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Healthcare and the Hospital Industry
Healthcare is not just about curing. It is also one of the core systems essential to keep a country up and running. Think of the 2020 pandemic. Countries with strong healthcare systems could reduce the impact of the pandemic with robust prevention and care (medical). This helped them to keep their economies floating and slowly restore it as well.
From governance to implementation, developing and maintaining a robust healthcare system calls for a quantum of elaborate requirements. Some of the important requirements are government planning and policies, administrative capabilities, education and training, research and development, production and sourcing of medicines and equipment, insurance, technology, and hospitals and healthcare clinics. Here, we will be emphasising the significance of hospital management.
As the principal delivery source of medical care, hospitals hold a crucial place in healthcare systems. Whether it is government-run hospitals, hospitals run by trusts, or fully private hospitals, it is important to ensure that hospitals and other healthcare institutions are managed with the best standards and practices.
Benefits with BPX
Partnering with BPX helps hospitals enhance management, secure global talent, streamline NABH and JCI accreditation processes, and improve layout and equipment planning. These services collectively boost operational efficiency and elevate the quality of patient care.
Challenges - from Management Standpoint
SAP MM (Materials Management) is a module within the SAP ERP system. It focuses on managing materials, procurement processes, inventory management, and vendor relationships. It provides functionalities for purchasing, inventory control, and material valuation. Furthermore, it facilitates integration with other modules for seamless business operations.
Manpower Challenges
Hospitals are heavily staffed organisations which makes the quality of their workforces a crucial factor in hospital management and operations. Managing large workforces is never easy. The next challenge is finding and retaining the right talent. Today, the dearth of specialist doctors and other medical professionals is prevalent. There is already a soaring demand for the ones available. Hospitals end up retaining their best talents at high levels of pay. This burden eventually is passed on to patients. Because of this shortage, the specialists are often overburdened leading to the dissatisfaction of patients concerning the window of time and attention given to them. All these scenarios do not augur well for a hospital’s goodwill.
Besides doctors and specialists, patient experience is also affected by the quality of services provided by nursing and other support staff. There are a host of factors to list. Up on this list is the excellence of education and training received. Again, the burden of work increases for the existing employees if there is staff scarcity. Last but not least, providing nursing or medical care can be a tedious job and the potential of losing the human touch from it cannot be ruled out.
Operational Challenges
As mentioned earlier, hospitals are big and multifaceted organisations.
To begin with, hospitals have to manage huge workforces. There cannot be any loopholes in staff availability. This ropes in the element of meticulous planning in roster management and leave sanctioning. Employee mobility due to resignation, transfers, or promotions must be reciprocated with replacements on time.
Since hospitals make use of an arsenal of machines and equipment, quality management of these assets assumes critical significance. The operations planning for repairs and replacements have to be swift and effective so that medical or administrative functions are not affected.
Inventory management is another critical area of hospital operations with direct consequences on services and patient experience. There can be no compromises on the availability of medicines and medical supplies concerning the medical services rendered by a hospital. Real-time stock monitoring and automated reordering systems are a standard now.
Commercial Challenges
Experts from renowned hospital consulting companies often emphasise that one of the prominent commercial challenges for hospitals is keeping the price of medical care within reasonable ranges amidst cost escalation of resources. There is no one factor behind the phenomenon of rising costs. Increased demand for healthcare services tops the list. This increased demand puts stress on supply chains. Other factors such as taxation and competitive pressure are also contributing. Today, getting admitted to a hospital has become a financial nightmare for the common man. Hospitals can try to minimise the financial impact with superior management standards and practices with the right intent.
Marketing Challenges
In times when public opinion towards hospitals and pharmaceutical companies is stained with scepticism, building a credible image is one of the stiffest marketing challenges for hospitals and other healthcare service providers. Advertising can be creative but it is unlikely to do anything to address this scepticism. The answer is not in advertising but in identifying the pain points of people and creating and delivering value propositions that matter to them. Transparency with pricing and processes could be a good place to begin with.
IT Challenges
Strong cybersecurity, integration of modern technologies with legacy systems, securing process integration cutting across departments, and achieving the desired operational outcomes to deliver the intended patient experience and meet the business objectives are some of the biggest technology-related challenges in present-day hospital management. For example, on the point of cyber security, hospitals often collect, process, and store the personal data of patients. This includes medical history, credit and debit card information, bank account details, identity proofs, etc. Safeguarding this information is of utmost priority to hospitals. Without the right cybersecurity systems in place, hospitals are at a much higher risk of cyber attacks.
