness and desire between the stakeholders to implement newer technologies. For e.g Nucleic Acid Testing is performed by almost every developed country but India still is far behind. Similarly ICT solutions are ignored resulting in
non-traceability of various adverse events related to blood and its transfusion
In what ways can the adoption of ICTs help address these challenges? Blood transfusion errors have long been a source of concern for hospitals and clinics. The blood-handling process at many healthcare facilities contains a number of manual steps, which can introduce human error. Blood transfusion verification systems also tend to be paper-based and are therefore prone to errors. By
Anupam Chhabra
implementing ICT total traceability of the blood could be done and will also enhance the productivity of the blood center. The basic concept is vein to vein, which means from the donor’s vein to patient’s vein , all the events should be documented which very well can be done by implementing ICT. Blood donation is a voluntary procedure and to maintain manual data base of the donors is difficult. By implementing ICT the blood center can trace the donor by retrieving information from the software. It helps in generating repeat voluntary donors and at the same time excluding high risk /paid donors. The implementation of barcoding system helps in tracking the blood unit from the point of donation till the unit is issued to the patient. With automation coming in testing of blood for viral markers, blood grouping, antibody screening etc ICT can play a big role. Interfacing of equipment can help in excluding manual errors. Inventory and issuance of blood components can be managed efficiently by ICT, hence improving the supply chain management.
Please update us on the latest technology solutions that you have adopted and in what ways are these helping in the better management of your work process? We are currently using a blood bank software called acuVena covering all aspects of blood banking. This software is interfaced with our Hospital Management System called Trak Health (from Australia). • Consolidation of all the test re-
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sults, processing, issuance etc to centralized location for review and validation-This has helped in excluding manual errors. • Barcoding system • Generation of automated reports like donors eligibility, rare blood group donors, current blood inventory report, near expiry & expired blood component report.
What are the other technologies or ICT solutions that are in the pipeline for adoption? • Biometric system to retrieve repeat voluntary donors and to exclude high risk/paid donors • SMS and emails to eligible blood donors • Scanning of informed consent and other relevant documents of the blood donors for record purposes. • Radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies to eliminate labeling and bed side errors. It will also provide the ability to trace the blood unit throughout the entire cycle • Interfacing of fully and semi-automated equipment
Could you share details about the initial hiccups that you faced while adopting technology solutions? Training of the staff, shortage of staff members to operate the software, parallel record keeping (hard copies).
How do you foresee the future of ICT in the blood bank industry? The future growth prospects appear to be bright in view of the booming medical industry and opening of new corporate hospitals in Tier I,II and III cities. The industry will see continuous transition from manual management to ICT enabled solutions to meet the demand for better quality of blood and its products.
Blood Banking Has Come a Long Way Dr Anju Verma, CMO, Rotary Blood Bank Most of the blood banks in cities like Delhi have equipments, fully automated systems and facilities with latest technology in order to provide safest possible blood to the patients. Major challenge is to increase regular repeat voluntary blood donation which ensures safety of blood to quite an extent. In Delhi, Rotary Blood Bank is contributing nearly 15 percent of the total blood collected ,all from Voluntary blood donors. There is no shortage of blood in the city as there are more centers like Rotary Blood Bank who are also collecting blood from voluntary donors, like Indian Red Cross and Lions blood bank . There is a need for many centers like these in other cities also to meet the blood shortage. We need to further work on maintaining blood donor registry and perform advance tests in order to make compatible and safe blood available for all the patients. Information and Communication Technology surely helps to maintain the data base which facilitates and improve the supply chain also. Through effective information and communication , patients have an access to the information regarding the availability of blood and the components on- line. The blood bank software being used by us is called, ‘acuVena’. It has been made by the team at acuis in New Delhi. There is a software running in Rotary Blood Bank which helps us in maintaining all the data, right from
Dr Anju Verma
collection of blood, testing, storage, issue of blood, donor data,result compilation, camp details, organization details etc. There were no major issues as such while the software was being installed or while in use as all the modules were customized specifically for Rotary Blood Bank by the concerned company. As the total blood collection at Rotary Blood Bank is more than 42000 units every year , and the units issued are more than 45000, Implementation and use of the software was a necessity. Future of ICT is good with all the blood banks who are wishing to adopt this facility for smooth functioning.
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special feature
Affordable Healthcare for All Besides Padmashree, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and Dr B C Roy Award, Dr Purshottam Lal, Chairman, Metro Group of Hospitals, has been honoured with several other distinguished awards. He is a man with a mission of redefining the healthcare in the country. He shares his views and vision with Shahid Akhter, ENN Please tell us about the inspiration behind Metro Group of Hospitals? Having spent more than 17 years in the US, Germany and UK, I embarked on the vision of serving my own country. I had come to India to share my experiences and train some doctors in India and precisely at this point I was moved at the plight of deplorable
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healthcare in the rural India. Moreover, death of my father because of non availability of medical help in that village was another incident that moved me to migrate to India. In 1996, I joined Apollo as Coordinator of the Cardiology Department. The desire and dream to initiate a hospital was triggered by the fact that a patient, who happened to be my teacher and a
villager could not afford to pay his medical expenses. Add to this, the fact that I was unable to help him, despite being the HOD. I was disappointed and felt equally helpless. I strongly felt the need of healthcare facilities for lower middle class people. In 1997 I started the first hospital under the name Metro Hospitals & Heart Institute with 110 beds at Noida.
Dr Purshottam Lal
phere, many of the consultants after retirement from the premier institutes like AIIMS, G.B. Pant etc. prefer to join our institute.
What are the technological advancements your hospitals have introduced lately in different verticals?
Within a year, a multispeciality hospital was started and over the years we are now having 12 hospitals in the group. I am not an entrepreneur nor was my objective business oriented.
How many hospitals are there in Metro Group and the specialty services that you offer? We are now having 12 hospitals including the one in Haridwar which is going to start during this month. These hospitals are in Delhi, besides Meerut, Rewari, Vadodra, Gurgaon and Jaipur. The Hospital in Noida is a super specialty hospital and in Preet Vihar, Delhi we are having dedicated cancer institute. We are having all the advanced facilities in every super specialty. Majority of our consultants are of International repute and are on salary. Due to our transparency, research atmos-
At Metro, we are dedicated to the highest quality of care not only by way of human dedication and compassion but also state of art equipments that are revolutionary in true sense. It is difficult to catalogue all the gadgets and machinery that goes in making of Metro but certainly we can name a few like the high end densitometer, multiple energy linear accelerator, 128 slice CT Scan which will help in outlining the coronary arteries in a better way and latest auto analyzers in our NABL accredited labs, endobronchial ultrasound to perform lung biopsy non-invasively which otherwise would have required surgery for doing the biopsy. Besides we are having latest MRIs, mammography and we make sure to have advanced cath labs and use upgraded monitoring in the electrophysiological procedures.
You are reckoned as the pioneer of interventional cardiology having largest number of FIRSTS and find mention several times in Limca Book of Records. Any memorable moment? Every technique, I introduce remains a memory, may it be rotablator, atherectomy, inoue balloon, valvoloplasty without cath lab, stenting, heart hole closure etc. but the best I felt when I closed the ASD with a monodisc device and non surgical aortic valve replacement with core valve, both being for the first time in the world.
You are a member of the Delhi Medical Council and also member of Board of Governors, Medical Council of India. What
are your experiences so far? Did you achieve what you wanted? Having spent several years in States, I find the relationship between the patients and doctors is not the same which used to be rather than worse in States. Majority of such cases are based on lack of communication between the doctors and the patients. If the doctors really adopt the patient and do the proper counseling, such incidences can be checked. I joined Medial Council of India to contribute in the rural health care for which I advocated Three Point Formula, for assessment system of the medical colleges which I found very faulty and made many suggestions. Unfortunately, so far I have not been successful in this direction but I will keep on trying. I also feel the capitation fees should be made legal. I, however, have been successful to contribute changes in the land requirement for the medical colleges, as a Chairman of the sub-committee, meant for the purpose and the proposal has been sent to the ministry.
How about care and quality at Metro Hospitals? Personal care and high quality is our biggest strength. We make sure our patients are given very good care on personalised basis rather than commercialized. Though, we have not taken any land on concession from the government nor we are obiliged to provide free care but our total OPD collection goes in charity for those who cannot afford. I along with my wife Punam Lal make sure that not a single patient should be turned down for want of money.
What are your future plans? Govt. of UP has given us 40 acres of land in Noida to develop a unique health city for common people. In addition, we will be developing hospitals in Greater Noida, Narela, Delhi, Moga, Punjab and Agra, UP.
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Special Feature
“We Care for What
Matters Most to You� Lack of super specialty facilities propelled Dr NK Pandey, Chairman, Asian Institute of Medical Sciences to fill this gap and bring life the idea of developing a healthcare facility in a town called Faridabad. In a candid conversation with Shally Makin,ENN he is living up his dream
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Inspiration behind the foundation of AIMS Dr Pandey started his medical career in Faridabad, Delhi NCR almost three decades ago and was spear heading Escorts Hospital for a number of years. He realised that the healthcare needs of the city were enormous and were barely met by a plethora of nursing homes and a few small hospitals. He pledged to change this trend and set-out to build his dream. A dream that would bestow upon the people of Faridabad not ‘another’ healthcare facility but an advanced super specialty tertiary care hospital with comprehenisve facilities and ultra-modern state-of-the-art infrastructure. Today the institute offers advanced medical care across all super specialties such as cancer, joint replacement, advanced renal care and kidney transplant, invasive cardiology and cardiac surgery among others and also offers the most comprehensive cancer care in the region. He wanted to ensure that people of this city travelled out for any reason, but not for treatment.
Technology leap The hospital has been designed ‘for patients – by the doctors’, quiet literally as reflected in the most optimal blend of scientific approach and personal touch for the most efficient and humane care. The institute is supported by state-of-the-art equipments which include some of the firsts in this region such as Rapid Arc-IGRT and IMRT Linear acceleratorfor radiation oncology, GammaMediplus IXfor Brachytherapy. The regions first PET/
Dr N K Pandey
CT used for early detetection of cancer and treatment planning along with Gamma Camera.The hospital has a flat panel Cathlab, Rotablator for intravascular ultrasound, fibroscopy equipment in liver etc. The 11 modular operation theatres are fitted with media bridge and latest endoscopic equipments, hepafilter, laminar flow to name a few. The centre is supported by state-of-the-art equipments in pathology, radiology and blood bank to provide safe blood and blood components as per international standards and regulations. A standalone model to be located in Greater Kailash, South Delhi is on cards. They are also moving to creating apps for android devices for doctors which is then connected with the HIS of the hospital.
In medicine it is a daily challenge to deliver quality care. Dr Pandey firmly believes listening is the best therapy a healthcare giver can provide at a hospital As far as infrastructure of the hospital is concerned, it has the best fibre optic link, PAC share, auditorium for training purposes, use tablets for eprescriptions and LIS provided by PCS technologies is integrated with the ERP of the hospital. Hospital management software was created on their own, using Microsoft tools. They have invested in data management however converting into cloud is still an expensive deal. Apart from storing the information on paper, they also digitise all records. “We are exhibiting a good growth rate since we have started and maintained at around 30-40 percent every year,” says Dr Pandey.
About the hospital Asian Institute of Medical Sciences is the vision and dream of renowned surgeon, Dr Narendra Kumar Pandey, DSc, FRCS (Edinburgh), FRCS (Glasgow) FACS, FICS. The 350 bed Super specialty tertiary care hospital, truly futuristic in its services and technology and brings together some of the most talented medical professionals in India. The institute provides preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic, rehabilitative, palliative and support services under one roof and is designed to meet patient care and research requirements of the new millennium. Best known for his work in Minimal Access Surgery, Dr Pandey was conferred with the prestigious Dr BC Roy National Award for his pioneer work in Video Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS)
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Special Feature
Asian Institute of Medical Sciences is a tertiary care hospital offering services across multiple super specialties: Comprehensive cancer care offering multi modality treatment including medical oncology, hematology, radiation oncology and complex cancer surgeries
Complete cardiac care, Centre for Advanced Surgery An advanced centre for Neurology & Neurosurgery Centre for Renal Diseases is equipped to provide the most advanced renal care
Fully equipped centre for Bone & Joint Replacements. Complete Centre for Mother & Child providing integrated services in gynaecology, obstetrics, paediatrics and neonatology
Super specialty centre for Gastroenterology, Endocrinology and Internal Medicine specialties Complete range of computed conventional radiography, special procedures and investigations
24 / 7 Blood Bank and NABL accredited Laboratory Services
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Challenges In medicine it is an everyday affaire to deliver quality care. Dr Pandey firmly believes listening is the best therapy a healthcare giver can provide at a hospital. AIMS has special training sessions for doctors and staff to embibe empathy, compassion and emphasise the virtues of ehical practice. For a healthcare provider technology and honest communication is the biggest asset.
Insights The hospital has been certified by the NABH and NABL accreditation boards in the shortest period of time. This is a testimony to the quality standards deployed at the hospital. The institute is a preferred destination for medical tourists from around the world. Everyday the team at Asian aspires to be the most trusted healthcare partner for people through unsurpassed quality and care and by striving to provide accessible, affordable and best available healthcare services in India. Asian stands for Caring for what matters most - health, life, family, relationships, happiness and overall community wellbeing.
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special feature
Offering the Next Generation Healthcare
Dr Dilpreet Brar, Regional Director, Fortis Memorial Research Institute (FMRI) Gurgaon speaks to Sharmila Das, ENN about the modern technology the hospital brings to offer unmatched value added medical services
For how long you have been associated with FMRI and what are your other career experiences? It’s been now one and half year I have been associated with FMRI, before that I was with Max Healthcare for 11 years and prior to that I was a practicing doctor for 25 years.
What changes you have seen during your long stint serving Indian healthcare? If you look healthcare as a whole, till ten to fifteen years back, it was all public domain. The corporate healthcare came into being just 12 years back. Other than Apollo which was there then but other corporate houses, came in just 11/12 years back. Around that time, technology advancement gained momentum in the private sector. The Government bodies like AIIMS, PGI etc did have high-end technology; however those may not be the best of the world. The private bodies started investing in high-end technologies 10 years back and every year we are getting better. Earlier people used to refurbish the equipments but now if I look at this hospital we have two world’s best technology installations. Let’s take radiotherapy as an example; we have a Linear Accelerator (LINAC) installed here. LINAC is the machine used for
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radiotherapy. LINAC is collaborated to give an intra-procedure CT Scan possibility and that’s first time in the world.
