Group Senior Vice President
Medicover Hospitals India
I come from an IIT family, with both of my parents working for IIT Roorkee. Being born & brought up in an engineering & academic environment, I was also expected to pursue a career in Engineering & most of my friends also went into the same field. But my interest in the healthcare sector persuaded me to do B.Sc. in Medical Technology from PGI, Chandigarh, after which I joined Indraprastha Apollo, Delhi.
That turned out to be a turning point in my life when under the supervision of my mentor, I realised my managerial skills & decided to go for Healthcare Administration. I did MHA from TISS, Mumbai in 1999 in those days when this course was not very popular & the administration sector was dominated by medicos.
My knowledge, struggle & passion for work paved my way to the place where I stand today. I have spent more than 12 hours a day & 7 days of the week working passionately and living apart from my family. The driving factor for my enthusiasm is my vision of quality healthcare.
I headed some of the very known Hospital chains & currently working as a Group Senior Vice President of a Multinational hospital chain- Medicover Hospitals having 20 hospitals with 4000+ beds spread across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh & Maharashtra.
2. What goes behind running a hospital or healthcare facility?
Taking an example of the recent disruption in the Hospital business with the effect of the pandemic, the count of consultations, planned surgeries & procedures taking a dip augmented by fear of people visiting the hospitals, slumping revenue & the surge of operating cost due to stringent infection control protocols has impacted the worldwide healthcare sector.
2. What goes behind running a hospital or healthcare facility?
Taking an example of the recent disruption in the Hospital business with the effect of the pandemic, the count of consultations, planned surgeries & procedures taking a dip augmented by fear of people visiting the hospitals, slumping revenue & the surge of operating cost due to stringent infection control protocols has impacted the worldwide healthcare sector.
The hospitals which used devasting technologies & evolved continuously managed to stay in the market. Therefore, I believe running & heading a hospital requires a leader to be continuously on the toes & adapt to the rapid change in the environment.
3. How do you expect digital health to grow over the next 5 years?
Shockingly, healthcare was the slowest adopter of technology, being second just ahead of shipping!
But thanks to the pandemic which has accelerated the adoption of technology & the penetration of digital health. Hospitals & even public health started using teleconsultation technologies, remote monitoring, Paperless systems: EMR, E-Prescriptions, Online feedbacks, Online Training, conference, ANCs, Committee meetings, Social Robots, Robots for material movement, cleaning, Artificial Intelligence in Diagnostics & Pathology & of course Aadhar linked E-Health card.
3. How do you expect digital health to grow over the next 5 years?
Shockingly, healthcare was the slowest adopter of technology, being second just ahead of shipping!
But thanks to the pandemic which has accelerated the adoption of technology & the penetration of digital health. Hospitals & even public health started using teleconsultation technologies, remote monitoring, Paperless systems: EMR, E-Prescriptions, Online feedbacks, Online Training, conference, ANCs, Committee meetings, Social Robots, Robots for material movement, cleaning, Artificial Intelligence in Diagnostics & Pathology & of course Aadhar linked E-Health card.
Enterprise-wide digital transformation is the key strategy to stay updated in today’s healthcare scenario & the new reality for healthcare will require hospitals to redefine the existing process & bring digitalization.
In a period of 6 months, we incorporated several technological intervention & application-based solutions in our hospital, some of them are:
We have developed an application for Vaccine administration where people can register, pay online, book slots & come to the vaccination centre without carrying a single document. We conducted the world’s largest vaccination drive inoculating around 40,000 people in less than 8 hours using this application.
We are using the application for Home Healthcare & Appointment booking which works like Book my Show & Zomato to book the slots & it also stores all the bills & reports at a single place which can be accessed anywhere.
With an incremental number of start-ups coming with devasting ideas, the day is very near when we can get our imaging test done through a carriable device like we get our ECG through our iWatch. And I believe in the next few years, digital health will move ahead in a big way for proactive & quick decision making, reducing healthcare cost, bringing interoperability & transparency in healthcare along improving the access to healthcare in the rural areas.
4. What are your concerns about Digital Health?
Though, digital health has paved its way to offer many advantages, I believe, unlike other industries, total dependence on digital technologies is not possible in healthcare.
It is not possible to do every type of visit remotely. You still must go into the hospital for things like imaging tests and blood work, as well as for diagnoses that require a more hands-on approach.
Moreover, the security of personal health data transmitted electronically is a concern as digital Health technologies are often integrated with hospital information systems which allow easy access to medical data which are stored in Electronic Health Records (EHR) database.
Additionally, while insurance companies are increasingly covering the cost of telehealth visits during the COVID-19 pandemic, some services may not be fully covered, leading to out-of-pocket costs.
5. Can you let us know anyone application of Digital Health in your country which has impressed you?
In the current scenario, the major challenge faced by the healthcare setup in the country includes -
I am highly impressed by the government initiative of bringing the National Digital Health Mission to overcome the above challenges in the country.
