Redefining Hospital Management The Eminence Programme 2.0

Introduction:

“The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others."

~ Albert Schweitzer

Medical establishments including hospitals, clinics and rehabilitation centers are looked upon as edifices of hope by the diseased and the ill. Yet while they operate as organized institutions in modern lives, managing complex processes and efficient practices while maintaining cost-effectiveness and quality healthcare remains a key challenge.

In recent times, this is emerging as a key policy concern in India as its healthcare sector cries out for an injection shot.  A report couple of years back by the Planning Commission of India mandated Universal Health Coverage with targeted healthcare expenditure of about 3% of national GDP by 2022. However, in more recent developments, the Union Budget allocation for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in 2015-16 has remained at the level of revised expenditure in 2014-15, which has concerned various stakeholders. The counter argument from the Government of India here is that an opportunity lies now with states to spend more on the social sector with greater devolution of untied funds following the recommendations of the Fourteenth Finance Commission but the verdict on that is still not out in the open.

The issues are myriad here. Several studies in recent times have pointed out how the sector has been languishing from its unrealized potential where despite a few success stories, several failures in terms of lack of performance in healthcare infrastructure bodes concern. Infant mortality rate in India is seven times that of the United States and three times that of China. India has been already labeled as the diabetes and depression capital of the world and its disease burden from acute conditions like cancer is rising at an alarming rate. Yet, although India has some 0.75 million doctors and 1.1 million nurses, practitioner density is an order of magnitude lower than in China or in the United States.

The above challenges notwithstanding, the shining theme in this overall ecosystem is the role of private entrepreneurs in the sector. Hospitals along with firms in diagnostics, bio-pharmaceutical, insurance and medical equipment sector together now account for some USD 40 billion in terms of market size according to some recent estimates. What has aided the growth of the private healthcare sector is a surge of recent foreign investments. In addition, innovative business models to surmount the barriers in the healthcare ecosystem now offer lessons in international best practices towards providing affordable and quality healthcare. In a 2013 special issue, The New England Journal of Medicine and Harvard Business Review jointly acknowledged Indian hospital business models from notable names like Narayana Hrudalaya, L. V. Prasad Eye Institute, Aravind Eye Hospital or Health Care Global Oncology. Expected to grow year on year at 21%, the overall sector is estimated to reach some USD 280 billion by 2020.

Such a growth potential also gives rise to managerial challenges both on the supply and demand side in Indian hospitals. In addition disruptive innovation, technology and scale economies might be the critical path forward to address bottlenecks in the Indian healthcare system. How will hospitals in India develop business models to profitably scale across the richer and poorer parts of India? How will quality be weaved into the national consciousness in offering scalable models of private healthcare delivery? What would be the role of within-hospital human resources in the development of the sector? How can hospitals organize to lean-manage its operations? What would be the role here of prudent financial and cost management? How can private hospital entrepreneurs and managers price their products and services to reach out to a large section of the market?

Programme Objective

The managerial questions raised herewith, motivate the offerings in this programme. Using a combination of Action Learning Projects, in-house lectures from IIM Bangalore faculty members, practitioner-invited sessions on real-life case studies from the sector and inputs from a round table of CEOs and international healthcare economists, this executive programme aims to offer answers to the above questions.

Sessions will include specific attention to the following aspects in the hospital sector:

• Quality Consciousness and Lean Management of Supply Chain and Operations in Hospitals
• Strategic Foundations for  Healthcare Establishments
• Smart Organizational Behavior Principles & Human Resources Management in Hospitals
• Financial and Cost Management for Healthcare Organizations
• Marketing, Pricing and The Role of Promotions in Healthcare Products & Services
• The Role of Information Technology In Improving Hospital Efficiencies

The pedagogy will make extensive use of local and global case studies (from IIM-Bangalore repositories, Harvard Business school case studies and other relevant cases from around the world) along with mini cases and video illustrations that will help address managerial dilemmas for CXO level managers in India’s private hospitals.

An important component of the program will be 6 Action Learning Projects, jointly decided by the hospitals participating in the program and the program director. These will aim to solve real-life challenges in hospital managerial situations where participant teams from select hospitals will work closely with IIMB faculty mentors in making recommendations to challenges posed as part of the project.

Case studies and the prescribed text book (“India’s Healthcare Industry – Innovation in Delivery, Financing & Manufacturing” – Edited by Lawton Burns (University of Pennsylvania) – Cambridge University Press India Private Limited) would be made available to programme participants free of cost.