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Like coffee shops, small healthcare clinics have cropped up around every corner. This phenomenon called "Retail Healthcare" is gaining popularity providing healthcare for people in their own neighbourhood. From 2012 to 2017, there has been a sudden upsurge of small healthcare clinics globally by 34%. In fact, 70% of India's healthcare needs are serviced only by small clinics. With such prolific competition, small clinics enlist the services of expert healthcare consulting firms for their healthcare management and administration to offer best benefits to patients.

Why small healthcare clinics are more beneficial?

Small healthcare clinics are a boon to the patient community of every locality because they are
1. Location-centric
Large hospitals may have advanced equipment and multi-specialty wards but they are most often not present in the vicinity of the patient. For urgent and immediate healthcare needs, patients prefer to rush to their small neighbourhood healthcare clinics.
Small healthcare clinics are often present in every locality offering convenient access to nearby patients. These satellite healthcare centres are found in every 3 km radius and are hence easy to reach in case of emergency.

2. Treatment-specific
While large hospitals cater to multispecialty healthcare, small clinics are more focussed offering only specialized care for certain ailments. ENT clinics, dermatology or dental centres, imaging centres and diagnostic test labs are the most common form of small healthcare clinics that sprout in every environ. Since these small clinics offer focussed treatment, the level of healthcare service and patient satisfaction is much higher here.

3. Personalized attention
Patients long for personalized attention which is rare at large hospitals. At small clinics, patients receive immediate attention and princely treatment. This gives them immense satisfaction, offering a psychological boost to their health.

4. Quick service
No more waiting in lines or long queues at large hospitals. No more running here n there to fill up forms at big healthcare centres. Small healthcare clinics offer ready service by attending to patients immediately.

5. Costs
Due to the infrastructural overheads, large hospitals may tend to be expensive levying hefty bills to patients. Small clinics, on the other hand, are very cost-effective as their overheads are less and they are in need of patients. This is of huge benefit to the patients.

Role of healthcare consulting firm in small clinic healthcare management

A clinic may be small, but it has to be well-run, making optimum use of its funds and facilities. This is where you need a healthcare consulting firm for
1. Financial management of the clinic
A small healthcare centre has its own pros and cons. Its overheads are less but so is its investment. Prudent financial management of the clinic is a must to save the small clinic from wastage and losses. A healthcare consultancy can suggest several cost-cutting measures to ensure profitability for the small clinic.

2. Healthcare facility planning
The main focus of a small clinic is to offer advanced healthcare at affordable cost. To achieve this, healthcare facility planning is a must. Right from the location of the facilities to the number of wards, beds, equipment, staff and other facilities, A healthcare consultancy firm can suggest several tips to offer superior service to patients. It can also recommend the clinic to use or refrain from certain facilities, keeping in mind both the budget of both the hospital and the patient.

3. Administration
Even in a small clinic, perfect planning is required to ensure seamless coordination at all levels. Right from patient registration to final billing and patient discharge, all processes have to be synchronized and streamlined to guarantee the quality of service and patient satisfaction. This is ably done only with the help of a healthcare consulting firm.

Small healthcare clinics can gain and provide the best benefits only by enlisting the services of a healthcare consulting firm for their efficient management. A professional healthcare consultancy can raise the standards of small clinics to large levels.

National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) is a constituent board of Quality Council of India. It is aptly structured to meet the much-desired needs of consumers for setting up benchmarks for healthcare quality management. It establishes and operates NABH Accreditation Standards and Programmes for healthcare organisations though it is a fully autonomous body. It is supported by all stakeholders in the chain including consumers, government and healthcare industry.

NABH Standards for Hospitals

NABH comprehensively reviews the hospital for compliance of standards it defines for assessing whether-

The functioning of the hospital is based on sound principles of a system-based organization.
There are implementation and institutionalization of the NABH standards in the healthcare unit’s operations.
Integral core values of patient safety and care quality are completely established and owned by staff and management at all levels.
Structured quality improvement programme is present based on a process of continuous monitoring of patient-care services.