Future Trends
The application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities is headed towards a transformative direction in the healthcare industry both in the areas of medical science and management. For example, technological solutions laced with capabilities would be able to offer far more futuristic insights into diagnostics and completely automate many hospital management operations.
Telemedicine is not an alien concept but with advanced communication capabilities like satellite-based internet services, the demand for remote medical services is likely to witness an upsurge. A large majority of hospitals in the near future are most likely to be equipped with technologies meant for remote services.
Developments in genetics science powered by AI and advanced analytic solutions are already paving the way for precision medicine. This will allow hospitals to personalise medical care based on the exclusive genetics and health summary of individual patients.
Today, hospitals are increasingly shifting towards a patient-centric approach. The focus is on reducing readmission rates and emphasising preventive medical care. Wellness programs, promotion of work-life balance, and encouragement for a healthy lifestyle would be more common with hospitals.
As highlighted earlier in challenges, hospitals must emphasise building robust cybersecurity systems. As cybersecurity is a relatively new domain, external assistance from experienced hospital consulting firms could help come up with the right solutions on short timelines.
Why BPX
BPX is a management consulting firm. From planning to implementation, we offer an extensive range of enterprise solutions for business setup, improved management, and growth and expansion. An assortment of our services and solutions in hospital management consulting for hospitals and healthcare institutions is highlighted ahead.
Business Model Development
Developing business models in the healthcare sector is a slightly different game.
At first, the services rendered by hospitals are sensitive by nature. This affects how value propositions are identified and evaluated. It also has implications for patient experience as well as patient journey.
Secondly, hospitals have to adhere to stringent rules and regulations defined by various authorities. Deviation from these standards could prove to be costly. These rules and regulations carry several important implications for the business models of hospitals.
The third factor is the understanding of the state of affairs of public health. For example, the ability to correlate ailments with demographic factors (say common occupational hazards in an industrial city) could help come up with better services as part of value propositions in business models.
The prevailing state of the healthcare ecosystem, including the use of technology, is another big factor.
Before going into business model development, it is important to first understand the health-related matters applicable to a region. BPX understands the significance of market research and insights required in developing business models for hospitals. Our solution methodologies are crafted as per the unique requirements of the hospital industry with due emphasis on localisation and specifications of clients.
Global Talent Acquisition & Onboarding Services
Healthcare should know no boundaries. So, when it comes to recruitment and onboarding, the right team should be always available at the right place so that hospitals can provide medical care and attention without a pause. We, at BPX, understand that hospitals cannot afford to confine themselves to a certain geography in finding the right talent. Our global talent acquisition and onboarding is our answer to it. We are aware of the challenges that come with global hiring and onboarding.
We make things easy for our clients by formulating recruitment strategies, charting the operational details, and executing the acquisition drives with the participation of clients throughout the process. The final say on the selection of candidates and the terms and conditions of their employment rests with clients.
Preparation for NABH & JCI Accreditation
NABH and JCI accreditations are provided to hospitals that meet the established standards and guidelines of the respective institutions concerning the quality of medical care services, upkeep of equipment, inventory management, transparency and governance, communication, documentation, etc.
Keeping track of the long list of requirements often emerges as challenging for new hospitals. Additionally, these requirements are not one-off exercises but must be consistently maintained.
BPX offers expert assistance in NABH & JCI Accreditation Preparation where our process experts develop the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) aligned with NABH & JCI guidelines towards ensuring that hospitals can carry out the necessary procedures for obtaining the accreditation(s) in an organised and timely manner. BPX works closely with its clients in SOP design and delivery.
Layout Design & Equipment Planning
Hospital layout design and equipment planning are important for many reasons.
Firstly, it influences patient experience vis-à-vis the delivery of medical care services, the quantum of time patients have to wait in processes, the element of comfort in the environment, privacy, etc.
A well-planned layout design and equipment planning is necessary to achieve many important objectives in operations management. This includes streamlining workflows, space optimisation, ensuring safe and swift navigation, instilling workplace ergonomics, minimising the scope of errors and mistakes in process management, etc. Many conditions of layout design and equipment planning may also come from the standards defined by relevant accreditation bodies.
Hospitals are usually large physical setups. There are many departments and sections, multiple floors, a plethora of equipment and other assets, diagnosis rooms, offices and counters, consultation rooms, extensive staff strength, emergency and OPD services, housekeeping, cabins, etc. It can be a bit challenging for new hospitals to carry out their layout design & equipment planning task.