What kind of emergency services do you have? We have all kinds of emergency services; really there is no emergency service that can’t be handled here. However, we tried to have the trauma facility done in our emergency services that means a setup to handle any kind of trauma case that comes in. We have protocol that asks us to handle a patient holistically. We have a team of neuro surgeons, plastic surgeons, and ortho surgeon etc. They all come together along with the medical intensive care team; treat the patient with a holistic approach. Other than these, we can handle a cardiac emergency and respiratory emergency as well. We have got a very high-end intensive care unit and I can say that we are really equipped to take care of any kind of emergency.
How do you think multi-specialty hospitals are gaining popularity these days? I think there are a few reasons that people love to go for a multi specialty hospital. Of course technology is an important factor, and then there is competency in manpower. The skills that the doctors get to the fore help
the patient to build trust on them. Above all these, if technology, manpower, and skills are given, multi specialty hospitals are trying to give the best of medical and service excellence. Like I mentioned earlier, collaboration amongst doctors to treat a patient was not heard of earlier but now people are getting attracted to a multi-specialty hospital because of the holistic approach. We take care of the patient and the relatives too, so there is a component of a hotel industry that has amalgamated with medical excellence in a multi specialty hospital set up.
What are the modern equipments you have deployed in your different verticals? We have stem cell department, LINAC and the brain lab collaboration, which is an intra scanning possibility. When a doctor is doing neuro-surgical procedure, he can scan the brain and spine for that matter to see where he has reached, how much of the tumour has been removed and then continue with removal of the whole tumour. The entire stem cell clot blood collection area is very high-end technology in FMRI. Our radiology has all high-end equipments. We have got 3-Tesla MRI, high- end 264 CT scan, 4D ultrasound, nuclear medicines etc.
Kindly update us on any of your landmark initiative on healing a critical disease? I can’t pin point on any one initiative. I can elaborate about the concept of this hospital which is a next generation hospital that means we have planned and then intend to do stuff which has not happened before. That again can be classified in three/four realms like the talent pool, the best of doctors, the best of technologies, the best of service and above all the thought process around the different areas of the patient. A patient is not alone, his relatives are all stressed. How can we take care of them to help us take care of our patient rather than creating stress around? So a lot has happened in the hospital to destress the patient. We have food outlets, we have fortiflex which is a theatre, we have gym and spa, we are looking at things like SOKKIA, holistic medicine that are very helpful in taking care of the individual and the family. Most importantly, to top it all, we intend to have solid and sturdy processes which don’t make the non-medical part of the treatment individual- dependent rather process- dependent. Like the billing procedure for example. We intend to handle perception too, it’s a long journey let’s see where we can reach.
How do you think here EHR, HIMS are crucial? We are going to depend a lot on the EHR to achieve the objective of transparent billing. Let’s say the bar code system. The patient has a bar code, the treating nurse has a bar code and the medicine has a bar code. Suppose, I’m the nurse and when I’m dispensing the medicine to the patient, it will give three types of information- if I’m giving the right medicine, if not there will be an alarm indicating wrong medicine or wrong patient. This bar code will also show accurately if a patient is billed only when he/she has purchased/taken the medicine. So the process gives a lot of transparency and a good feeling to the patient that something ethical is
Dr Dilpreet Brar
We have designed a lot of facilities in the hospital to destress the patient. We have food outlets, fortiflex- a theatre, we have gym and spa happening here. This is only a small example; there are ten thousand ways that electronic process can help us.
Do you have any plan to reach rural India as rural India is un-served? We do, we have twin approach. The first one is called the Fortis Foundation, which is our CSR arm, which is even today reaches out whenever it is required. I can’t claim, it’s a completely
organised process and we have a real laid out plan but we do reach out and we do respond whenever somebody reaches us. We do organise health camps and services in rural parts of India, however it is not yet planned. But we do it regularly every year.
Who is your target group? Everyone who is not well is our target group. However, we hope this hospital becomes a referral hospital where things which are not possible in other hospitals are referred to us. At the moment, at public domain we have names like PGI, in Punjab which is a referral hospital. In private domain we hope to become a private referral hospital. From that point of view everyone is our target.
What are your future plans? Currently we have 450 beds and we intend to add 550 more in the next phase. Within six months, we intend to introduce all the specialties, except for organ transplant.
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Special Feature
Pioneering a Less
Painful Experience Dr Bhim Sen Bansal, Managing Director, RG Stone Urology & Leproscopy Hospital reveals his passionate journey in Indian healthcare. In conversation with Sharmila Das, ENN, he discusses laproscopics procedures that are less painful. Tell me the objective behind the launch of RG Stone Hospital? Basically, I’m a day dreamer. I had a dream; the dream was all about the possibility of discharging the patient the very next day. How they can be saved from big scars of open surgeries, how we can make the post operative complications less and shorten the hospital stays, how the patient can resume his regular work at the earliest. I was very passionate to achieve these goals. After bringing the first machine from Siemens Company it proved to be miraculous and I first deployed this machine in our Mumbai center. 26 years back Mumbai was the center of all activities, therefore I planned to start my center in Mumbai and we were successful in that. We could treat patients without open surgeries.
Did you have any educational qualification to start in this segment? I am basically a family physician. I was having my practice in old Delhi. Because of my dream and passion I left my stable career, went to Mumbai and started the first RG Center and this was followed by another center in Delhi. I was the first buyer of Siemens Company products. They produce machines and first it put on for testing
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After bringing the first machine from Siemens Company it proved to be miraculous and I first deployed this machine in our Mumbai center. 26 years back Mumbai was the center of all activities, therefore I planned to start my center in Mumbai and we were successful in that. and then they send for FDA approval and I was fortunate to buy the first machine for India. After that I did not look back and went on increasing the number of hospitals. My aim was not only commercial. My aim was to avoid bleeding, scars, long staying in hospital, and cut.
Where did you get the seed funding? I used my saved money of 38 years
practice and rest got it financed from the bank.
What was the cost of the machine you first purchased from Siemens? At that time it was priced approximately `3.5 crore. 26 years back this was the first machine of its kind in the country. Even the All India Institute of Medical Institute (AIIMS) had bought the machine six or seven years later.
What was the role of the manufacturer in convincing your bank? I was in US with my wife on a family vacation. One evening, somebody from my patients who were there in USA called me along with some other doctors of 11 or 12 people for a private get together. He introduced me to Dr Singhal and when I started speaking to this doctor he jokingly introduced himself as stone breaker. He told me in Hindi, ‘I break kidney stones’. That was my first exposure in 1986 in USA. Thereafter I went to see his clinic at Orlando where a lady was lying almost naked in bathtub. The doctors were passing current to her body and she was given anesthesia. With this procedure, the kidney stones did break but there was a big noise. That made me rest-
less and I resolved to find out machines which were free from noise and also pain. I travelled to Europe, and coincidentally I met a person onboard who introduced me to a machine produced by Siemens. I visited their manufacturing unit and all my requirements were fulfilled. I was the first to import the machine called ‘lithotripsy’ and went on increasing chain of hospitals and all my requirements were procured from Siemens. Next, I ventured into laser machines and started to treat prostate.
Dr B S Bansal
What are the medical specialty services that you offer? We offer Urology and Laparoscopy services. In Urology, we do everything
The usual size of kidney is less 10 cm, and we operated a stone that was13cm long and that too without open surgery. For this achievement we were named in the Guinness Book of World Records except kidney transplant. We have highly qualified doctors and the second advantage of the institute is that all the doctors work full time. Otherwise you will find most of the institutes have consultants who come for a couple of hours. We do Laparoscopic surgeries which used to be again open surgery for gall bladder, hernia etc. We do these surgeries without any cut and discharge the patient the next day.
What are the emergency services that you are offering? We have emergency services for all these things. For example, somebody is coming with a severe kidney stone pain; we admit him and accordingly treat him and advise him. We further investigate and suggest if endoscopic surgery is required.
About the multi specialty hospital, what do you think about the factors responsible for the growth of multi specialty hospital? We focus on two concepts - one is laparoscopy and another is urology. In Urology we treat all kidney stones, any abnormalities, prostate cancer, kidney cancer etc. In Laparoscopy, we do all in hernia, gall bladder, ovarian cyst, uterus fibroid and discharge patient the very next day.
What are the technology advancement happened at your hospital? In the beginning there was open surgery then we first brought ‘lithotripsy’ later on we developed endoscopy. With the help of the new technological advancements we break the kidney stones placed in very sensitive areas
without a cut. Normally it would have taken 4-5 rounds of surgeries. Now robotic surgery is also a new technique but then it is very costly. We are developing country and no one can afford to pay `3 lakh rupees for robotic surgeries.
What are the plans to bring new technology? We are in constant touch with all the latest technological innovations in urology; whenever it comes in we get an update.
Tell us till now how many patients the RG Stone has treated? Collectively, we have treated more than 2.5 lakh patients in all centres. We sent our team to Rajasthan and Haryana to find out why people in these places were more prone to kidney stones. We found that in Rajasthan, because of excessive pasteurisation and less intake of water people suffer more with kindey stones. Similarly in Haryana or Punjab people consume too much milk and other dairy products which also results in kidney stones.
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expert speak special feature
On The Growth Trajectory Vibhu Talwar, COO, Moolchand Medcity, sees Indian healthcare at the threshold of next phase of growth. He shares the hospital’s growth plan with Sharmila Das, ENN What specialty services do you offer? Moolchand Medcity has brought together trained doctors, world-class facilities and comprehensive services across various specialties. We broadly categorise our specialties in seven various centers of excellence: Moolchand General Hospital, Moolchand Ayurveda Hospital, Moolchand Neurosciences Hospital, Moolchand Cancer Hospital, Moolchand Renal Care and Dialysis, Moolchand Orthopaedics Hospital, Moolchand Fertility & IVF, Moolchand Heart Hospital and Moolchand Women’s Hospital.
What are the emergency services you have? In this respect, who are the leading specialists you have in your hospital? We have developed comprehensive emergency services matching with international standard and protocols. We are in partnership with the Ronald Reagan Institute of Emergency Medicine at George Washington Uni-
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versity, USA to offer three years Post Graduate Programme in Emergency Medicine. We are staffed with15 Emergency doctors over a period of 24 hours. We have fully equipped operation theatres and plaster procedure room. We have set up a dedicated observation area for intensive monitoring. We have advanced cardiac life support ambulance service too.
What are the technological advancements your hospital has introduced lately in the different verticals? Some of the technological advancements adopted by us to serve better healthcare services are: Electronic Medical Records
vibhu talwar
(EMR) for our patients. We are the first hospital of India to use pneumatic tubes system. In addition, we are North India’s first multi-specialty hospital to use the telemedicine facility at our centre for telemedicine. We have the privilege of getting connected to 48 nations worldwide, their doctors, hospitals, medical universities, etc wherein our physicians train and share critical information with their caregivers. Telemedicine benefits not only are availed in a single field but also across fields like radiology, psychiatry, cardiology and oncology.
What are the modern equipments you have deployed in diagnosis and treatment? Moolchand Fertility and IVF Centre has one of Delhi’s largest built IVF lab spreads over an area of 10, 000 square feet. We have deployed latest IMSI-assisted laser hatching technology to provide proper infertility treatments. We have next generation labs (including RI micro manipulator, 3rd generation incubator, K-SYSTEMS workstations creating the best micro environment for embryos). We have cutting edge technology including blastocyst culture and PGD
Tell us about your journey here in Moolchand? What are the themes or current trends coming up in Indian healthcare? My association with the hospital started since my return from US, back in 2000. Last six to seven years has been a very fruitful journey for the hospital. Moolchand was a landmark healthcare destination in 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Then unfortunately there was some hurdles in the mid 90s, we had some setback. From 2000 to 2006, we took essentially a number of measures to make sure that Moolchand re-emerges as a prominent player in the NCR region. We have done various innovations and huge amount of transformation has
been done to make sure the hospital becomes leading institution in healthcare. With respect to the current trends of Indian healthcare, I would broadly classify the trends in five buckets. The first trend I see is the emergence of private equity. Historically there has been a fair amount of private equity activities happening in the last five to seven years. However, there is now an increasing amount of private equity participation in Indian healthcare. Moolchand has been funded by Sequia Capital. Investments have been made in various sectors of healthcare for example, in the lab sector, in dental care, eye care, fertility centres to multi-specialty centres. Private equity is going to be the part of this journey for many of the healthcare players till the next decade. M&A has been a thrust area for many of the hospitals. The reason I can see is, M & A helps organise operations, optimise cost, and bring efficiencies in process and procurement. Then there is an emerging trend of single specialty verticals, like dental, eye care, dialysis, IVF etc. Collaboration between players is the fourth bucket. We see chains of hospitals or certain groups are collaborating with single specialty players who has co-competencies in particular area. For example, a cancer center is collaborating with a hospital. Last, the
M&A has been a thrust area for many of the hospitals. The reason I can see is, M & A helps organise operations, optimise cost, and bring efficiencies in process and procurement
tier-II cities are catching up in attracting big healthcare players. There are reasons like cheaper property rates, then increasing disposable income and in tier-II cities there is demand supply mismatch. We see bigger hospitals branching out to tier-II cities as another trend.
What is your growth plan? Do you have plan to acquire any hospital or you are going to start your own hospital in some tier-II cities? We have put aside `500 crore for acquisition, out of it we have already committed `75 crore for the Agra acquisition and we intend to use the remaining `425 crore further. However, any acquisition deal certainly depends on what assets are available there. We are also exploring other verticals of healthcare, like we are looking at the diagnostics, IVF and dialysis. In the next third quarter of the year, we plan to add another 3000 square feet of medical space, we plan to roughly add around 350 beds in this campus only. We are looking for other acquisitions as well. As we are North India based, we are looking at the opportunities available here. However, we will certainly respond to any good opportunity comes from other region.
How do you see the growth trend of single specialty hospitals converting to multi specialty hospitals? I’m not sure if a single specialty eye centre would benefit from opening up a tertiary care centre. As in, it requires a very different set of skills to go from a single specialty center to multi specialty center, even going from multi-specialty center to single specialty center is much easier. Because in multi specialty, you are grappling with a lot of issues so it would become easy for you to concentrate on only one area of operation.
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special feature
Custodians of Cancer Care
Combination of technology and humane touch, sums up Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute (RGCI), destined to be the largest onco-care provider in the country. D S Negi, CEO of RGCI talks to Shahid Akhter, ENN about the care, cure and medical advancements that brings hope to millions Who are the men behind RGCI and its foundation ? A group of dedicated and responsible philanthropists came forward to set up Indraprastha Cancer Society & Research Centre in 1994 as a non profit public society. Besides patient care and cure, the society aimed at scientific investigations. This visionary mission was fulfilled through Rajiv Gandhi Cancer
Institute and Research Centre which aims at providing cancer treatment and care at par with the best in the world at an affordable price. The founding members received support, assistance and co-operation from the Government of India, the German Government and others. RGCI took off in July 1996 when it was declared open by Smt. Sonia Gandhi. It was formally inaugurated by Dr
D S Negi
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Shankar Dayal Sharma, President of India, a month later.
