CHENNAI : Rahul Menon, MGM Healthcare CEO, speaks about the state of healthcare in India and the role of the group’s hospital in providing healthcare to different sections of society.
What are the challenges that the healthcare industry is facing today?
Skilled manpower is a big challenge. There is a huge shortage, especially on the clinical side. Perception is another problem because people feel the prices are exorbitant and they are being charged unnecessarily. This perception needs to change.
There are so many players in the medical treatment space. Where does MGM Healthcare fit in?
We are fortunate that we have been involved in medical education for very long so we have a sound understanding of the needs of the industry. For instance, we have a strong emphasis on including cutting-edge technology, not only clinical but non-clinical technology too. This will help with backend processes.
How can technology help with increasing efficiency?
Technology can increase efficiency by bringing down the number of people involved in a procedure. For instance, it can reduce the number of people working on a procedure from three to one. A simple example of this is the nurse-call system. Earlier, patients had to run to the nurse station to inform the nurse. Then there was a bell that they could use to call the nurse.
Now, we have a fully automated nurse-call system where patients or attendants can talk through a system and inform the nurse station of their request. Most often, the requests are non-clinical so the message can be forwarded to the concerned department and the nurse does not need to run up and down for things like food or towels or the remote not working. This way the efficiency of the nurse increases too.
How does one ensure that healthcare is accessible for people belonging to different strata of society in a private hospital set-up?
As we are a private hospital, there are costs involved but we do cater to all sections of society. Coming from a medical college background, we realise the importance of making quality healthcare available to all. That is why we have different rate slabs for different services within the hospital. And if people cannot afford this, even when it comes to surgery, for those who cannot afford it at the hospital, we give the option of getting it done at the medical college where it is less expensive.
What are the plans for MGM Healthcare?
It is too early to say but we are ambitious. For the moment, we are being practical because we want to do this one right. There are plans afoot to have one more hospital in Chennai because our vision is to make this hospital the destination for healthcare in India.
Nurse-call system
Technology can reduce the number of people working on a procedure from three to one. A simple example of this is the nurse-call system. Earlier, patients had to run to the nurse station to inform the nurse. Now, we have a fully automated nurse-call system where patients or attendants can talk through a system and inform the nurse station of their request. Most often, the requests are non-clinical so the message can be forwarded to the concerned department.