BPX offers Layout Design & Equipment Planning services for new hospital setups. Working in coordination with clients and depending on the hospital’s services, operations, and specialisations, our experts list the equipment requirements. Equipment planning has a strong bearing on the layout design of hospitals. Directly or indirectly, the quality of layout design and equipment planning plays an important role in fulfilling many important conditions for obtaining accreditations.
SOPs / Process Consulting
As hospitals are vast and complex entities, process orientation is quintessential to ensure accuracy and efficiency in service delivery backed up with strong operations management. For instance, having established authority-responsibility relationships helps staff better comprehend their roles and carry out their duties with greater certainty. This fosters collaboration by reducing the scope of mix-up about roles and responsibilities. In hospital inventory management also, having a defined framework for decision-making plays a critical role in ensuring that stock levels of medical and other inventory are always upheld. Where harmonization between core and support functions comes in, high-quality operations frameworks are essential for better integration between divisions and processes.
SOPs are highly useful assets in lending process orientation to hospitals. With expertise in developing process solutions, SOP development and implementation assistance is BPX’s staple. Demonstrated approaches are used in the design and delivery of hospital SOPs curated to match exclusive business requirements.
Process Compliance Audits
Reviewing processes from time to time is a good practice for keeping routine operations relevant, effective, and efficient. Many changes in the external environment, any previously unconsidered factors, or flaws in process design prevent achieving the right process outcomes or make operations slower or bumpy. Process compliance audits aid in spotting the process loopholes and bringing improvisations.
For hospitals, some of the important motives for process compliance audits include:
- Maintenance of the right conditions for the safety of patients, staff, and visitors
- Detailed adherence to compliance requirements
- Removing wastes and redundancies
- Process improvisations for orientation with internal and external settings
- Enhancing the quality of patient experience
- Spotting training and education requirements
We assist hospitals in building the operational mechanism for the execution and management of process compliance audits covering:
- Definition of the scope of audit
- Formation of audit teams
- Identification of documents, manuals, and other assets/phenomena to be assessed
- Identification of positions in the organisation structure to be observed and interviewed
- Creation of checklists and survey questionnaires
- Ascertainment of the mechanisms for study and analysis
- Procedure for document review and analysis, interview plan, observation schedule
- Preparation of reports
- Presentation of analysis, conclusions, and recommendations
Training Content Development – Compliance & SOPs
Poor content makes training programs yield sub-standard outcomes. Training should always be relevant in terms of actual job requirements. It should emphasise field conditions and roles assigned.
For hospitals, the importance of staff training is on another level. What is going through test here is not ordinary customer experience but medical services being provided to people seeking medical care of varied nature and intensity. Add to it the need to comply with regulatory guidelines while also adhering to internal requirements.
BPX understands the gravity of training and development programs for hospitals. From job descriptions to desired process outcomes, we consider every relevant detail in designing training and development content and programs.
ECommerce / Online Healthcare Services Setup Consulting
As internet-based services increasingly become a part of our lives, hospitals cannot shy away from using this capability to offer additional value propositions. The recent years have already witnessed a growing demand for eCommerce or online healthcare services. We can use telemedicine or remote consulting as examples. Remote communication solutions have provided patients with the option of avoiding needless travelling if medical care requirements suggest so. Remote capabilities allow hospitals to deliver services to a wider geography.
In eCommerce or online healthcare services setup consulting, BPX offers an extensive range of enterprise solutions for establishing and expanding online healthcare service centres.
- Market research
- Hospital business model development
- Financial and commercial evaluations
- Functional strategies
- Operations planning
- Layout design
- Identification of best-fit hospital IT solutions
- Assistance in hospital automation (IT)
- Solution for hospital analytics (IT)
- Hospital franchising
- Hospital audit and control
BI Dashboards Development
Business Intelligence dashboards (BI dashboards) refer to the digital representation of performance or any other phenomenon measured digitally in summarised forms like graphs, lists, charts, etc. Simply put, BI dashboards are like digital display boards within software interfaces to assist users keep a watch on essential performance parameters.
In hospitals, BI dashboards have a wide range of applications covering bed and cabin management, inventory management, housekeeping, quality control, financial management, revenue cycle management, roster management, compliance monitoring, etc.
The role of BPX is to help its clients plan and customise their BI dashboards for improved management and operations across their organisation structure. The challenging part here is customising the BI dashboards as per the unique requirements of user positions, processes, and departments/sections. For example, the requirements of the marketing department are not the same as those of the store/purchase department.