What are the services and infrastructure at inception and now ? We started with 152 beds and the graph has been on the onward growth. Currently it is 300 bedded hospital with the best of oncology infrastructure that you can imagine. State of art diagnosis and facilities provided by us, comfortably ranks us as the premium cancer centre in the country. So far we have registered more than 1,25,000 patients from India and abroad (mostly neighbouring countries). We offer an array of services aimed at alleviating the condition of those suffering or in need of counselling. In collaboration with Indo-Nepal Tele Onco Care, we are offering telemedicine in Nepal. The patients come up for initial discussions and preliminary tests are reviewed and assessed locally. We offer palliative care by way of home services where our team of doctors and counsellors reach out to the patients where cancer is in advanced stage. Routinely, we visit at least five houses each day. Besides we reach out to the masses through awareness camps, seminars and other initiatives that aims at educating the people about cancer, its, causes and measures to prevent it. Jagrukta Abhiyan educates the community about cancer in the modern era, its causes, and some measures to reduce the chance of suffering from it. Tri Shakti is another initiative in collaboration with Delhi Government that aims at screening cancer patients. There are several other outreach programmes organised time to time.
What technological advancements your hospital has introduced lately ? To begin with, our NABL accredited speaks of our discipline, dedication and infrastructure in place.
We have eight major Operation Theatres, three minor OT’s, 28 bedded postop wards. Our surgical facilities include robotic surgeries used for Urological and Gynaecological Surgery. We have over 350 surgeries to our credit. We were the first among cancer hospitals in North India to have introduced PET CT Scan. For the first time in India we have introduced High Intensity Focussed Ultrasound (HIFU) for treating organ confined cancer prostate using SONABLATE 500. HIFU has very encouraging results and almost nil morbidity. We are the first cancer centre in the country to put IMRT (Intensity
radiologists to treat tumors that in the past would be virtually impossible for surgeons to operate on due to their location.
How do you think multi specialty hospitals are gaining popularity these days ? Multispecialty Clinics or Tumor Boards are important in oncology. It is difficult to resist the pressure of experience as shared through the Multispecialty Clinic or Tumor Board. When all the alternatives have been shifted, convergence of opinion becomes the accepted course of action. It offers a mechanism for reaching a consensus on treatment through the
We aspire to be the largest Cancer Care provider in India by 2020, offering comprehensive services from Prevention to Palliation at an affordable Price Modulated Radiation Therapy) into clinical practice. In Radiation Oncology, we have four LINACs with facilities of Photon Beam, Electron Beam, 3DCRT, IMRT and IGRT (Image Guided Radiation Therapy). IGRT has recently opened the door to true four dimensional (4D) radiation treatment. In addition to dealing with the three dimensions of space, IGRT deals more effectively with the problem of tumor motion in time - the fourth dimension using 4D imaging, 4D simulation, 4D treatment planning, 4D treatment delivery and 4D verification. Clinicians will be able to precisely determine the margin around the tumor and programme the technology to deliver treatment, that adapts to the motion, keeping that margin constant. Shortly, NanoKnife will also be available at RGCI. It is a minimally invasive cancer treatment that uses irreversible electroporation technology to precisely target and kill hardto-reach tumors at the cellular level. The precision of the Nanoknife allows
empirical process of testing our opinions against one another and through facts. It provides pretreatment evaluation, promotes consultations among oncologists. This leads to exchange of views and focus on outcome, quality of care and practice habits. Besides, multispecialty clinic offers opportunities to review the process of decision making in medicine, evaluate various approaches to medical education. Moreover, it brings together the different specialities in search of optimal treatment for a difficult disease. In oncology, multispecialty clinics are grouped under Head & Neck Services, Breast Services, Gastrointestinal services and we have a dedicated team to look after each service. It has been estimated that around 60 percent of cancer patients are likely to benefit from multidisciplinary treatment planning. Equally important, patient appreciates the concern shown by physicians when their condition is discussed at the Multispecialty Clinic / Tumor Board.
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cover story special feature CASE STUDY
A matter of
counselling
g
By Dr Sunil Kumar Gupta, Sr Consultant and Chief of Head and Neck Medical Oncology Services, RGCI
‘Dear Doctor, I have undergone a long bout of treatment in cancer treatment. Success is eluding, time is running out and my days are limited. I am not destined to live for long but I have a wish to see my grandson before I leave this world. Please save me for some time to fulfill this little vision.’ Shashi Prabha, 60 yrs old Hindu female was pessimistic about life and living but was resolute in one dream - to catch a glimpse of her grandson who was expected in two months. She was suffering from advanced ovarian cancer and had been treated with chemotherapy and surgery to no avail. There was minimal response to the treatment. Clinically, progression of the disease with ascites and unable to walk for last one month and repeated abdominal fluid tapping was done to relieve the pain abdomen and respiratory distress.
S
he came to Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre as an emergency patient and was admitted to ICU as critically sick patient. She had features of intestinal obstruction (bowel) with massive fluid in the abdomen. Added to this was persistent vomiting with poor general condition for more than a month due to poor oral intake. I began with counselling and gradually inculcated optimism and positive approach towards life. Pros and cons with reality of the disease were explained to the family members who were turning positive despite nega-
“Good counselling, timely approach, optimism and certainly the determination helped her to emerge a winner.” 36
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tive ground realities. She was inspected by the surgeons in consideration of bowel obstruction but could not do anything due to advanced dissemination ( they simply opened and closed the abdomen). In the beginning she was on supportive care and one’s her general condition improved she was plan to give low dose single agent chemotherapy after written consent from family. Pros and cons were outcome of treatment discussed with the family. Gradually she responded and her fluid dried in the abdomen. The family developed tremendous faith in me and the line of treatment offered. Gradually, her general condition improved and she was doing her day to day routine work. We planned to give combination of chemotherapy to get the maximum response. Subsequently she received combination of chemotherapy and her condition improved. The initial crisis had just ebbed to an extent when hernia surfaced and she was advised hernial surgery which she refused. She wanted to see her grandson in her laps and for this reason she refused the incisional hernia surgery. Soon she presented herself with pain abdomen and bulge of bowel from incisional hernial site with inflammatory changes at the local site. Again counselling, we came to her rescue and she agreed for incisional hernial surgery. Following her successful hernia operation she is now out and about in the playfield with her grandson. Her life is now normal for more than a year.
Special Feature
“Multi-disciplinary Hospital is the Futuristic Need’’
Standing tall amidst 6.1 acres of serene ambiance, Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute promises to serve mankind with integrated healthcare. Dr (Prof) DP Saraswat, CEO, Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute, gives an account of the journey of the hospital to Sharmila Das, ENN
Tell us about the inspiration behind the launch of Balaji Action Medical Institute? We are working under a bigger umbrella of Action Group which is a consortium of industries in myriad sectors. Following success in all the business verticals, our inspiration to foray into the healthcare sector came with our vision to serve the society as part of the corporate social responsibility mandate. Our group hails from Hissar, Haryana where we had started a small, 80 bedded multidisciplinary hospital. Our initial success encouraged us to launch another hospital in Delhi to have our presence and also to serve the community. We initiated an OPD that is charitable and has free medicine disbursement and lab investigations are done free of cost. This further inspired us to reach out to a larger population, especially Delhi. This prompted us to set-up a 400 bedded, multi-disciplinary, super specialty hospital- Shree Balaji Action Medical Institute where we have expanded to the super specialty segment with cardiology, neurology, nephrology, urology, pediatric surgery and others Our next foray is in education. The first step was taken in last year
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Our cancer facility is another technological marvel. We have moved from Cobalt-60 to linear accelerator to high linear accelerator. Now the exposure time of the patient is minimised wherein we had the school of nursing, with three and half year’s course and then started working on setting up of medical college, dental college and college of nursing. It will also have the facility of paramedics like lab technician courses, radiology technician courses, physiotherapy; occupational therapy, medical record and imaging technology. This will also have paramedical courses among others that will be launched in near future. We have obtained the respective approvals from the authorities concerned.
In setting up of hospitals what are the challenges that you
have faced and how did you overcome them? We decided to be in the non-government sector and want to serve the complete range of diseases of all economic strata. If we take the lead and cover large population so that the cost of treatment passed on to the patient comes down without compromising the quality, similar to the mobile talktime concept, where in India today has the lowest talk-time rates due to the huge volume of subscribers. In health sector that is how we have evolved our strategy. Our care must be world-class and affordable so that patients need not go to the other side of the globe, thus saving cost of treatment with no cost of travel and stay, less medical bills incurred as would have been in any of the developed countries.
What were the objectives of this hospital? We wanted to cover a larger population where cutting across all strata of economy from rich to poor to poorest. And we are also treating people below poverty-line with earmarked number of beds in our hospitals at Shree Balaji Action Multi-disciplinary Hospital with 30 beds and our second standalone cancer hospital located in the
same campus with 100-bed capacity with 10 beds reserved for them. The second priority was the location and we wanted the hospital to be easily accessible. So we decided on Paschim Vihar in Western Delhi. Because all national highways which are coming from North and West from Punjab and Haryana are converging here and patients travelling from other neighbouring countries can reach our hospital easily. Another factor is that we focus our visibility and presence in the neighbouring states where travelling distances is six hours, thus making us very accessible.
Please tell us more on the emergency services of your hospital?
Dr D P Saraswat
The first challenge with an emergency service is that if the patient is unable to reach the hospital we have ambulance facility that can be availed. We have a fleet of high tech ambulances with ventilators, monitors and oxygen support and doctors are trained to handle critical patients while travelling. The doctor accompanying the patient is in direct communication with the super-specialist online and is taking directions real time, so that by the time the patient reaches hospital, he is stable. At times we fall short of ambulances, to face that situation we have tied up with other ambulance service providers and take their services too. We always have two doctors available round the clock, 24x7 for emergency services with competence and experience in handling emergency situations. Also, the emergency must always be supported by diagnostics facility, 64 slice CT, 1.5 Tesla MRI, ultrasound, radiologists, blood banks, labs are all working 24x7 to ensure the best of care is offered to the patients. One administrator who is a doctor by profession is also available to ensure and facilitate smooth movements and transitions across various departments.
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cover story Special Feature
What are your thoughts on the rise of multi-specialty hospitals? What are the advantages it caters? Single specialty hospitals suffer from one problem, that if they want a specialist from another specialty they are not easily available. We have a standalone single specialty cancer hospital, a cancer patient when he requires a neuro-surgeon or cardiologist support, they can avail the advantage of our super-specialty hospital where these doctors are easily available in the same campus. One disease treatment usually does not limit itself to one organ or one specialist to treat them; instead it is a multi-disciplinary
developed countries used to take years to reach India, now with global connectivity and India emerging as a potential market for high-end technology, these take just months. Today, we see that products are launched in India before it enters global markets. With regards to operation theaters, we have modular and ultra-modern operation theatres. However, we went ahead to take on a new technology that is available only in few hospitals in Delhi & NCR which is called OR-1. For the surgeon operating in operation theatres, a touch screen available in front wherein he/she can give a command and is communicated with other specialists in operation theatre. In addition, the entire action is re-
the cancer cells without disturbing the neighboring normal cells? More importantly, there are some moving parts in the body such as the heart continues beating, lungs are moving continuously. So if there is a cancer nearby, and I have identified the cancer and so when high-energy radiation beams are thrown to burn the cancer cells, as the patient is doing respiration we find that the tumor has moved from its place. So with a treatment planning system where everything is programmed, the heart is beating normally and it gives information as in how many seconds it will take to come back to the normal position and then only radiation is programmed. This is
We went ahead to take on a new technology that is available only in few hospitals in Delhi & NCR called OR-1. For the surgeons, a touch screen available in front wherein he/she can give a command and is communicated with other specialists in operation theater. In addition, the entire action is recorded in real time for the doctor and patient to refer anytime later approach that is required for treating them at the tertiary level. In our case, all these disciplines under one campus are available. We have two cath labs under one roof that again is a benefit to the patients as they don’t have to wait and can avail services uninterrupted; a multi-disciplinary hospital is the futuristic need in our country.
What technological advancements have happened in your hospital? The technological advancements are happening at a very rapid pace, and the technology or equipment procured four to five years ago has now become obsolete. These need to be either upgraded or replaced. Our strategy has been to procure the latest, high-end technology so that the obsolete technology is not a financial burden on us. Earlier, the latest technology from the
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corded in real time for the doctor and patient to refer anytime later. We had organised some of the conferences where our gynecologist along with European gynecologists were operating and we had a live telecast through this OR-1.In the conference room there were 120 doctors watching this live surgery telecast. And when surgery was going on the surgeons were talking to each other using their headphone. She was explaining the artery and nerves she was operating on, and the audience is seeing, hearing and asking questions also. We have this facility in both the operation theatres. Our cancer facility is another technological marvel. We have moved from Cobalt-60 to linear accelerator to high linear accelerator. Now the exposure time of the patient is minimised. Secondly, how can we only destroy
all about maximum safety to patients. Patient is put on a simulator where all his movements are captured; put on to our system, the software designs and tells us on the number of seconds the organ will take to come to normal position. That information is fed into the machine, so machine regulates the exposure accordingly. Similarly in nuclear medicine, we have been introduced high end PET 16 slice CT and 12 head Gamma camera from one of the leading company in the world so that we have access to the best of the technology. With high speed, high energy, greater accuracy, we can reduce the exposure. The equipment of linear accelerator is Varian and the model is Repid Arc. We are in the expansion mode and to cope with the added workload we are planning to acquire one more machines that are truly state- of- the- art.
Special Feature
Ethically Correct
“National Heart Institute is not owned by an individual, it is a society institute and we need to carry this legacy till this institute is alive�, Dr OP Yadava, CEO, National Heart Institute proudly mentions in his interview with Shally Makin, ENN
What kind of facilities and services are you offering at National Heart Institute? The National Heart Institute is the research and referral tertiary care heart hospital of the All India Heart Foundation, which acts as a nucleus for diagnosis and treatment of heart ailments and allied diseases and is equipped with state of the art equipments. Cardiac patients with other ailments are also admitted to this hospital, as specialists for diseases other than heart are available round the clock for consultation and treatment. Patients sometimes have associated sleep apnea and other lung and nephrological disorders along with cardiac disease. Therefore the hospital has a department of Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine which is equipped with sophisticated machines and is manned by dedicated Pulmonologists, Thoracic Surgeons and Physiotherapists. We also offer dialysis facilities, haemodiafiltration and other related services. Surgeries in cardiac patients like hip replacement, abdomen surgery is also provided along with cardiology cover. The focus of the centre however lies in heart and cardiac diseases. Though I am trained in cardio thoracic vascular surgery, I have confined myself to cardiac surgery exclusively.