Under this initiative, a unique health id will be created for every Indian, and their health records will be stored in these ids.
So, as soon as a patient enters the hospital, heads to the registration desk, scans the Health ID QR code at the desk using his Personal Health Records app on his smartphone. Hospital immediately gets detailed information about the patient. There is no waiting time for the patient.
In a period of 6 months, we incorporated several technological intervention & application-based solutions in our hospital, some of them are:
We have developed an application for Vaccine administration where people can register, pay online, book slots & come to the vaccination centre without carrying a single document. We conducted the world’s largest vaccination drive inoculating around 40,000 people in less than 8 hours using this application.
We are using the application for Home Healthcare & Appointment booking which works like Book my Show & Zomato to book the slots & it also stores all the bills & reports at a single place which can be accessed anywhere.
With an incremental number of start-ups coming with devasting ideas, the day is very near when we can get our imaging test done through a carriable device like we get our ECG through our iWatch. And I believe in the next few years, digital health will move ahead in a big way for proactive & quick decision making, reducing healthcare cost, bringing interoperability & transparency in healthcare along improving the access to healthcare in the rural areas.
4. What are your concerns about Digital Health?
Though, digital health has paved its way to offer many advantages, I believe, unlike other industries, total dependence on digital technologies is not possible in healthcare.
It is not possible to do every type of visit remotely. You still must go into the hospital for things like imaging tests and blood work, as well as for diagnoses that require a more hands-on approach.
Moreover, the security of personal health data transmitted electronically is a concern as digital Health technologies are often integrated with hospital information systems which allow easy access to medical data which are stored in Electronic Health Records (EHR) database.
Additionally, while insurance companies are increasingly covering the cost of telehealth visits during the COVID-19 pandemic, some services may not be fully covered, leading to out-of-pocket costs.
5. Can you let us know anyone application of Digital Health in your country which has impressed you?
In the current scenario, the major challenge faced by the healthcare setup in the country includes -
I am highly impressed by the government initiative of bringing the National Digital Health Mission to overcome the above challenges in the country.
Under this initiative, a unique health id will be created for every Indian, and their health records will be stored in these ids.
So, as soon as a patient enters the hospital, heads to the registration desk, scans the Health ID QR code at the desk using his Personal Health Records app on his smartphone. Hospital immediately gets detailed information about the patient. There is no waiting time for the patient.
The hospital also sends a consent request to the patient before accessing his medical history. The patient chooses what data to share with the hospital and for how long the hospital can access this data. Finally, when the patient leaves the hospital, he gets a notification that the medical reports are ready.
I believe, an initiative like this was long-awaited and certainly will change the way healthcare is delivered in the country. NDHM will help make quality healthcare available to people in every nook and cranny of the country & will ease the patient’s numerous hassles concerning medical records.
I believe, an initiative like this was long-awaited and certainly will change the way healthcare is delivered in the country. NDHM will help make quality healthcare available to people in every nook and cranny of the country & will ease the patient’s numerous hassles concerning medical records.
It will also overcome the shortage of doctors & nurses in the country & will multiply their presence far and wide, beyond their physical presence at one place.
5. What is your message for those wanting to build a career in this field and the young generation?
For the young & budding hospital administrators, the most important thing to learn is to adapt to the changing scenario & bring innovative solutions to the existing problems. They should also understand the business & should be able to help the management with data-driven reports. They should understand the in & out of all processes in the hospital & should have the ability to react on time & handle the team.
5. What is your message for those wanting to build a career in this field and the young generation?
For the young & budding hospital administrators, the most important thing to learn is to adapt to the changing scenario & bring innovative solutions to the existing problems. They should also understand the business & should be able to help the management with data-driven reports. They should understand the in & out of all processes in the hospital & should have the ability to react on time & handle the team.
6. What does your typical day look like and what do you like to do besides work?
I believe that “If you have health, you can face any challenge in your life”. Having said that, I follow a healthy regime, waking up early in the morning & going for a walk. My source of motivation is the sunrise which I usually capture in my phone, followed by a glimpse into the newspaper. I am freaky about newspapers without which I can not start my day.
Apart from my work, I love delivering lectures to young & budding management students which keeps me in touch with the new trends in healthcare & some new ideas also comes up while talking to the young minds.
Also, being an ISQua Assessor, in my free time, I use to review the quality standards of other countries which keeps my passion for quality healthcare alive.
I believe that “If you have health, you can face any challenge in your life”. Having said that, I follow a healthy regime, waking up early in the morning & going for a walk. My source of motivation is the sunrise which I usually capture in my phone, followed by a glimpse into the newspaper. I am freaky about newspapers without which I can not start my day.
Apart from my work, I love delivering lectures to young & budding management students which keeps me in touch with the new trends in healthcare & some new ideas also comes up while talking to the young minds.
Also, being an ISQua Assessor, in my free time, I use to review the quality standards of other countries which keeps my passion for quality healthcare alive.
- Interviewed by - Aditi Vakani
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