The implementation of standards can be applicable to the following medical facilities and is assessed by NABH Accreditation Consultants -

Hospitals
Blood Banks
Dental Facilities
Wellness Centres
Small Healthcare Organisations
Diagnostic Centres
Medical Imaging Services
Oral Substitution Therapy Centres
Ayush Hospitals

Benefits of NABH Accreditation

Gauges the healthcare organization’s level of performance with NABH standards by accurate external peer assessment.
Bestows a public recognition to the organization that gets accredited thereby promoting its image in society.
Significantly benefits patients by ensuring

             - High-quality of care and safety.
             - Services are rendered by licensed and qualified medical staff.
             - Regular evaluation of Patient Satisfaction.
           - Their rights are thoroughly respected and protected.

Motivates staff by employee satisfaction and encouraging continuous learning, positive working environment, leadership capabilities and ownership of clinical processes.
Stimulates continuous improvement in the organization and aids in a demonstration of commitment to quality of patient care.
Enhances the level of community confidence in services offered by the healthcare organisation.
Paves opportunity for healthcare units to benchmark themselves against the best in that segment.
Enables an objective system of empanelment by insurance companies and other third party agents.
Offers access to reliable and certified information on healthcare facilities, infrastructure and care levels.

How Can a Healthcare Consultancy assist in NABH Accreditation?

Organisations which intend to obtain NABH Accreditation can avail the professional services of Healthcare Consulting Firms (HCF) for implementing it. HCFs provide end-to-end consultancy including training, implementation and support for NABH Accreditation by:

Getting a copy of the NABH standards and helping the organization to do a self-assessment on the compliance status with respect to specified standards.
Identifying the gap areas that need attention and devising a robust action plan to overcome them.
Implementing the plan successfully to ensure that the NABH standards are seamlessly integrated into the organisation’s functional aspects.
Assisting in the submission of the NABH assessment application form after obtaining a copy and subsequently paying the requisite fees.
Co-ordinating with the NABH team for getting the assessment programme dates and names of assessors.
Facilitating the NABH assessment which includes an onsite visit to patient rooms and selective departments. The assessment also involves interviews with patients, residents and staff. Additionally, HCF aids the assessment team in conducting facility tours for addressing problems related to medical devices, infrastructure, infection control mechanisms and security measures. All these steps are an integral part of the process.
Receiving recommendations and getting the targeted NABH certification.
Helping the organisation to maintain quality based continuous improvement programme for patient care services.

Thus NABH Accreditation takes patient satisfaction to enriched levels with better facilities, calculated risk management, easier insurance reimbursements and reduced cost of care.

Apart from being centers of holistic healthcare, hospitals are fundamentally business enterprises that thrive on customers for their existence. The main objective of any hospital would be to attain profitability by sterling service and patient satisfaction. To accomplish this, a hospital must see its "patients" as not mere seekers of therapy but as "customers" who deserve to leave completely satisfied with all aspects of their service. Healthcare consulting firms are the best to assist hospitals in achieving customer retention.

Role of a Healthcare consultancy firm in a hospital's customer retention

A healthcare consultancy plays a very important role to improve customer satisfaction and patient retention in a hospital by the following means.

1. Improving the hospital's brand equity

A hospital's brand equity lies in the perception of the customer towards the quality of service and medical facilities it provides, the competence of its doctors and staff and the effectiveness of the treatment gained. This brand equity is normally created by a healthcare consulting firm through its marketing efforts, newspaper articles and advertisements, PR events etc.

2. Customer engagement

Customers of the hospital may be existing patients or new ones who come through referrals or by seeing the hospital media coverage. The healthcare consulting firm ensures that the hospital's customers are constantly engaged whether they are currently utilizing the hospital's services or not. Social media posting and newspaper coverage of the hospital's PR events are done constantly to keep the customers engaged with the hospital's services, technologies and its excellent healthcare administration.