What were the major challenges you faced as the new CEO of the centre? Since I have taken over this role in the year 2004, we had to compete with corporate hospitals. We pumped
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Dr O P Yadava
in capital, upgraded from six to now 48 ICU beds, nuclear medicine and gamma camera, complete HIS entirely networked systems and digital archiving storage. Every bed has 4-6 channel monitoring integrated with telemonitoring systems. We are in a process for archiving medical records of at least, last five years and have started moving towards digitisation. This needed a lot of funds and restructuring of infrastructure from scratch. We have five critical care units now which consist of two gold standard set ups having entirely Philips technology with other three by L&T. Cardiac services include all kinds of adult closed and open heart surgeries, congenital heart surgeries and modern cath lab facilities for percutaneous interventions. Infrastructure consists of 48 intensive care beds plus 56 non intensive care beds, state of art modular operation suites- Positive pressurisation-8-10 mm Hg, Laminar flow design (all micro-particles go to periphery and do not travel back to centre) and 100 percent exhaust with bacterial micro-filters.
What are the achievements witnessed by the institute so far? The Institute has been recognised for specialised cardiac treatment by the CGHS, Employees State Insurance (ESI) and Employee Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), besides the Governments of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Govt of NCT of Delhi. Ministry of Defence, Office of the Director General of Armed Forces Medical Services and Directorate General of Medical Services Naval Headquarters has recognised NHI for treatment of their employees and their families. Public sector bodies, almost all the TPAs and international organisations like World Health Organisation and UNICEF are also empanelled with the National Heart Institute.
About the hospital National Heart Institute, brain child of doyen of Cardiology in India, Dr S Padmavati, was inaugurated in 1981 by then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, as the Clinical Research and Medical Care Delivery wing of All India Heart Foundation, with the aim of providing state-ofart modern cardiac care technology to the financially impoverished section of the society. It was intended to be a self sufficient, stand alone facility and therefore it was decided that people with paying capacity should also be taken up and the surplus generated from them be channelized for the treatment of the poor. The hospital was then operational in 1981, funded by Bennett Coleman then.
National Heart Institute is recognised by National Boards for post doctoral training and runs a teaching and training programme in various speciality specialities. It is recognised as a Collaborative Centre of WHO in Preventive Cardiology since 1983. It is an affiliate of the World Hypertension League and Heart Beat International. We being a socially driven Heart Institute, we are running school health programme. We have signed MoU with Uttarakhand to set up cardiac units in remote hill areas through regular camps. We are planning to develop hospitals in remote areas and wish to excel in pediatric heart surgery.
How do you plan to provide affordable healthcare to all? Ten percent of indoor beds are earmarked for poor patients having monthly income of `8000 and below and the hospital regularly provides free treatment to such patients and lots many at subsidised rates. The highest number of free surgeries is done here. The hospital also runs free OPDs for two hours on all working days. In collaboration with Heartbeat International, the hospital provides free Cardiac Pacemakers for needy patients. However we do not want patients to come to us thinking that we charge less for a treatment, come to us for we are good. We have published tariffs but there are many patients where we give above 50 percent discount. We do not discriminate between the discounted members and the other patients who have paid the whole amount. There is a committee which evaluates the family and the patient background who applies for a discount. Apart from indoor treatment, keeping in tune with its ethos of service to the humanity, the Institute also provides comprehensive medical check-up, i.e. executive health checkups, at nominal rates with a view to ensuring good physical conditioning and health to all individuals.
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Special Feature
When Innovation Meets Care
Rajesh Srivastava, Chairman, Rockland Hospital speaks about technology as an enabler in healthcare. He speaks to Sharmila Das, ENN about the benefits of a comprehensive e-network for the patients and the doctors Do you think ICT tools are important for transparent and efficient functioning of any hospital? These tools are very important for the efficient management of a hospital; however there is a need for the hospitals to work closely with the technology companies in the best interest of the patients. The ICT tools need to be developed with the hospital domain experts and IT experts in a collaborative manner and in isolation from each other. Healthcare is all about trust so transparency through e-recording of all transactions is very important so that all records can be traced back in case of ongoing treatment by any other doctor and in case the payer wishes to audit the hospital bills with the line of treatment prescribed by the treating doctor.
How technology can translate into better patient care and enhance hospital efficiency? Patient care delivery is ultimately in the hands of the doctors so the role of technology is primarily to help the doctors. Simplifying the appointment process, availability of the patients past record, diagnostic reports and a linkage with the diagnostic teams, other doctors and support staff through an easy to use electronic pathway can
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do wonders in patient care. It will also ensure transparency in the system as e-records can be easily recorded and audited. We have developed a system where all transactions can be carried out and traced by the patients and the doctors through a simple registration number.
Tell us about your newly launched hospital in Manesar? The Rockland Hospitals Group has launched a 505 bedded multi speciality hospital in Manesar, Haryana as a model centre for the launch of the Rockland Health Network. It will connect with 400 clinics and 40 nursing homes and small hospitals in the first phase. The network partners would include private players as well as the Government through a Public Private Partnership model. This model will be replicated in phases to cover the
entire North India, North East India, SAARC Countries, Middle East , Africa and several other countries.
What is Rockland’s Health Network and how it will enable you in providing better patient care?
Rajesh Srivastava
The Rockland Health Network is a five layered healthcare delivery model connected through a network of trained health volunteers, quality certified doctors, nursing homes and small hospitals finally connected with the Rockland Tertiary Care hospitals. Doctors operating from clinics, nursing homes and small hospitals will be able to link up with the super specialist doctors and equipments for a better care of the patients through mobile phone based and personal computer based applications developed by the Rockland Group. The patients and their attendants will benefit by getting access to the best advice and diagnostic analysis at far off places and those coming to NCR for treatment will have complete arrangements for travel and stay at reasonable costs through an e-interface with the click of a button from the comfort of their homes. Patients will be able to reach out to the network partners near their homes for OPD consultation and for treatment which can be done in their city of residence and get referred to NCR only in cases where tertiary care is required and so on. The benefits to the network doctors and small hospitals will be in several forms. A centralised diagnostic team of doctors, for example, can read and interpret the reports generated at far off locations where finding a good radiology doctor may not be easy or could be a very costly affair. This can help reduce wrong diagnosis which can lead to wrong treatment many a times. Right diagnosis at the right time will also reduce the cost of treatment and ensure early detection.
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special feature
Handle with Care Havells group initiated a hospital in Faridabad, purely as a social commitment but simultaneously it was expected to be self sustaining. Dr D K Baluja, President, QRG Central hospital shares his insights with Shally Makin on future plans of the group
Tell us about the vision behind creating the hospital in Faridabad. In terms of life, Delhi populace is bursting to the seams and the influx continues to be a ceaseless ongoing process that never comes to a halt. During the past five years, NCR has witnessed a spurt of super specialty hospitals. The people are assured of everything under one roof. Urban cities have seen mushrooming of nursing home level private practitioners both recognized and unrecognized. They are catering to the needs of people who live in far off areas .Recently with the development of Haryana, the state has witnessed a lot of economic development there. The government infrastructure never matched private infrastructure and so there was a need in Faridabad to have a hospital which could cater to a population around 50 - 100 Kms adjoining Delhi. This hospital comes under the aegis of Havells group, chaired by Shri Qimat Rai Gupta. As a commitment to the society, the group has forayed into the healthcare domain and gradually into education. The model has to be self sustaining so we started a 150 bedded hospital called QRG Central Hospital. We realized the need for another hospital in Faridabad and consequently we acquired one group of hospital at a distance of 2-3 km which will be scaled to 400 beds. This hospital is going to be one of the most advanced hospitals replete with all super specialties, tertiary care services will be offered.
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Provide an Excellent Healthcare System to the people at an affordable cost’
Dr D K Baluja
The message of the Chairman is very clear ‘Provide an Excellent Healthcare System to the people at an affordable cost’. By September 2013 unit 2 will also be functional. Money has never been a constraint with this group and therefore this is not an extravagant commercial venture.
When it comes to technology, how far do you think that the hospital is trying to accommodate the global technology? When it comes to adopting trends in
“Healthcare is the only business on earth which is paid with thanks” technological procurement we are buying the best in the market. Each technology has got different spheres of vendors. We have different vendor management system. We have a panel of consultants who are experts in their domain. I have 35 years of experience in core health care management. We
Technology that matters Complete cardiac care will be given to the patients with high end equipment like 4D- ECHO, TMT, Holter, stress echo, vascular lab etc backed by high end sophisticated equipment like Philips FD20 cath lab (which is 1st in Faridabad and 3rd in India). The Gastroenterology department has added latest Fujinon 4400 series Gastroscope, Duodenoscope, Colonoscope with video imaging and ERCP facility. The Nephrology department has been started with five dialysis machines (Fresenius) with one high end CRRT dialysis machine. The facilities of flexible ureteroscope in Urology Department have already been introduced. Our hospital is equipped with FD 20 Cath lab, advanced
CTVS, 06 ultra modern operation theater complex, 5 dialysis machines, 64 slice CT Scanner, Colour Doppler, Ultrasound and Digital X- Ray machine, 24 hour pharmacy, 4 Cardiac and critical care ambulances. Our hospital has 29 bedded ICU and CCU equipped with most ultra modern life saving equipment and a 9 bedded NICU for critical sick neonates along with 6 bedded SICU/HDU backup for post operative patient’s care. State of the art lab and blood bank facilities are already making an impact in the city as three aphresis machines (Blood separator machines) are taking care of dengue patients who need mega platelets and other blood components.
are focusing on identifying the technology and know the needs of the end users. QRG Central hospital & research centre is a 140 - bed multi specialty state-of-the-art infrastructure at the most accessible locality of Faridabad. It brings in the latest technology with most competent and highly skilled healthcare professionals with its services at an affordable cost. Keeping the needs of the people in focus, the entire process flow of the hospital is made personalized and transparent. A world class IT system ensures that the patient records are available online at the click of a computer button. All the patient records are digitally stored so that the bill generation and discharge reports are available in shortest span of time for smooth admission and discharge.
What are you doing towards creating an affordable healthcare? Health care is the only business on earth which is paid with thanks. This is an industry with a human impact. You can make your organization, very well cost effective and the parent organisation is having a motto of providing service and not just commercial earning out of institution. The promoters have entered in the health care and purely have a social model obligation; this is the advantage of being self sufficient with funds.
What are the challenges that you have faced as a vendor in the healthcare industry? In NCR challenges are different, the needs of the people are same everywhere but the affordability levels are different. But they just need to be customized in a manner to satisfy client and customer. In India so far the exposure of health care is not towards 6-7 percent, self affordability is extremely difficult with the financial systems. We are sensitive to people, concentrate with total ethical business, target patient care services and just let it flow.
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special feature
Serving A Prime Objective
Dr N D Khurana, COO, Primus Hospital takes pride in saying, “We emphasis a lot on medical ethics & transparency, a rare phenomenon in today’s medical system”. He speaks to Sharmila Das, ENN at length about the hospital’s services What has been your forte? Tell us about the hospital’s primary objective? Who were the founding members of the hospital? Primus Super Specialty Hospital, a state of the art 250 bedded hospital with 130 commissioned beds is located in the serene diplomatic area of the country. The hospital has come up as per vision of its Chairperson as well as mission set up by her. Our vision is to establish a network of world class centres in healthcare by providing state of the art facility and creation of ethical, compassionate patient care through professional excellence. Our primary measures of success will be delivering a benchmark quality of medical services. Our organisation will be run by responsive, caring and efficient people with a never ending focus on service and medical excellence. The hospital commissioned initially as Primus Ortho & Spine Hospital in the year 2007 and has during the short span of five years not only excelled in the field of Ortho & Spine including joint replacement and complex spine surgeries but also diversified by including other Super Specialties to provide Multi- Specialty care to patients under one roof. Primus Super Specialty Hospital (PSSH) is registered with DHS Government of NCT of Delhi and is NABH & NABL accredited signifying the quality standards practiced. PSSH is catering to the medical needs of national and international patients and complying with all statutory requirements and follows all service delivery protocols. The Hospital has acquired state of the art technology and technical know-how as well as highly qualified and experienced faculty and support staff to put that technology into practice. The ethical practice and transparency are the prime concerns at Primus.
What are the medical services you offer? The hospital is presently providing services in the following disciplines of medicine:Orthopaedics including Arthroplasty and Joint replacement under highly qualified and experienced Director Prof Dr Surya Bhan eminent ex- faculty AIIMS
Dr N D khurana
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with about 10,000 joint replacements to his credit. Urology including andrology, reconstructive urology & kidney transplant by team of eminent urologists comprising Dr GSKochar, Dr HS Bhatyal & Dr SK Pal who are class apart in managing most complicated reconstructive urological problems refused from various centre of repute from India and abroad. ENT including cochlear implantation. Spine surgery under Dr. Arun Bhanot, a highly qualified and experienced with specialised training in spine surgery at Wooridul Spine Hospital, Seoul, South Korea, Dr Bhanot has exclusive skill in performing dissectomies under local anaeshthesia with patient fully awake and making the miserable patients walk the following morning post operatively Department of IVF at PSSH, first one to acquire an embryoscope in North India under well known Gynecologist and IVF expert Dr (Brig) RK Sharma who is trainer of the trainers. Institute of Reproductive Medicine and IVF centre, a flagship in the field of infertility management and research has brought a new ray of hope in the life of infertile couples specially those who have not succeeded in their quest in earlier attempts elsewhere. PSSH has state of the art dialysis unit with 12 latest haemodialysers and highly skilled faculty and well trained support staff to provide round the clock dialysis services. Dental department under Padam Shree Dr Anil Kohli is an excellent set up for delivery of dental services and has got state of the art equipment including pentogram. Department of Neurosurgery is providing excellent Neurosurgical services including GAMA radiations (under tie- up arrangements). Apart from above the hospital is having department of internal medicine, Paediatrics, Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology as support clinical services. To ensure delivery of quality medical
Department of IVF at PSSH, first one to acquire an embryoscope in North India under well known Gynecologist and IVF expert Dr (Brig) RK Sharma care, the importance of support departments cannot be underestimated. Accordingly, PSSH has set up state of the art radiology, pathology, blood bank, ICU, & other supportive department with latest available high tech equipments and highly skilled manpower to operate and decipher the results which include from conventional X-ray unit to 1.5 Tesla MRI along with 64 slice CT scan unit, bone densitometry, mammography ultrasonography, color Doppler, C- Arm , PFT & electrophysiology. The department of radiology is having the availability of PAX system for digital transfer of the images at consultants’ desk. Pathology lab has separate department of Biochemistry, Hematology, Serology, Microbiology, Electrophoresis, Histopathology, Cytology and all are equipped with latest high tech equipments with complete interfacing of all the equipments In accordance with Vision of Our Hon’ble Chairperson Achla Dewan Primus is not grown only as a single unit but has spread its wings beyond diplomatic enclave Delhi by establishing to satellite outreach centers at Ramesh Nagar and Dwarka respectively for door delivery of the services to those who need as well as one 100 bedded replica of Primus India in Abuja, Nigeria to serve the patients at their native place and avoid agony of their long travel in state of poor health to other countries.