New Hospital Set-Up Consulting
In new hospital setup consulting, our service objective is to help clients set up and run their hospitals on a solid foundation of planning, strategies, and operations. Our services here include:
- Market research
- Hospital business model development
- Financial and commercial evaluations
- Functional strategies
- Operations planning
- Layout design
- Identification of best-fit hospital IT solutions
- Assistance in hospital automation (IT)
- Solution for hospital analytics (IT)
- Hospital franchising
- Hospital audit and control
To know more about our hospital consulting services concerning hospital set-up, management, and expansion or to speak to one of our hospital consulting experts
FAQs
Here’s a list of ten hospitals often held in high regard globally:
- Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA
- Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
- Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Canada
- The John Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, USA
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Charité Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany
- Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset, Sweden
- Hôpital Universitaire Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris, France
- Sheba Medical Center, Israel
- Universitätsspital Zürich, Switzerland
Disclaimer: This list does not constitute any guidance or reference for medical treatment or consultation in any manner.
The term ‘customer experience’ in the world of business is not something new. In the case of hospitals, the word ‘customer’ may not be a fitting word to refer to people who avail medical care and services offered by hospitals. Even though there are people who visit hospitals for preventive care, ‘patient experience’ emerges as the right word to refer to the same essence as that of ‘customer experience’.
Patient experience is the quality of emotions experienced by patients. The sources of patient experience in this journey encompass a multitude of touchpoints touching physical and digital advertising and promotions, making and managing appointments and bookings, waiting time, diagnosis, availability of doctors and staff, the standards of housekeeping, generation of invoices and payments, etc.
- Cut on waiting time.
- Timely accessibility and precision of information.
- Plan and maintain a safe and comfortable servicescape.
- Work on instilling empathy and sensitivity (people remain already tensed and worried when they visit hospitals – the last thing they need is anxiety-inducing experiences)
- Ensure proper manpower planning, build robust recruitment and training processes, and develop a strong organisational design.
- Prevent staff fatigue
- Transparency with medical and administrative processes.
- Incorporate strong feedback systems to bring improvisations wherever possible.
· Adopt digital transformation
A Hospital Management System is nothing but software solutions for better management of routine operations. Different HMS software applications are in the market with unique capabilities. Some of the practical utilities of HMS are:
- Better communication between departments and processes
- Centralization of patient records
- Higher accuracy in billing
- Easiness in roster management
- Better inventory management
- Scope for analytics
- Reduced reliance on paperwork for administrative functions
The answer to this question is partly subjective and partly (business) strategic. The subjective or the qualitative part is more important here given the sensitivity of the nature of services rendered by hospitals as well as other types of healthcare institutions. Four broad focus areas are highlighted here with the caveat that building goodwill takes time and hence, patience with consistency in efforts and dedication towards quality.
Management Philosophy – How the top leaders perceive their role as healers via medical science and the greater role of hospitals in society play a key role in shaping the policies and practices of the organisations they run. If the management philosophy is overshadowed by commercial interests, the same ethos shall smear its functioning. If the philosophy is inclined towards becoming a place of care and healing with due attention to commercial survival and time-bound growth, the same shall reflect in its services and values propositions.
Patient-first approach – While it may have become a little common to hear the buzz of alleged commercial overindulgence, hospitals can change this and that is one of the best areas to stand out. The key lies in adopting a patient-first approach or putting services first. To achieve this, commercial overindulgence must take a back seat. It is also important to work with like-minded value chain associates.
Prioritising patient experience – Giving importance to patient experience is not an option or a strategy, it is a fundamental necessity. At one end, it directs to accomplish what needs to be done medically. On the other end, patients are satisfied if their medical needs and experiential expectations are met. This outcome is good for patients and hospitals.
Professional HRM – Hospitals are organisations where the quality of work delivered by their staff leaves a huge impact on service delivery. This makes HRM a critical function in hospitals. How employees are hired, how they are trained, how they are paid, how they are supervised, and how they are managed on a day-to-day basis has a strong bearing on everything they do. This affects the quality of both core and non-core functions. For example, rude behaviour by seniors can dent the morale of the people working under such people. This will have a residual impact on the quality of patient experience delivered – knowingly or unknowingly.
Disclaimer: The content provided on this page/blog is intended to offer general information and insights into healthcare business management ONLY. It should not be construed as influencing and/or substituting any professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and/or any established medical standard, process, or practice in any manner whatsoever.