3. Tapping the customer's needs

Every customer has a different need as far as a hospital is concerned. It may be a routine health check up, a precautionary scan for diagnosis, an immediate surgery or even prolonged medication under observation. Whatever be the needs of the customer, the healthcare consulting firm conveys to the customer through its marketing campaigns and events that all these needs are fully satisfied by the hospital. This is done by organizing PR events like blood donation camps and free health check-ups or through periodic promotional offers on scans, diagnostic tests and services.

4. Enticing the customer to op for this hospital over others.

In every locality, multiple healthcare providers are bound to exist. How to ensure that the customer chooses your hospital over the others? This can be done only by the healthcare consulting firm. The consultancy tries to project and highlight the "extra plus" in the hospital in terms of treatment, service, technology and cost to entice the customer to choose this hospital over others.

5. Ensuring easy access to the customers

Any hospital can provide quality service but are their services easily accessible in terms of cost, location and time? This question is easily answered by a healthcare consultancy.
The healthcare consulting firm can make the hospital's services easily accessible by coordinating with the hospital's management services and deploying a CRM for the hospital with connectivity to apps through which customers can schedule their appointments beforehand and see their report status online. Such facilities ensure easy access to the hospital's service to customers.

6. Highlighting the consumer experience

A hospital is a service industry and here the patient's experience is the key factor that contributes to his satisfaction. The healthcare consulting firm highlights the customer's satisfied experience at the hospital and promotes it through promotional videos on social media or TV to increase the visibility and reach of the hospital.

Using the above tips, the healthcare consultancy can improve the efficiency and productivity of a hospital. Every hospital management service must enlist the services of a professional and proficient healthcare consulting firm to maximize its customer satisfaction and patient retention.

The 7S model is a strategic approach that describes how effectively a company may be organised with a holistic perspective to deliver the best outcomes. It was developed by Mckinsey Consulting. It defines seven key factors (shown below) that are integral parts of any organization that works synergistically together to make its operations successful.

These factors may be further segregated as-

Hard Elements - Strategy, Structure and Systems which are physically visible /tangible
Soft Elements - Shared values, Skill, Staff and Style. Which may not be easily seen/ intangible.

Like other organisations, the 7S model is applicable to healthcare sector also. It aids in better healthcare operations management, thereby resulting in unique positioning and building brand reputation. 7S framework also enhances quality management levels with its unique differentiation capability of delivering design, services and programs that comply with international standards.

Healthcare Business Consultants help in deploying the 7S strategy in healthcare organisations by taking the role of change agents who understand organisational goals holistically and optimise and align each of these seven factors with it.

Analysing 7S strategy of hospitals
Hospitals, as important entities of healthcare, are also burgeoned with opportunities and challenges which impact their planned growth strategies. Therefore the role of Hospital Consultancy Services (HCS) is crucial in evaluating the feasibility of these strategies and implementing the 7S with complete synchronisation. This ensures the sustenance of hospital amidst competition with the uninterrupted delivery of standard ‘patient-centric’ outcomes. HCS also aids hospitals in backward integration and building allied services like medical and nursing education and promoting research facilities.

7S Strategy Components in the Hospital Context
7S model in hospitals is essentially a backward approach for efficient performance and ensures that these seven elements must be aligned, mutually enforcing progress towards the hospital’s defined goals. So detailed analysis of 7S components should question the following aspects and initiate change if required to achieve it -

1. Strategy

What is the overall hospital strategy and roadmap to achieve objectives?
What gives the hospital a competitive edge and how does it deal with prevailing competition?
What are the environmental factors that affect the hospital business and how to keep track of them closely?

2. Systems

What are the main systems that support the hospital functioning and drive its business? Hospital Information Management System, Patient Management System, Hospital Human Resource Management Systems and so on
What control mechanisms exist in the hospital and how is the status /feedback from each of these systems tapped?