In this respect, what are you future plans? Primus is striving hard to established similar centres in other countries of Africa where the health facilities are scarce. Primus ideology of maintain-
ing ethical standards and transparency in patient management has gone a long way in providing satisfaction to the patients and it swears to continue abiding by the same to maintain Doctor patient relationship and faith of patients in treating institution which is the crux of Medical service delivery.
What are the modern equipments you have deployed in diagnosis and treatment? The Heliophos D/KLH (1 tube)/FV 3000 x-ray unit provides the best image quality of digital images with rich contrast. BV Libra 9”, mobile e-arm provides outstanding image quality at lowest possible dose. It has two monitors for image processing, review, archiving and display. Multimedia Mobile Siemens portable x-ray machine which facilitates easy accessibility in case of emergencies. We have installed Siemens Somatom Emotion 64 Slice Configuration CT scan. That allows cutting edge medical technology with minimal life cycle cost. This equipment can reliably perform routine and advanced application like CT colonography, long range vascular CT, and ECG gated imaging of the heart. The machine carries finest diagnostic details, with the fastest speed and maximum efficiency with lowest patient exposure. CT angiography facilitates evaluation of spiral images and display of vessels, vascular anomalies, aneurysms plaques and stenosis. Our radiology department is functional round the clock with equipments like 64 Slice CT, 1.5 Tesla MRI, High Resolution Ultrasound, Mammography, Bone Densitometry, Digital X-Ray etc.
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special feature
‘Rejuvenating the Healthcare Facility’
Saket City Hospital (SCH) is a world class healthcare facility located at the heart of New Delhi. Driven by the credo, ‘YOU FIRST’, the fast emerging healthcare centre promises highest level of quality amidst technology that is truly world-class and futuristic. Dr Mahesh Inder VS, CEO, Saket City Hospital, talks to Shally Makin, ENN on his new role in redefining healthcare Dr Mahesh Inder
With the new role at Saket City Hospital, what vision do you carry to build up this hospital with? Our vision is clear and succinct i.e. building a world-class centre of excellence and innovation in quality healthcare delivery and patient care experience by developing a culture and environment of compassionate care. To achieve this we have taken significant steps towards creating a team of professionals who have the passion of treating patients with utmost compassion, respect and understanding.
What specialty is being offered at present and what to expect in near future? SCH offers five super specialties - Cardiac Sciences, Neurosciences, Gastroenterology & Gastrointestinal Surgery, Orthopedics and Joint Replacement and Obstetrics n Gynecology. Philips, our technology partner has bestowed us with the best diagnostic equipment’s in radio diagnosis, critical care and operation theatres.
When it comes to technological advancement with a new setup, what all are you pitching on? In the context of healthcare services, technology brings efficiency and enhances the quality of services offered
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at SCH. We are working towards developing a unique user-friendly Electronic Medical Record (EMR) solution along with other seamless Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software’s. Clinical support at SCH is underlined by installation of equipments such as Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) module; facility for virtual ICU and Cath Lab. For instance, during routine visits and emergency our doctors will have the access to all records and patient specific data from anywhere in the hospital and out of hospital. Also radiology is integrated with ICU for digital monitoring and ultimately merges with the EMR
Tell us about your achievements in digital innovations, how far you see the hospital going paperless? Digitalisation does not mean “going paperless�. It ensures access to quality and accurate data, which catalyses faster decision making and better hospital management. Digitalisation also ensures centralising all operational procedures to a common platform. For instance, the operation theatres, intensive care units and other critical departments require efficient room temperature and humidity management control systems, which need to be well integrated with the overall hospital management communications system. Our technology platform is well equip ped to weave digital innovation into the administration fabric thereby ensuring quicker access and filtering of data by integrating functions.
Thinking futuristically IT will bring efficiency and enhance quality of clinical services offered All departments are linked through WLAN ERP/SAP solutions are being tried out Hospital to be equippedwith Clinical Decision Suport System (CDSS) Module Developing a unique user friendly Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Solution Integrating all solutions for various departments with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software
What is the USP of the hospital? Our endeavor is to develop patient centric protocols and algorithm based standardised clinical practice to deliver clinical outcomes comparable to become best centers of the world. We at Saket City Hospital believe in ‘You First’. This signifies that we always keep our patients, employees and stakeholders on priority. As Dr BK Modi, Chairman, Saket City Hospital, once said, “We have a team of finest talent backed by state-of-the-art facilities, infrastructure and services and we will put ‘You First’ everytime.
Saket City Hospital aims to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of healthcare with unsurpassed infrastructure, operational efficiencies, excellence in patient care and improving the health�
The USP of the hospital is ‘affordable world class healthcare’. The hospital boasts of patient-friendly staff and doctors in a professional environ. We ensure there are no overstays and that patient- specific treatment is imparted in a transparent manner. Patient-centric attitude and hardcore service value are epitome of the hospital.
What are your expansion plans? Saket City Hospital is a wholly owned subsidiary of Spice Group and our Chairman Dr BK Modi has the vision to offer the best in the healthcare services. The first phase of our plan will be completed with a fully equipped 250 bed hospital. We would like to turn it into the most efficient newer modalities. We will create centres of excellence and develop subspecialties in each clinical speciality. Also, we will focus on clinical trials, research, academic programmes and newer modalities like stem cell therapy general therapy and others.
What qualities you bring with your experience in healthcare Industry to this hospital? With vast investments in patient care, diagnostics and technology, India’s healthcare industry is on a robust growth curve. Saket City Hospital aims to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of healthcare with unsurpassed infrastructure, operational efficiencies, excellence in patient care and improving the health and well -being of diverse communities by ensuring every action and deed determined by putting ‘You First’. I feel honored to be a part of Saket City Hospital’s growth story. With constant support of my team, I will invest my strengths and capabilities to transform SCH into a family of compassionate professionals delivering excellent healthcare services to the patients.
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Gujarat
Marching Towards Excellence Gujarat has evolved as one of the most preferred medical destinations for international as well as domestic patients, Nikita Apraj, ENN analyses the healthcare boom
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ujarat has been in a limelight for its stupendous development in various sectors–infrastructure, industry, agriculture – to note a few. Healthcare sector in Gujarat has also joined the club, given to rise in medical tourism and government initiatives
Medical tourism India’s medical tourism sector is expected to experience an annual
growth rate of 30 percent, making it a US$ 2 billion industry by 2015. Advantages for medical tourists include reduced costs, the availability of latest medical technologies and a growing compliance on international quality standards, as well as the fact that foreigners are less likely to face a language barrier in India. Ahmadabad is one of the most preferred destinations for medical tourism in the country given economic
stability, industrial and agricultural development state of Gujarat. Other cities in the state like capital Gandhinagar has also become one of the most favored medical destinations for both Indian and foreign patients. Medical tourism is divided into two categories – Domestic medical tourism in which patients travel within cities or states to seek better healthcare and second one is international medical tourism. In-
Over the time, Gujarat has build capabilities within the state reducing
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ternational medical patients can be divided into two subsets – Non Resident Gujaratis, a subset specific to Gujarat, who want to be treated in or around their native place. Another subset is of truly international patients who come to India for a costeffective treatment.
Gujarat preferred by foreigners “International patients come to India to be treated for old problems, not for acute problems because they won’t be able to reach here for acute problems. Majority of patients arrive for joint replacement, spine surgeries, mental treatment, cosmetic surgeries, and hair transplantation,” Dr Vikram Shah, MD, Shalby Hospitals says. While these patients are being treated in the hospital, their relatives are free roaming various departments in the hospital. So they utilise their free time to get treatments done – like cosmetic surgeries, dental treatments. “It’s like pilgrimage; they would visit every small temple!” Dr Shah adds on a lighter note. Shalby Hospitals, a leading hospital chain in the state can be said to the pioneer in the medical tourism in India. Shalby Hospitals entered medical tourism almost 15 years ago. Patients from across Africa, England, Canada and US come to Shalby to get their treatment done.
from Maharashtra as well. We have been able to build that kind of brand equity across India. That plays an important part in medical tourism,” says Dr Rajiv Sharma, CEO, Sterling Hospitals. He feels ‘medical tourism’ is not a proper phrase. “I would rather say medical travel. Nobody travels for fun, in case of medical condition,” he explains. Sterling Hospital, a major chain of hospitals in Gujarat receives international patients mainly from African countries like Nigeria, Uganda and Tanzania. Most of these patients come for high-end tertiary care and treatment.
Building bridge between patients and doctors Besides hospitals, there are several companies that help international medical tourism by attracting patients from developing countries. Me-
disoft Telemedicine of Ahmadabad is one of these medical tourism companies that advise and help international patients during their stay in India. Devendra Patel, MD, Medisoft Telemedicine who also runs a telemedicine company explains the genesis of the company. A telemedicine client in Africa requested Devendra Patel for an opinion of an Indian doctor in a particular case. Through his contacts, he provided the client an opinion of an Indian doctor free of cost by means of teleconferencing. The client got much impressed by the quality of knowledge of the doctor and some of his patients actually flew all the way from Africa to India for their treatment. Then request came from the Indian doctors to help them with legal formalities, foreign regional registration and other things like accommodation
“Healthcare in Gujarat is becoming more structured and it will become more so in coming future. Dr Rajiv Sharma, CEO, Sterling Hospitals
Preferred by Indians as well Medical tourism has given a significant impetus to Indian healthcare. In coming years, medical travel is expected to be growing. International medical tourism is more glamorous and often gets more limelight as compared to domestic medical tourism. However, both kind of medical tourism play a significant role in the success of a hospital. “We found success in internal medical travel but we get patients from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and
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can countries feel more comfortable while at the same time helping in the facilitation of their treatment. Though this has certainly helped medical tourism, hospitals still express disconcert over the Foreign Regional Registration Office (FRRO) process. Patients coming from countries other than India are required to complete FRRO norms within 14 days of their arrival in the country. The norms require personal presence of the person for registration and involve many formalities and tedious paperwork. Given the condition of the patient, it could prove to be a very painful experience. It also portrays a negative image of the country.
Image is important Image of the country plays an important role in patient’s decision of choosing a destination for his treatment. International patients first of these patients. That was how the company was born. “We get patients mainly from Asian countries, Gulf countries and countries in Africa. Telemedicine is one of the ways to market our medical tourism services. We act as a bridge between international patients and Indian doctors and hospitals. We are a facilitator where we provide pick-up from the airport, hotel accommodation, physical consultation and other support. Our person is always there to help the patients and their relatives. We also help them in following-up the case as doctors may not always be able to reply quickly to patient queries. We help the patients get their queries answered. We take care of our patient-clients just like their relatives in their resident country would have. We have associations with hospitals for international medical tourism,” Devendra Patel explains the procedure in detail.
“International patients come to India to be treated for old problem, not for acute problem.” Dr Vikram Shah, Founder Chairman & MD, Shalby Hospitals Policy and regulations The Government of India is taking steps to address infrastructure issues that hinder the country’s growth in medical tourism. The government has removed visa restrictions on tourist visas that required a two-month gap between consecutive visits for people from Gulf countries which is likely to boost medical tourism. A number of hospitals in Gujarat have hired translators for African and Gulf languages to make patients from Gulf and Afri-
choose a country depending upon their budget and more importantly, quality of healthcare infrastructure in the country. Then they choose a state and then a city where they want to be treated. So, image of a state as well as a city, local policies and regulations, transport infrastructure in the city – whether or not the city has any international airport, image of the city – crime rate, experience of other patients, social milieu are all become deciding factors in patients
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choice. Any sort of regulation that directly or indirectly affects travel will affect international medical travel as well. Organizations like CII and FICCI organise regular events in these target countries and encourage delegations from these countries to come and see the facilities that we have. We ourselves have received several delegations from countries like Kenya and Tanzania in the past. Government intervention or regulatory intervention is critical for growth. “When these patients arrive in the city, we have to notify to the police. Things like their safety and security, stay and accommodation which may seem very minor for a person in India but are very important for a person coming from out of India,” Dr Sharma adds.
Path ahead Majority of experts agree on the statement that international medical tourism in India will flourish. Central and state government has realised importance of medical tourism and the role it can play in the growth of economy. Talking about government support to promote medical tourism in India in countries abroad, Dr Sharma says, government is trying well to sell India and medical excellence in India.
Development of healthcare in Gujarat Development in medical infrastructure and easily accessible healthcare facilities has remarkably improved the health index of the population in Gujarat over the last few years. Well developed ports, roads, airports, rails are also said to be responsible factors. Today Gujarat has made a rapid progression to the state-of-the-art tertiary care corporate hospitals getting established in major as well as two and three tier cities. Changing mindset of the patients who have become
“We take care of our patient-clients just like their relatives would have” Devendra Patel, Director, Medisoft Telemedicine quality conscious and more aware of their healthcare needs can be listed as one he reasons behind this rapid progression. Besides, growing per capita income and want of specialised and sophisticated healthcare has given further impetus to this healthcare boom. Experts agree that healthcare in Gujarat is evolving fast. Earlier most of the patients from Gujarat used to go to Mumbai and metro cities for treatment. Over the time, Gujarat has been able to build capabilities within
Central and state Government has realised importance of medical tourism and the role it can play in the growth of economy the state reducing number of patients going outside Gujarat for treatment to negligible. “Healthcare in Gujarat is becoming more structured and it will become more so in coming future. I am sure we are looking at a very bright future as far as healthcare delivery in Gujarat is concerned,” says Dr Sharma. Internal medical travel from Gujarat has diminished. Ahmadabad is now recognised as a city that can provide best-in-class healthcare delivery. That is a reason there are many
patients coming to the city from Rajasthan, which is not as developed as Gujarat in terms of healthcare and medical infrastructure. “Gujarat has a good healthcare system. Government of Gujarat is very supportive; things move fast when it comes to hospitals or healthcare-related issues,” Dr Shah says.
Expanding for better Major corporate hospital groups such as Sterling, Shalby Hospitals, CIMS, Apollo and Wockhardt have made significant investments in setting up state-of-the-art hospitals in major cities of Gujarat. The other major private players in the state are. Expansion is happening not only in terms of beds, but also in terms of super specialties. As Dr Sharma informs, Sterling Hospitals has won the crown of being the only hospital in Gujarat to have achieved ability to perform functional neurosurgery. The hospital recently performed a successful surgery for Writer’s Cramp, achieving the title of being the first hospital in India and one of the few hospitals across the world to perform this surgery. Sterling Hospitals is planning on expanding its facilities to Surat. Shalby Hospitals is coming up with two new hospitals – one will be in Indore, Madhya Pradesh and another will be in Naroda, Gujarat. Each will be a 250-bed hospital, together expanding capacity of Shalby Hospitals by 500 beds.
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Co-operating Community healthcare
As healthcare sector is evolving, newer hospital models are coming up in the country. Care Institute of Medical Sciences (CIMS) is one such hospital that has set an example of group practice by doctors. Nikita Apraj, ENN speaks to Dr Keyur Parikh, Chairman, CIMS about his hospital maximised use of natural lights wherever possible. It is at the cost space, but we took the decision. Located on the Science City Road of Ahmadabad, the hospital sits on a spacious premise. Dr. Parikh adds, “We got a good piece of land here in
stronghold of the hospital. As per Dr Parikh’s information, the hospital performs around 700 cardiology procedures a month. It also performs about 500 angiographies, 150 angioplasties, 50 pacemakers, 70 Electro-physiology studies and more than 100 open heart
“Based more on a co-operative model, Committees of doctors are empowered to run the hospital”
Dr Parikh, prefer his hospital to be called a ‘forprofit community hospital’. “It would be an antithesis to call a hospital as a ‘corporate hospital’. Medical hospital can never be corporate”, he says Architectural delight CIMS is one of the first green hospitals in the country. The hospital has used rain-water harvesting, fly ash bricks in its design with multiple courtyards in the hospital. The ICUs of hospital have central sky lights and courtyards. All operation theatres as well as angiography facilities have central sky lights as well. Our hospital is an architectural delight. Many architects come to our hospital to study its design. We have minimised use of artificial lights and
the outskirts of Ahmadabad. Finding such a place in the city was not possible. It was cost-effective. We wanted a specious premise.”
Dream come true Hailing from the third generation of Indian migrants to Africa, Dr Parikh was in California since 1980. He and his wife decided to come back to India for mainly two reasons – first was to come up with a hospital which was their dream. This was something which was not conceivable in America. Second was to come back to the country of origin. It was our strong desire to raise our three children in our home country. “I didn’t want them to be fourth generation migrants. So we came back in 1995”, he reveals. The hospital has 150 beds at present and is coming up with another 75-bed expansion which has already begun. CIMS serve all major medical specialties but cardiology is the
surgeries in a month in its second year of operation.
Co-operative hospital Dr Parikh explains management structure of his hospital, “We neither have CEO nor COO; our hospital is run on a horizontal hierarchy. Committees of doctors are empowered to run the hospital. A management team of doctors and non-doctor managers run the hospital through committees. The hospital has about 30 committees and each committee is empowered to work through a management team which reports to the board of directors. We have many doctors who voluntarily devote few hours a week to the workings of the committees. It is based more on a co-operative model. It is a model where doctors co-operated to create think tanks who sit in committees. People actually advised us against it but we tried and tested this model.”
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Walking a Different Path Established with an aim to be an affordable multi-specialty corporate hospital in rural parts of Gandhinagar, Goenka Hospital represents an emerging trend in healthcare g
By Nikita Apraj, ENN
H
ailing from some distant village in Gandhinagar district, Kantaben’s eyes are filled with happiness as she looks at her new-born baby quietly sleeping in her lap. Her dream has come true- a dream that her baby would enter the world in a reputed hospital, in presence of experts to help her. Thanks to Goenka Hospital. Located in the outskirts of Gandhinagar, Goenka Hospital is a 100-bedded multi-specialty hospital catering to rural population of the district. “We aim to provide the best healthcare facilities to patients in rural areas. For them it is difficult and unaffordable to approach high-end specialty hospitals in cities, especially in case of an emergency,” tells Dr. Manoj Kodwani, Sr. Medical Administrator, Goenka Hospital.
Not an easy path Recruiting staff and doctors proved
the biggest challenge in initial stages, given the location of the hospital. Attracting rural patients was another challenge as it was difficult to convince them that even they can avail super specialty healthcare facilities at an affordable cost. After incessant efforts of two and a half year, the hospital has now started gaining a momentum. The hospital today has a team of doctors practicing various specialties including critical care, anesthesiology, oncosurgery and even neurosurgery. The hospital also has a team of highly qualified and dedicated para-medical staff backed by advanced medical infrastructure.
ized monitoring system with complete set-up of ICU in ambulance, the vehicle is used for transporting critical patients to the hospital. The facility has been proved very helpful for the people residing at remote villages. “The monitor in the ambulance is connected with monitor in ICU and an expert’s chamber at the hospital. A team of experts at hospital guide the doctor and his team in ambulance on its way to the hospital. It also helps us make necessary arrangement at the hospital before the patient reach helping patient get an immediate treatment,” Dr. Kodwani explains.
ICU-on-wheels
Goenka Hospital is affiliated with many government schemes through which it provides advance medical services to Below Poverty Line (BPL) patients. Some of these are Rashtriya Sasthya Bima Yojana Scheme (RSBY), Mukhyamantri Amrutam Yojana, Chiranjeevi Yojana, Bal Sakha Yojana and Jana Suraksha Yojana. “Through the schemes we provide our advance healthcare facilities totally free of cost to the BPL families. About 56,000 BPL families of Gandhinagar District are getting benefits of all these facilities through these schemes,” informs Dr. Kodwani. “We aim to take this institute to national level and to provide state-ofart healthcare facilities to more population,” Dr. Kodwani says with a shine in his eyes.
ICU-on-Wheels ambulance is a unique concept implemented at the Goenka Hospital. Equipped with fully atomized ventilator and advance central-
“We aim to provide the best healthcare facilities to patients in rural areas, because for them it is difficult and unaffordable to approach high-end specialty city hospitals”
Dr Manoj Kodwani, Sr Medical Administrator, Goenka Hospital
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Leveraging Government schemes
special Feature
Customer
First
Dr Sumit Prasad, General Manager, Columbia Asia, Gaziabad talks to Shally Makin, ENN, on various developments in this unit since its inception Give us a snapshot on how Columbia Asia started its journey in India. Columbia Asia ventured In India in 2005, primarily based in Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia and the investors are based out of Seattle. Bangalore was stationed as headquarters for India. The hospital is looking at peripheries where the city is growing. The advent of NABH accreditation in 2006 was perceived as an ideal opportunity to further streamline and strengthen the documentation and operating pro-
About the hospital Columbia Asia is an international healthcare group operating a chain of modern hospitals across Asia. Columbia Asia Hospitals Pvt Ltd is
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cedures; thus began the journey of association with NABH. All Columbia Asia hospitals have now been mandated to undergo this accreditation. Recently Columbia Asia Referral Hospital Yeshwanthpur, Bangalore, Columbia Asia Hospital Palam Vihar, Gurgaon and Columbia Asia Hospital Mysore have also been NABH accredited and Columbia Asia Hospital - Patiala and Gaziabad is in the advanced stages of getting accredited. Columbia Asia Hospital – Ghaziabad is a multispecialty hospital located in an important area of the National Capital Region. The 100 bed hospital has been operational since September 2010 and is designed to cater to the daily needs of patients, from childbirth and internal medicine to minimally invasive surgeries and orthopedics. Columbia Asia Hospital – Ghaziabad has highly qualified medical personnel, technicians and support staff to ensure the highest quality of care. It has full time specialists in Obstetrics & Gynecology, Internal Medicine, General Surgery, Pediatrics, Ophthalmology, Ear, Nose & Throat, Urology, Gastroenterology, Orthopedics, Dermatology, Dental and Plastic Surgery. Standardisation has happened and achieved in larger extent with 11-15 beds in critical care, dialysis and endoscopy with similar infrastructure throughout the units.
one of the first healthcare companies to enter India through 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) route. The Group is owned by more than 150 private equity companies, fund management organisations and individual investors.
We stand on four pillars - Quality is paramount, people at Columbia Asia, transparency in clinical and non clinical services, infrastructure in particular is maintained’ What are the IT investments your hospital has made over the years? The hospital follows globally benchmarked standards of medical, nursing and operating protocols. Electronic Medical Records Management and Customer Care management considerably reduces waiting time at the hospital and enhances the quality and efficiency of managing patient records. The facility is already recognised as one of the best hospitals in Ghaziabad. Technology friendly doctors and truly paperless environment is managed in the hospital. In house ERP solution across all centres integrated
Columbia Asia hospitals are clean, efficient, affordable and accessible. The innovative design of the hospitals, from their manageable size to their advanced technology, is focused on creating positive experience for patients.
with supply chain, HR, scheduling and patient reminders, RIS, pharmacy, clinical applications and EMR. Nothing is hand written, we have digital records, digital prescriptions and other such technologies which time and again is constantly upgraded. Every year the financial plan for technology lay to enhanced modules and IT department. We will be soon introducing CRM perspective automated sms engine to send sms alerts to patients and upgrade OT management system with a back up from ICU. Risk management in this organisation, medical or non medical or any drug reaction is raised and evaluated and constantly looked on structuring data. Business intelligence is mapped during financial planning to plan the coming year both in terms of revenue and cost perspective. Rules are followed at the minutest level. We are judicious in procuring medical technology as new hospitals come up we start with minus MRI and then keep on upgrading it. Since we have a large base and large requirement from user perspective, we get the best of all technologies to cater the masses. We normally don’t outsource our specialties and departments including café and kitchen which are run by the in house team. According to geography, we venture in specialties of various surgeries and transplants as needed.
The first hospital in India commenced operations in 2005 in Hebbal - Bangalore. Currently Columbia Asia operates nine multispecialty hospitals, one referral hospital and a clinic.
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cover special story Feature
What are the challenges you face in the hospital operation and execution and how do you sail through the challenges? Challenges vary from unit to unit and from phase to phase. Since the core team is same that launched the first hospital, it gives an experience group of professionals to go through the life cycle again but overcoming the mistakes done previously. Every new hospital and every new location brings in a bunch of new challenges to maintain the level of standards that we look upto.
What are your strengths? Technically sound physicians and brand that we bring in large practices believes to steal the show with slow and steady work. The hospital is audited twice a year internally which
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then allows to file an application to NABH for certification. I feel optimistic about the growth of hospitals, city is growing nearby and Gaziabad needed a facility like us to serve them with better healthcare facility. We are offering a number of services with good back up of emergency services; most of the doctors are post graduate, IT management specialists round the clock manpower. Affordability is the best litmus test a hospital undergoes. It is our customers who will choose us for being reasonably priced and pick diagnostics facilities if we are better than the peers around. With a backbone of IT infrastructure and aggressive Infection control, we take measures to serve the best in healthcare. Brands of medicine are taken care while prescribing, clinical ser-
vices and charges are same for all rooms with slight changes in overhead facilities USP.
How do you aim to achieve the best in the coming years? Technically sound physicians and brand that we bring in large practices believes to steal the show with slow and steady work. The hospital is audited twice a year internally which then allows to file an application to NABH for certification. I feel optimistic about the growth of hospitals, city is growing nearby and Gaziabad needed a facility like us to serve them with better healthcare facility. We are offering a number of services with good back up of emergency services; most of the doctors are post graduate, IT management specialists round the clock manpower.
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in focus
Hospital Information Management System
Makes a Difference HIMS offers many merits to its users. With the increasing trend of competitive environment in corporate healthcare, HIMS is not less than indispensible g
By Sadananda Reddy, MD, GOLDSTAR Healthcare
T
echnology has become an integral part of our everyday life and more precisely software is becoming the backbone of smart enterprise. In healthcare, software plays a vital role in shifting and managing information, taking decisions etc. In today’s era, hospitals demand software that can increase productivity, provides the information according to the requirement of hospital authorities to help the management to take decisions effectively. This situation has risen due to the increased burden of lifestyle related issues, increase in population and their raised standard of living, growing awareness, increase in Government taking initiatives to streamline personalised information, storage, retrieval for hospitals, clinics, diagnostic centers and teaching hospitals. Thus, hospital owners, administrators, and entrepreneurs have recognised the need of appropriate HIMS to keep the IT spending low. Data generated from HIMS solution helps hospital owners /administrators /entrepreneurs to take required actions. This in turn can save the image of the hospital and can avoid having bad financial implications as well. Using a common platform, we can reduce the financial implications in the hospital setup, achieve better productivity, utilising the same medium for every process of the hospital environ-
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ment gives scope for addressing quality aspects and evidence based practices in patient related services. Due to lack of unique and controlled structures, revenue leakage happens very often. Besides, inefficient processes in patient discharge will result to poor utilisation of patient room facilities. HIMS solution based on prevailing standards will help in increase bottom line with proper control. Material management is another pitfall area of financial implication in the hospital where 30 to 40 per cent of total expenditure spends on materials management (procuring and maintaining inventory-carrying cost, etc). One percent saving in the expenditure will add revenue to top line. Standardisation of various materials/ items usage in the hospital can be achieved easily as data is readily available. Various alerts /pop-ups
generated proactively will help to avoid catastrophe. Procurement groups should take advantage of technology available in the market that can help them analyse quality and total cost quoted to make better decisions based on optimise combination of usage outcomes, cost, and risk. Vendors evaluates on the inputs entered based on quantity, quality, price quotes, and delivery mechanism. Procurement and tenders decisions are made with the availability of data on vendor’s record of accomplishment. Another department,
Sadananda Reddy
which brings revenue to the hospital, is laboratory. However due to the lack of control and insufficient diagnostic mechanisms and not properly designed report structures; there is a leakage of fund in the laboratory department. Therefore, there is a need of Laboratory Information System (LIS), which can be advantageous to increase the revenue stream and patient care as well. Use of HIMS in various departments: • HIMS records to manage stock inventory of all departments and particularly laboratory reagents, implants, re-used items etc. • HIMS has bar code system for laboratory samples for correcting sample processing • HIMS enables profit centre accounting for hospital laboratory • HIMS triggers critical operating parameters • Interfaces with the equipments helping in reduction of human error in entering results and checks balances for manual entry Radiology Information System (RIS) is a part of HIMS solution used to save the details of the patient who avails the radiology services. Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) is an integrated system for acquiring, sorting, transporting, storing electronically displaying medical images through the RIS of HIMS solution to communicate images and reports to refer doctor/physician through EMR in a reliable manner and supports in the clinical decision-making. User-friendly module for doctors and electronic medical records will have a great impact on doctors while treating patients. It will allow them to concentrate on clinical activities than clerical activities thus can provide valuable information for the doctors in areas like research, clinical paper presentation and to serve better to their patients. With online doctor accounting, doctors will be able to see the
settled and unsettled payments details against the rendered services. Doctor can prescribe the drugs through Computerised Physician Order Entry (CPOE) to avoid prescription errors. Any untoward incidents if occurs in providing patient care and backend processes prompt alerts can enable in the solution which in turn can be rectified preventing further damage/loss to the hospital. Hospital administrators would be able to significantly improve the operational control and achieve the set targets. Further plan of action
User-friendly module for doctors and electronic medical records will have a great impact on doctors while treating patients. It will allow them to concentrate on clinical activities than clerical activities can be taken and target should be set with the help of fully automated and real time online and accurate MIS & FIS reports. Work force cost can be reduced with the proper recruitment of right people at the right place with the usage of desired IT solution in achieving result-oriented outcome. Human errors can be minimised, healthy competition will spread among internal departments as processes streamlined with single click data is available that can make the process complete in the stipulated time that leads to employee satisfaction. With the easy use of IT solutions among different categories of employees, it can have a great impact on patient service and backend processes. This leads to greater patient
satisfaction in the hospital and ultimately increases in patient footfalls. Hospitals with multi-location can have better connectivity and control the processes from single location and can reduce the administrative cost. Data saved in a location and retrieved as and when required at requisite locations through web based browsers solution is possible. A reputation for higher quality will increase the demand for an organisation’s services in a competitive market, but it is difficult to prove that you are better than your competitors are. Healthcare providers who invest in right solution can raise quality and generate the statistics to prove that they have done so. Perceived higher quality allows organisations to increase market share and to negotiate higher prices from payers whose members demand access to those organisations, even if they have to pay slightly higher premiums to get it. In a competitive fee-for-service environment, greater market share increases revenues and may permit some economies of scale. A hospital also will not benefit financially from interventions that shift care to physicians’ practices. Process improvements enabled by the HIMS will influence the average length of stay (ALOS), a key indicator of efficiency, and a major driver of savings in the HIS business case. Individuals familiar with hospital operations will recognise that many manual paper-based processes cause delays in information flow. With proper IT Solution / HIMS the order transmitted in seconds, delays reduced, and timely delivery of care enabled. The electronic medical record and automated prescribing tools in the HIMS will improve safeguards reducing the number of medical errors made due to poor or inaccurate documentation in the inpatient setting. The system will also provide medication alerts for physicians and pharmacists to help reduce adverse drug events, stemming from prescribing and transcribing errors.