3. Structure

What is the hierarchy and reporting structure for staff organisation, how is it divided into several departments-wise medical, pharmacy, diagnostics, emergency services and the like?
What co-ordination mechanisms exist between departments for effective communication?
How is decision making done?

4. Shared Values

What are the core values of the hospital for delivering quality healthcare?
Are these values in line with competitive pressure and strategies?
What is the internal culture of hospital staff (clinical and non-clinical) and is it favourable to provide patient-friendly health service?

5. Style

What is the hospital leadership style?
Is decision making a participative one with a hospital staff involvement or is it autocratic?
Are hospital staff equipped and empowered sufficiently to proactively take the risk for process improvements thereby challenging the existing norms?

6. Skills

Is the existing skill level of hospital staff including doctors, specialists, technicians, nurses, administrators and other staff sufficient to meet set goals?
What are the gaps in existing teams, training requirements and core competencies?

7. Staff

What staff positions (both medical and non-medical) are vacant and need recruitment?
What are the competency gaps that need to be bridged?
What is the manpower and skill set required to support all the 7S components?

Hence, effective analysis of the 7s strategy of your hospital can aid in making it agile, responsive and business transformation-ready to meet ever-changing patient demands.

Unless if you are living under a rock, there will be slim chances for you to ignore the sea of changes that are manipulating the facet of Healthcare. The past has fled away wiping the traditional management patterns in Healthcare while making Patient Satisfaction as the key phenomena and as a new mantra for success of healthcare practices.
The ability to influence and attract patients is now possible only through effective treatment solutions and seamless hospital operations supported by advanced technology and infrastructure with proximity. Also, the preventive medicine has become more priority over treatment. All these factors made it vital for healthcare providers to concentrate more on Brand Building through value based services.
As the patients becoming more insightful about their medical needs, hospitals are urged to be in their preferences through Effective Brand Building. Here are 5 ways that can make hospitals standout and redefine the impressions on the hospitals.

Persuading Content

The content that carries the voice of the objectives of a healthcare should be interactive and engaging.

Various media and communication options such as print and digital ads, infographics, newsletters, brochures and white-papers etc., will increase the brand value.

The stories such as patient positive experiences, testimonials and heartrending stories always enhance the trust levels on brand.

It is advisable to follow the acceptable media for promotions as healthcare regulations change constantly.

Strong Digital Presence

The day when Digital Media takeover traditional media is not too far. As digitalization brought everything at the tips of people, hospitals should ensure their success stories and salient features are widespread through this medium.

Social Media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are good stages to showcase your services to the public.

Leveraging the advantage of LinkedIn and Twitter help the hospitals to reach out to the high targeted audience.

Time-to-time it is advisable to conduct online surveys that determine the pulse of your services and where they are heading.

Positioning

The healthcare practice management should be clear with their offerings and present them to the public in a distinctive manner.

The hospital should develop its products based on the patients needs and promote the same in the locality.

The fate of positioning will define the success of the hospitals and it is the fundamental factor in all successful hospitals.

It is also important to establish the brand with a clear-cut vision and objectives rather than drifting between specialties which creates confusion.

Educate rather than Advertise

Hospitals should keep in mind that they are into service business and excess advertising could backfire.

There should be an equilibrium between the promotional activities and the activities that educate public.

The social activities that make people think will reform the brand image than a commercial as healthcare is service-oriented.

Social Branding enables the hospitals to give a competitive edge to the counter hospitals and it is a proven strategy for effective healthcare brand building.

Marketing Practices that Empower Patients

Be it cost-cutting or enabling efficiency of operations, the parameters set up in hospital atmosphere based on the patient preferences.

Word of mouth marketing often referred as the best marketing strategy that builds a strong brand persona.

In many cases, it is proven that hospitals that try to implementing cost-cutting in patient treatment are far from successful establishments.

Empowering the patients feel safe and comfortable in the hospital hovers a positive atmosphere that in turn award the hospital with success.
Persuading Content strategies powered with strong digital presence lays the path for success. In addition positioning the product in the market with educative approach and guarding it with marketing strategies that empowers and enhances patient experience will make it even easier for hospitals to touch success.