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Special Feature
The Tree of Life Teems
with Radiant Growth BLK Super Speciality Hospital spells the saga of success. The strength behind the struggle, Dr Praneet Kumar, CEO, speaks to Shahid Akhter, ENN about his vision and approach Please tell us about the early days of BLK Super Speciality Hospital? The spirit of philanthropy paved the way for a charitable hospital in 1930 at Lahore. It was the humble vision and effort of Dr B L Kapur, an eminent obstetrician and gynaecologist. In the aftermath of partition, he migrated to Ludhiana and established a Maternity Hospital here. Dr. Kapur’s service and dedication was exemplary in the medical fraternity. His pioneering efforts and acumen in hospital administration were recognised by Pandit Nehru, who invited him to establish a hospital in New Delhi. In 1959, the hospital with 200 beds was inaugurated by Pandit Nehru. Initially it was a mother and child hospital which gradually evolved into a full fledged institution. Around the Silver Jubilee celebration in 1984, the hospital was in the expanding mode and had incorporated specialities like general surgery, ophthalmology, ENT, dentistry, pulmonology, intensive care and orthopedics. It was well on its way to becoming Delhi’s premier institute. Keeping pace with the growing needs and the changing times, the trustees initiated an upgradation. In the late 1990s, Radiant Life Care Private Limited was roped in to re-develop and manage the facility. Today, a modern state-of-the-art tertiary care with quarternary care capabilities in almost all specialties has come up in place of the old hospital.
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You joined BLK in 2010 and since then a lot of repositioning and rebranding exercise has taken place. What are your priorities and plans? I joined Radiant Lifecare Pvt. Ltd as its CEO. BLK was its first project, so I became the CEO of the hospital. When I took over, the organisation was lacking in vision and the driving force to instil confidence and motivation among staff. The hospital’s image required major turn-around strategies. My first priority was to build a tower of specialities and I achieved this by clubbing the best professionals in the industry. I began with oncology and established BLK Cancer Centre and this was followed by other centres of excellence in bone marrow, GI, neuro sciences, renal sciences, cardiac, etc. Now we can boast of a full team to take care of liver transplant. I am equally proud of over 100 bone marrow transplants with 100 percent success. I also rolled out short term and long term plans and this was based on feedback and inputs from our doctors. I put together a team of some of the best professionals in healthcare administration and development. Periodically, we access the goals and achievements of each department. I personally take care of counselling and training the staff. I have no qualms in accepting our shortcoming or weaknesses. We are in the process of developing the infrastructure to increase our capacity. As of now, the building is made for 500 beds but with modifications we aiming at 200 more beds.
What is the Infrastructure at BLK today ? BLK is one of the biggest stand alone private Hospitals in the National Capital Region today with • 700 beds including 125 critical care beds. • 17 state of the art modular operation theatres with three stage air filtration.
• Largest Bone marrow transplant unit in the country and amongst the largest in Asia. That facilitates both allogenic and autologous transplant services. We’ve conducted the first Haplotransplant and India’s first MUD transplant as well. • Asia’s first Cyberknife VSI and many other equipments that place us at the forefront of cutting edge technology • First in Delhi to introduce automatic pneumatic chute system which increases the efficiency and efficacy of health care delivery.
der such circumstances, who will not love to see and experience everything under one roof. Specialities apart, we have narrowed down to organ specific experts and expertise. For instance, a neuro surgeon will remain confined to his domain, someone handling breast cancer will stick to his speciality. Moreover, we focus not just on the patient but equally well on the family. Everyone needs to feel comfortable and as counselors we update them and ensure that they are well aware of their condition, treatment and most important, fielding their queries and
During the dengue outbreak, hospitals were referring patients to us. We had the infrastructure. In Delhi, blood transfusion centre at BLK was the only pace for blood component separation. • NABH and NABL accreditation that certifies the quality of standard of healthcare. • Besides creating a complete WiFi enabled hospital, we on the way to claim the first paperless hospital in the country.
How do you think multi-specialty hospitals are gaining popularity these days? Our new logo represents our ethos and spirit. The Tree of Life in logo symbolizes the nexus or connectivity of all beings, the central focus of hospital’s Identity. This symbolic tree comes alive from the intersection of crosses, the ancient symbol of life and the two arms that mark the trunk of the tree signifies the supportive care and patient-centricity at a subliminal level. The shield is again a symbol of all round protection and authority in the field of Healthcare. Multi-speciality hospital is the need of the hour. Today time has outpaced life. In our fast paced world, we continually strive to cram in as much as possible in our routineof 24 hours. Un-
allaying any doubt or fear that they may be harbouring.
What technological advancements have been introduced recently? In the domain of infrastructure, we can boast of a string of achievements and advancements - to name a few… We are the first in India to use cyberknife (7th installation in the world with 50 cases to our credit). The latest generation PET CT scan. A TriologyTx Linear Accelerator with cone beam CT for Radiation Oncology (versatile equipment which is used for providing, Image guided radiotherapy (IGRT), Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) and Gated Radiotherapy. 1.5 Tesla volume MRI, which is the first of its kind in India. The special feature of this MRI is its ability to generate 3D images, cut the Acquisition time by half and increase the efficiency of the machine. CT- 128 Slice volume 3D CT Scan has been installed in the Hospital. Bone Mineral Density (BMD) - Whole body mineral scan capable of giving instant reports.
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special feature
‘Quality Care at an
Affordable Price’ Rev Father George PA , Director of Holy Family Hospital shares the shade of diamond jubilee celebration with Shahid Akhter, ENN Please tell us about the legacy behind Holy Family Hospital? Founded in 1953 by the Medical Mission Sisters, we cherish the vision and values of the Founder Mother, Dr.Anna Dengel. In 1952, she had procured a plot of land in Masigarh and the next year it was inaugurated by Sr.Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, Vice President of India. In 1990, it was passed on to the Delhi Catholic Archdiocese in 1990. We are a charitable, non-profit organization, registered under Delhi Nursing Home Act. We are here for health care service and not business. As a Catholic health care institution, right from inception, we have strived for excellence in health care with an objective to ameliorate the condition of the people suffering from various diseases. Our aim, continues to meet the needs and expectations of the people and the community at large. Currently a 300 plus, multi specialty hospital run by the New Delhi Holy Family Hospital Society. 2013 is being celebrated as Diamond Jubilee Year. The Mission Statement of the hospital is to provide multidimensional comprehensive medical care to strengthen the preventive, promotive, curative, emergency and rehabilitative services including education and training in medical paramedical and support facility.
What specialty services you offer? Almost all services that you can ask for in the ambit of Allopathic, Ayurvedic and homeopathic system. We are not into top notch super specialty race competing with anyone but sure we cater to the masses by way of more than two dozen specialty services
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that we offer. Our diagnostic facilities cover gastroenterology, cardiology, respiratory, neurology, nephrology, thoracic surgery, urology, ENT, laboratory and radiology, ophthalmology and physiotherapy.
What technological advancements your hospital has introduced or is in the process of deploying in near future? Technology is ever evolving. What may be state of art today can be obsolete the next day. For day to day running of the hospital we keep acquiring the best of diagnostic tools and equipments that are certainly cutting edge gadgets. To name a few, we can say IU22 Philips Ultrasound machine, PACS system in radiology and so on. High end scans have been introduced in neurology. This is in fact an ongoing process.
We promote normal deliveries and we pride in our obstetrics and gynecology department. No hospital in Delhi can claim a higher ratio of natural birth. Consider the fact, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi were born here�
Fr George PA
Please update us on any landmark initiative in healing? We are committed to providing quality health care service to the community at large at an affordable price. We believe in patient first, money afterwards. We offer the cheapest dialysis in Delhi and so is our ICU and other segments of treatment. If you compare the price and the quality that we offer‌ sure we are the cheapest. We promote normal deliveries and we pride in our obstetrics and gynecology department. No hospital in Delhi can claim a higher ratio of natural birth. Consider the fact, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi were born here. During the outbreak of dengue, Okhla was badly affected and Holy Family’s role in handling the patients can best be commented upon by those who were admitted here.
What kind of emergency services you have? We pride in our emergency department that is open round the clock, 365 days a year. It acts as a good host to the patients, where they are received at the entry by ensuring comfort and urgency one requires. Our nursing staff is fully trained to provide necessary assistance to the doctor on duty to assess and provide immediate and timely medication. We are capable of handling all types of emergencies. We specialize in acute care of patients who come without prior appointment. Due to the unplanned nature of patient attendance, the department provides initial treatment for a broad spectrum of illnesses and injuries.
What are you future plans? Our attitude is evident in all our endeavours and pursuits. In no way are we competing with anyone, nor are we sold out to business inclinations. We already have a nursing college affiliated to Delhi University We are in the process of developing a medical college. The idea is to have more doctors who can serve more people – we feel, this is the need of the hour. Besides promoting academic excellence, we are chalking out strategies in the field of rural outreach. A 100 bed hospital is already underway in Kanhai, Gurgaon, 100 bed hospital in Nuh in Mewat and a similar hospital in Badashahpur on the Sona Road.
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in focus
World-Class Medical
Display Systems We can see even the tiniest details with the utmost precision – which is a must, of course, for accurate diagnoses
S
evenHills Hospital in Mumbai, India, calls itself ‘a health city’. The 17 acres of land, where SevenHills is located, features a hospital for patients, residential accommodation for doctors and staff, an academic and research institute and a business and convention center. This innovative concept perfectly fits the ambition of SevenHills to become one of Asia’s largest – and most advanced - healthcare institutions. SevenHills uses only world-class technology. At the Department of Imaging, Department Head Dr. BhujangPai insisted on choosing Barco medical displays on account of his past and favorable experiences. Barco’s Nio 2MP and 5MP diagnostic displays and MDRC clinical review displays that the hospital purchased under a recent PACS project with Fujifilm India Pvt. Ltd. ensures the level of detail required to deliver first-class healthcare services. Mumbai-based facility of SevenHills is a relatively young hospital, inaugurated in August 2010. The spacious new ‘health city’ in Mumbai offers a diverse range of medical, surgical and diagnostic services under one roof. With expert doctors and surgeons from India and different parts of the world, the hospital has more than 30 specialties. It is renowned across India and beyond for the quality of its pediatrics, pathology, cardiology and neurosciences and for its radiology department, amongst many other disciplines.
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The power of technology The doctors, surgeons, nurses as well as the management and administrative staff at the new SevenHills branch strongly believe in the power of technology. Besides featuring state-of-the-art medical equipment, SevenHills Hospital has a built-in electronic medical records system, making it a paperless facility. It also has a unique pneumatic tube system for transportation of lab samples,
medicines, etc. across departments and floors within seconds. The PACS system provided by Fujifilm India Pvt. Ltd. and the accompanying Barco medical display systems at the Imaging Department perfectly fit this hi-tech strategy.
Extremely impressed with Barco It was Dr. BhujangPai, Head of the Imaging Department, who brought Barco to SevenHills: “Before joining
this hospital upon its opening in 2010, I had been heading up the radiology department at the Hinduja and Lilavati hospitals here in Mumbai and the Holy Family hospital in New Delhi. Barco was the reference beacon for medical displays there. I had been working with them for years and had always been extremely impressed with their quality and ease-of-use.” Dr Pai suggested that the purchasing department, the management and his colleagues at SevenHills invest in Barco. Fujifilm India took care of a smooth installation and the Barco training sessions got everyone started quickly. “As I had experience of Barco and the systems are very user-friendly, training was not really a must, yet it was much appreciated,” the doctor said.
Barco built in ‘Advanced Backlight Output Stabilization’ (BLOS) technology into its Nio and MDRC medical display systems. This technology ensures that maximum brightness is available as soon as the display is switched on and it continuously stabilizes the luminance output of the LCD’s backlight, resulting in longtermimage consistency. Another distinct asset of the Barco systems is the MediCalQAWeb software for automated DICOM calibration, Quality Assurance, display asset management and problem-solving. The system performs automated, intervention-free luminance checks at login and monitors luminance degradation over time. If the display no longer meets the DICOM standards, users are automatically notified.
Multitude of medical imaging applications
ment features six Nio 2MP-2H and two Nio 5MP-2H diagnostic display systems, which are used for a multitude of medical imaging applications - from MRI and CT scanners and ultrasound and color Doppler through to fluoroscopy, mammography, digital X-rays, etc. With a resolution of 1600x1200 and 2048x2560 respectively, the Nio displays bring high brightness, exceptional crispness and an excellent viewing angle. The high luminance and contrast of the Nio 5MP makes it perfect for imaging applications like X-ray, MRI, angiography, computed tomography and mammography. Besides the Nio series, SevenHills Hospital also uses the Barco MDRC1119 clinical review display. Its high quality LCD panel presents medical images with good contrast, high brightness and a wide viewing angle.
Ensuring DICOM compliance
Today, the SevenHills Imaging Depart-
To ensure consistent DICOM images,
Barco’s efforts to ensure the best possible medical images are bearing fruit, as appears from the enthusiasm at SevenHills: “We can see even the tiniest details with the utmost precision – which is a must, of course, for accurate diagnoses. What I particularly like is that it is even easy to report with ambient light now.” The changing ambient light conditions in a reading room can indeed influence a display’s performance and the radiologist’s ability to detect subtle information. Barco’s technology ensures the display’s DICOM compliance even in changing ambient light conditions. “On top of that, the systems are reliable,” the radiology head added. “We haven’t had the slightest issue since we started using the display solutions, over two years ago.”
Under all lighting conditions
Definitely more Barco! Dr Pai and his team are so happy that they would love to welcome more Barco medical displays in the future: “Our department is growing all the time. When new monitors are needed, we definitely want to go for Barco again.”
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Special Feature
Cutting Edge Technology
at Sarkari rates
One of the fastest growing healthcare names in Delhi NCR, Park Group of Hospitals is committed to deliver high quality personalised care at Sarkari rates. Dr Ajit Gupta, Chairman, Park Group of Hospitals, talks to Shahid Akhter, ENN about his passion and perfection in healthcare
Kindly tell us about legacy and inspiration behind the launch of Park hospitals? I started as a general practioner and flagged off with a humble clinic. I always had a vision and concern to serve the common people. Interacting with my patients and earning their satisfaction comes as a big consolation personally and professionally. We strive to be the leading health care provider, providing comprehensive quality healthcare at affordable cost. This sums up my mission and thereby unfolding the journey onto a chain of hospitals. Besides thirty years of experience in healthcare, over a hundred doctors, state of art health care machines, we continue to aim at taking hearth care to the next level. As of today, our facilities are spread across hospitals in West Delhi, South Delhi, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Panipat. Our latest acquisition is Fortis Lifeline in Alwar. Shortly, it will come up as 300 bedded Park Super Specialty Hospital.
How do you visualise the emergence of multi specialty hospitals and their popularity these days? Now patients are better informed and they know, precisely, which speciality to contact and connect. To cater to this mind set, the proliferation of multi specialty hospital is obvious. Moreover multi specialties under one roof
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Dr Ajit Gupta
has its own advantages. The highly competent experts in various disciplines taking charge of patient care gives the double advantage of safety, peace of mind. In multi specialty we have the edge and advantage of integrating and leveraging our combined expertise. Moreover, depending on the case, the doctors work as a cohesive team with interdisciplinary interactions which may be a combination of urologists, nephrologists, medical and radiation oncologists and so on.
specialty has its own state of art centre with latest gadgets. For the first time in Delhi NCR we have the latest equipment and technologies like Intra-Cytoplasmic Morphologically Selected Sperm Injection (IMSI) and Computer Assisted Semen Analysis (CASA). IMSI, a latest advancement in the Reproductive Medicines being introduced, Harmony, a center for Reproductive Medicine and fertility at Park Super Specialty Hospital. These technologies will help in the selection of best embryo for implanta-
We pride in our mission to deliver state-of-the-art personalised healthcare services to people of all social and economic background and achieve highest level of patient satisfaction. What specialty services do you offer? Other than organ transplant, we have all the service, like IVF, opthalmology, paediatrics, cardiology, dental care, gastroenterology, physiotherapy, nephrology and urology, ENT, orthopaedics, neuro sciences, radio diagnosis, minimally invasive surgery, blood bank services, critical care, internal medicine, high end premium boutique birthing center, etc. We have an exclusive International patient care centre to cater to the precise needs of foreign nationals. It is manned by professionals having experience and expertise in service industry. We are an ideal partner for international patients seeking a more affordable treatment away from their homes.
What are the technological advancements and latest innovations you have introduced recently? I can endlessly talk about the latest gadgets and equipments at Park. Commitment to quality is at the heart of all services provided here. Each
tion thus raising the pregnancy rate to newer heights and also avoid early pregnancy loss. Moreover, Budget IVF and soft protocols will make it possible for even couples of poor sections of the society to fulfill their desires of parenthood. We will be the first in the country to introduce Laser Coronary Intervention and Remote Magnetic Navigation System (Robotic Angioplasty). Park Hospital has latest GE Innova 3100 IQ which can perform a wide range of procedures including peripheral, cardiac and neurological imaging. Park Hospital boasts of a unique, most advanced comprehensive General as well as Laparoscopic / Minimal Invasive surgery which offers highest degree of most precise Minimal Invasive Surgery done by surgeons for the easiest recovery of patients. Our operation theatres are state of the art, replete with laminar air flow for air-conditioning with HEPA filters imported dual dome OT lights, low flow anesthesia machines with built in ventilators and complete monitoring system. Most importantly, we are committed to continuously im-
proving the processes and revising the standards.
What are the efforts made in providing efficient emergency services? The average “door to balloon time� here is less than 45 min which is comparable to the best centers in the world.The hospital runs a 24 hour acute myocardial infarction intervention (Primary PCI) programme which is supported by 24 hour functional cath lab, onsite interventional cardiologist, cath lab nurse and technologist. High safety standards are adopted at the clinic with great emphasis being placed on asepsis and sterilisation.Emergencies are treated on priority. More than 25 departments, 100 doctors, 500 paramedical support staff available round the clock. We have a fleet of equipped Cardiac Ambulances with Ventilator and other life support.
How do you offer affordable healthare to all? End of the day I want to see my patients happy and smiling. Their wellbeing is my inspiration. Patient satisfaction is paramount and pricing is secondary. We offer angioplasty at sarkari rates. Have a look at the cancer tests, its all at Government rates. Our affordability does not compromise or overshadow the superlative quality of treatment in anyway. Consider the fact that all our hospital are NABH accredited. We are the first NABH accredited hospital in north west Delhi.
What are your future plans? At Park, we are on our way to be reckoned as the leading, top notch, healthcare provider of North India. On the patient side, we are passionate to surpass patients’ expectations and bring about a meaningful change in the lives of people.
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news
e-Book for radiology community launched As part of Carestream’s Radiology Education Services (CRES) in India, the company recently launched e-Radiograph, a scientific bi-yearly journal in an e-Book format. The main objective of this one-of-a-kind initiative is to provide the radiology professionals with the latest news on innovations and best practices in radiology. To access the journal, one can simply log on to www.carestream.in/ eradiograph and subscribe, free-ofcharge, to the current and subsequent issues. The e-book format allows busy medical professionals to
Drug Regulatory Authority to Adopt e-Governance With a view to strengthen the drug regulatory system in the country, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has decided to adopt e-Governance, add skilled manpower to its workforce along with capacity building and take new measures to ensure smooth delivery of services to benefit the patients across the country. This strategic decision was taken recently during the drug consultative committee (DCC) meeting in Delhi. “We plan to increase the number of skilled manpower by at least 1,000 people at the centre in the coming years. At the same time the centre has also asked the state drug authorities to send their proposal for manpower and capacity building so as to initiate steps to further their cause,” Drug Controller General of India Dr G N Singh said.
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access this comprehensive educational tool from anywhere, even while commuting. The content of e-Radiograph is carefully evaluated and researched. Topics are selected based on feedback from practicing radiologists. Every issue will cover a different topic of interest and in order to bring out different views and perspectives, every issue will feature the work of different radiologists acting as guest editors. Dr Anirudh Kohli, Head of Radiology, Breach Candy Hospital, Mumbai, is the guest editor of the launch issue.
India’s Health Outlay Jumped by 13.9 Percent in 2012-13 The central government increased the plan outlay for health by 13.9 percent to `304, 777 crore in 2012-13, the Economic Survey said. It said that under the National Rural Health Mission, over 1.4 lakh health human resources were added till September 2012, and under infrastructure strengthening 10,473 sub-centres, 714 primary health centres and 245 community health centres were constructed. In the 12th Five Year Plan, the central outlay for health has been increased by 200 percent to ` 300, 018 crore compared to the actual outlay of `99, 491 crore in the 11th Five Year Plan. This outlay will be directed towards building on the initiatives taken in the previous plan period for extending the outreach of public health services.
Core Diagnostics to Begin India Operation UK-based Core Diagnostics, a clinical laboratory focused on next generation diagnostics for disease stratification and therapy selection, is planning to launch operations in India. ‘We will launch a high-end diagnostic laboratory in Gurgaon. We will make those high-end diagnostics tests available in India, for which samples used to go to the US and other countries,’ Co-Founder of the company Arghya Basu said. Earlier, patients had to wait for long for the results of their diagnostic tests but now with high-end laboratory there will be no wait for them,’ Core Diagnostic Director, Zoya Bra said. ‘Effective treatment for any disease begins with an accurate and timely diagnosis. Our aim at Core is to bridge the diagnostic deficit,’ company’s CEO Mohan Talwar said.
news
India to Launch Integrated Health Scheme
Siemens Launches Integrated Imaging Solution Siemens Healthcare has introduced an integrated whole-body molecular MR system with simultaneous acquisition of PET data. The PET SUITE features state-of-the-art PET-MRI and ultra HD PET CT under one roof. Brought to India by the House of Diagnostics, a leading medical diagnostics chain in Delhi-NCR, the Siemens Biograph mMR is the world’s first integrated whole-body molecular MR system with simultaneous acquisition of PET data. This revolutionary system combines a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and a positron emission tomography (PET) scanner in one single device which allows doctors, to simultaneously see the morphology of internal organs, how these are working, as well as their metabolism, all in a single image. This helps doctors to make more accurate diagnosis by not only seeing where a tumor is in the body, but also identify its behavior. Moreover, it can also display the body reactions to medication administered to the patient.
India is finalising an overarching National Health Mission, covering both rural and urban areas, President Pranab Mukherjee said while addressing the Parliament during Budget session. “An overarching National Health Mission, covering both rural and urban areas, is being finalized,” the President said. Noting that over 1.1 crore women benefited from the Janani Suraksha Yojana during 2011-12, the President said under the Janani Sishu Suraksha Karyakram, pregnant women are entitled to absolutely free care in public health institutions. Government has launched the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram for screening of children below 18 years for 30 different types of diseases, disorders, deficiencies and disabilities. This national initiative will eventually cover around 270 million children across the country, he said. Due to efforts of the Government, there have been significant reductions in maternal mortality rate, infant mortality rate and total fertility rate in recent years.
VC Funding in Healthcare IT Rises in 2012 Separate Drug Controller for Venture Capital (VC) funding in the healthcare IT sector has registered a remarkable jump in 2012, global communications and consulting firm Mercom Capital in its latest report said. VC funding totaled nearly USD1.2 billion in 163 deals in 2012 compared to USD480 million in 49 deals in 2011 and USD211 million in 22 deals in 2010, the report said. The fourth quarter of 2012 saw the largest number of deals in a quarter since Mercom started tracking the sector in 2010. The Top 5 VC funding deals in 2012 were: Castlight Health and Me, GoHealth, Kinnser Software, and Practice Fusion. The top investors that participated in VC funding rounds in 2012 were: Connecticut Innovations, Founders Fund, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, Qualcomm, and West Health Investment Fund, all with four deals each. Other notable investors were Aberdare Ventures, Canaan Partners, First Round Capital, and Khosla Ventures, all with three deals each.
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Traditional Medicines Soon
India’s Health Ministry is planning to set up a separate central drug controller for traditional systems of medicine and homeopathy. “The aim is to provide accessible, affordable, safe and quality healthcare to the people,” Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said while inaugurating the International Conference on Traditional Medicine for South East Asian Countries here on Wednesday. Azad said all these medical systems are being utilised in the national healthcare delivery system, each to its potential and availability in different parts of the country.
news
MEdRC Plans to Float a Virtual University
Health Gets Over 28 Percent Hikes in Budget Medical Education Research Centre (MEdRC) is planning to become a full fledged virtual health university. MEdRC has emerged as a pioneer and thought leader in enabling digitisation of healthcare education in the country. So far the company has invested ` 30 crore to design, create and provide seamless access to a vast repository of uniform, standardized and peerreviewed e-Content across all areas of healthcare and related medical content in digital format. MEdRC is also offering online courses to help students, practising professionals as well as general knowledge seekers who wish to acquire in-depth knowledge across diverse and inter-disciplinary life sciences topics. By roping in about 700 top class teaching faculty across all medical specialties from the country, MEdRC has also video recorded and developed an exhaustive library of digitally archived e-Lectures by “Master Teachers” encompassing the entire undergraduate medical curriculum and for continuing medical education. MEdRC software engineers have developed SmarTeach, a World-Class Teaching and Learning management software with tools to integrate teaching content, distribute it widely, and track learning activities.
Australian Firm to Enter Medical Devices Market in India Leading Australian software and electronic design consultancy firm, Hydrix, plans to tap opportunities in technology transfer and joint product development for range of pointof-care (POC) diagnostics with companies in India. Hydrix is a mobile-wireless technology major engaged in developing innovative systems covering implantable, insertable, wearable, in-vitro diagnostics, point of care and laboratory test equipment.
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Currently, India imports 70 per cent of its diagnostics from various countries and the high rate of custom duty has been detrimental to its indigenous manufacturers. The infusion of embedded technology in diagnostics can revolutionize healthcare in India. This is where Hydrix, is keen to chip in its expertise so as to help the Indian medical device industry come out with advanced diagnostics that would help remote villages to monitor their health parameters.
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has proposed a hike in India’s health budget by over 28 percent in 2013-14 to `37,330 crore, with special focus on medical education, training and research. He said the new National Health Mission that combines the rural mission and the proposed urban mission would get `21,239 crore, a hike of 24.3 percent over the revised estimates. While the rural mission aims to provide better health facilities to people living in remote places, the proposed urban mission plans to provide health amenities to those in shanties in cities and towns. `4,727 crore are provided for medical education, training and research. The minister said the government would mainstream the department of AYUSH – Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Sidddha and Homoeopathy – through the national health mission. The minister said six AIIMS-like institutions had admitted their first batch of students in the academic session that commenced September 2012. The hospitals attached to the colleges will be functional in 2013-14. “I propose to provide `1,650 crore (`16 billion) for these institutions,” Chidambaram said.