In healthcare services the challenges surface day by day as change, innovation, and consumer loyalty progress. It is pivotal that healthcare leaders venture back and consistently evaluate the association's strategic planning process. Truth to be said, a hospital strategic plan and demonstration are evolving to be the necessities for an association to survive the turbulent medicinal services atmosphere. Healthcare Strategic Planning is guide as to where the organization is heading, and bearings on the most proficient method to arrive. It is utilized to guide all choices, including those with respect to capital, innovation, staff and different assets.

A healthcare organization business plan will enable us to see the master plan when it is less demanding to lose all sense of direction in the day‐to‐day operational issues. Huge picture issues include:

•    Service or innovation portfolios
•    Competitive and administrative weights and changes
•    Core skills
•    Current conditions
•    Success variables

Different business examination procedures can be utilized as a part of vital arranging, including

• SWOT examination (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats)
• PEST examination (Political, Economic, Social, and Technological)

All through the procedure strategic planning process is the formal thought of an association's future course. All key arranging manages no less than one of three key business questions:

"What do we do?"
"For whom do we do it?"
"How do we exceed expectations?"

A successfully created and executed business plan arrangement can give required clearness among the mayhem. A hospital strategic plan ought to express the key vital issues, and give a guide to the association's vision for the future, and also be a blueprint to the path of success. This gives workers and partners the certainty they have to make related money, passionate and mental responsibilities regarding the association. On account of representatives, that dedication reaches out to their general vocation and in addition their day to day work and can bring about expanded efficiency and a larger amount of worker engagement in the working environment.

Authoritative coordinated effort

Participation, coordination and group solidarity are basic to convey top notch care, extraordinary administration and hierarchical execution. Representatives must work from the same "playbook" and draw in a similar course. Collaboration is basic for doctor's facilities to enhance their execution in basic territories of operation. A successful key arrangement actualized utilizing an MBO approach for hierarchical arrangement can be an intense instrument that cultivates authoritative coordinated effort.

An expression of alert here

Ordinarily the healthcare strategic planning separates amid execution. A key arrangement's execution includes clear correspondence and comprehension at all levels of the association; a sorted out, decentralized way to deal with push usage and execution throughout the association; obligation, responsibility and expert for usage; assessment measurements and detailing; and a steady and shared soul of collaboration and support.

Conclusion

The execution of a business plan arrangement takes association, execution responsibility and collaboration, similarly as quality care and administration takes interdisciplinary experts at all levels cooperating in a soul of participation, coordinated effort and group solidarity — with a determination of reason.

Healthcare business plan is based on a lot of considerations and until and unless those considerations are determined, business projects cannot be developed. You should get a detailed knowledge about the industry and for more info you can get in touch with the industry experts. In most of the cases, an efficient and experienced healthcare service provider needs to be hired in this regard, so that the primary services included within corporate planning of healthcare can be easily known.

Predominant aspects of healthcare business-plans

Execution of business plans: Business planning and execution is considered as one of the most important aspects and without expert advices proper planning cannot be framed and implemented. Business plans need to be developed on the basis of specialization. Different official documents and reports need to be included for making the planning more concrete and effective. In fact, business projects can be framed nicely in accordance of the business plans. To be more precise, these plans lie at the base of any healthcare business.
Operations management: In this respect, current trends play the most important role and thus you should definitely consider the same. If the operational activities are not organized, then it is not possible to conduct the business conveniently and successfully. Budget-friendly healthcare operations should be maintained so that the patients can get highest medical facilities within reluctant rates. Hospital staffs should be quite friendly and then only the patients will rely on them.
Human-resource planning: This kind of planning is of greater importance otherwise hospital staffs cannot be organized well. No Hospital projects can be completed successfully without proper human resources. Only honest, dedicated and sincere staffs should be hired otherwise hospital services will not be discharged carefully and conveniently. If experienced staffs are recruited then careful and satisfactory patient-care can be ensured as a result of which hospital revenue will get increased automatically.
Healthcare-related digital marketing: Without marketing you cannot think of expanding your business far and wide. Digital marketing is much powerful than any other marketing means. Different kinds of digital-marketing tools can be used in this regard like content creation, video uploading, using social-media sites and many more. These tools can help you to get instant responses from targeted communities and thus they are so very popular these days. Customized medical-services can be framed and increased responses can be earned due to the implementation of digital tools.
Advanced information management: Hospital details should be stored in such a manner that they remain secured for a long time. In this case, different advanced technologies are getting used so that hospital information remains protected. Specialized software is getting used for ensuring data security. If data is being secured then the hospital management can be efficiently maintained.
Facility planning and infrastructure designing: The infrastructure needs to be developed from where you can conduct the business smoothly. Different kinds of special hospital facilities need to be planned so that patients can receive the highest comfort along with greater satisfaction.

Over the years, medical science has made remarkable improvements. These days, with the help of modern technology and methods of treatment, something as deadly as cancer can be cured which was considered to be incurable even a couple of decades ago. It is true that some of the medical procedures are quite expensive; however, the fact is that they can be now used to save lives.

Besides new innovations in the field of medical science, the hospitals and healthcare systems throughout the world have developed over the years. With the introduction of the modern equipment and treatment procedures, these organizations have become more professional and competent. Though, in some of the developing countries, things are not as rosy as they should be as opposed to some of the Western countries; however, things have certainly developed.

Over the years, various new hospitals and nursing homes have been set up which offer different types of health care services. The goal of this organization is not only to materialize their healthcare business plan but also to render the best of health care services. The doctors these days are equipped with new skills which allow them to diagnose an ailment more quickly and promptly which leads to a quicker treatment. The hospitals these days are equipped with the best of equipment which consists of the latest devices and mechanism which are meant to treat their patients in a better way.

These days, healthcare consultation services are also being rendered to the patients. Here people are offered consultations on various aspects of health care which makes them more conscious and aware of different types of common diseases like diabetes, heart ailments and others. The healthcare customer consultation services have proven to be very useful to make people more aware of their health and to educate them on how to take care of themselves. People in the rural areas, especially in developing countries have benefited immensely from these services. The healthcare management consulting is another area which has made lots of improvements over the last couple of years.

When it comes to hospital customer service, things have improved a great deal compared to what it used to be even a couple of years ago. The healthcare industry has realized that they are dealing with a very critical aspect and they have a responsibility towards the society and are accountable for their actions. The governments of many countries have taken control of the health care system in order to make sure that it remains free from corruption and people receive the best of services.

On the whole, there has been a massive improvement in the health care services all over the world, and the good news is that things are looking even better. With more innovation in the healthcare industry, better services can be rendered to the people who are seeking medical aid. With the help of government subsidy, in some countries, people can receive treatment at the expense of minimum possible cost and at times, even free of cost.

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Navigation

Benefits of Small Healthcare Clinics

Why small healthcare clinics are more beneficial?

Role of healthcare consulting firm in small clinic healthcare management

Role of A Consultancy in Getting NABH Accreditation

NABH Standards for Hospitals

Benefits of NABH Accreditation

How Can a Healthcare Consultancy assist in NABH Accreditation?

How a Consultancy can Help a Hospital in Customer Retention

Role of a Healthcare consultancy firm in a hospital's customer retention

1. Improving the hospital's brand equity

2. Customer engagement

3. Tapping the customer's needs

4. Enticing the customer to op for this hospital over others.

5. Ensuring easy access to the customers

6. Highlighting the consumer experience

The Unique 7s Strategy of Your Hospital – How you should Analyse it?

5 Ways to Make Your Hospital Stand Out Through Healthcare Branding

Importance and Benefits of the Strategic Planning in Healthcare

Business Plan Considerations for Healthcare Industry

Lean Thinking in Healthcare

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