• Alarming rise of lifestyle diseases like diabetes and obesity.
• Challenging demands for robust clinical systems to combat rising healthcare costs.
• Innovative technological advancements.
• Rapid penetration of the health insurance players.
• Remarkable support by the Indian government with initiatives like e-health, tax exemptions, concessions and incentives for the people.

• With rising demand, Indian healthcare market is forecasted to reach USD 372 billion in the next two years.
• The hospital industry is having a growth rate of 16-17 percent and is estimated to be nearly USD 133 billion by 2022.
• Indian medical tourism is growing at a remarkable rate of 18%.
• Health insurance and mergers and acquisitions in the hospital are gaining momentum. Nearly 20% of Indians are covered by insurance currently.
• The healthcare information technology market is expected to grow 1.5 times the current value.
• The investment in medical infrastructure is likely to cross USD 200 billion by the year 2024.
• Most of the Indian hospitals have adopted telemedicine services making healthcare accessible to many. This market is growing at a rate of 20% and is expected to reach USD 32 million this year.
• India is emerging as a leading manufacturer of wearables and is likely to sell almost 129 million of these healthcare devices by 2030.
• There is widespread adoption of Artificial Intelligence(AI) for maintaining healthcare records efficiently and providing the best possible healthcare outcomes to patients at the right times.
• The usage of robotic surgeries is gaining momentum and this market is forecasted to reach a potential of USD 350 million by the year 2025.
• The Indian government intends to raise public health funding to 2.5 percent of the GDP by the year 2025.
• The demand for healthcare services is going to increase as life expectancy beyond 70 years is likely to rise after 2022.

• High dependency on tertiary care providers to deliver even the basic services and facilities.
• Lack of a comprehensive healthcare technology solution that will promote the accessibility and reliability of primary care.
• Very poor doctor to patient ratio along with an acute shortage of doctors, hospital beds, nurses and other healthcare staff.
• Lengthy waiting times in hospitals and care facilities leading to poor patient experiences and increase of comorbidities.
• Poor capacity to provide preventive care especially for Non-Communicable Diseases(NCD) like diabetes.
• Dearth of amenities and infrastructure in rural areas leading to poor retention of doctors, nursing staff and paramedics.
• Severe inadequacy of healthcare workers particularly in the rural and remote areas.
• Failure to build trust in patients during online digital consultations using telemedicine technologies.
• Inability of the semi-urban and rural areas to fully capitalize on the potential of digital healthcare.
• due to lack of infrastructure and funds.
• High out-of-pocket healthcare expenses (nearly 65%) pushing millions of Indians to the poverty every year.

The global healthcare market is experiencing rapid changes. That calls for all professionals to equip themselves with a different and diversified set of clinical skills than the past. This is particularly relevant in the context healthcare strategic managers who need to focus on good leadership and planning abilities to appropriately devise the strategies of organizations to obtain the best healthcare outcomes.

Healthcare Strategy Consulting needs a lot of careful planning and adaptations to meet a host of new challenging situations. Additionally, Hospital Management Services today focuses largely on value-based care, complex care management, patient satisfaction and high-quality care services. Therefore, there is a need for concrete strategic thinking at all staff levels of the healthcare facilities. Managers also need to develop certain qualities to support both individual and organizational goals. 

Why Strategic Management is Relevant to Healthcare?

• It allows organizations to be agile and proactive to meet the transitions in the healthcare environment like the entry of new market players and the implementation of evolving medical regulations and policies.
• It promotes a continued focus on the planning process, scanning of the prevalent market conditions and performance reviews. This helps in coping better with environmental changes, competitor actions and industry trends.
• There is a greater emphasis on performance and results.
• It involves the entire organization holistically.

• Keep pace with the dynamically changing healthcare market
• Position the healthcare organization for success
• Lead various teams to enable effective planning, scheduling, organizing and managing strategic action points to better forecast futuristic trends and meaningful insights and recommendations.
• Collaborate internal brain-storming sessions for making valuable discussions and decisions along with the healthcare staff.
• Integrate and synthesize voluminous care information and transactions to produce actionable steps for catering to the needs of the market, patient, caretakers, insurance payers, healthcare professionals and therapeutic demands and gain competitive advantage.
• Assist internal team for formulating and executing sophisticated predictive models for legal clinical contracts and policies, patient cost and affordability programs, prescriber utilization, financial regulations, market positioning and branding of care units.
• Ensure proper design, structure and delivery of healthcare reports, presentations and other deliverables to concerned stakeholders in the healthcare chain.
• Foster improved  client relationships through effective communication via face-to-face discussions, workshops, telephone calls and emails and act as the lead point of contact for client teams.
• Effectively manage and mentor the work of junior team members across multiple client engagements.
• Oversee the development project work plans and performance reviews of  teammates.
• Identify potential customer base  and the guide the documentation project proposals and statement of work for future healthcare assignments.
• Develop a  consolidated knowledge base of the healthcare sector  and consulting methodologies.
• Recruit new team members for strategic planning by actively participating in the interview process and selecting  the deserving candidates along with the professional support of experienced Healthcare Consulting Firms.
• Make a positive impact on patient engagements by exhibiting knowledgeable insights, curiosity, intellectual skills and risk-taking abilities.
• Take new measures and bold steps to push the boundaries for setting new benchmarks and make remarkable transformations in the healthcare scenario
• Become a reliable partner to ensure rapid business growth of healthcare organization.
• Be fully involved and instrumental in constructing and delivering health solutions to clients.

• Knowledge and experience in consulting, big healthcare data analytics and team management skills.
• Strong leadership capabilities and mentoring qualities
• Excellent analytical, logical reasoning, quantitative and problem-solving abilities, exceptional communication skills and forecasting capabilities.
• Keen interest and passionate drive  to learn about the constantly evolving healthcare industry.
• Good project planning, time management and organizational skills.
• Excellent command over language for making meaningful conversational and long-term business deals.
• Sound knowledge of healthcare information technology
• Willingness to travel if needed
• Sufficient passion about the organizational mission and be creative in driving business value.

• Robotic Cardiac Surgery
• Robotic Liver Transplant
• Fractional Flow Reserve
• Cyberknife Radio Surgery for cancer treatment
• Conscious Cardiac Bypass Surgery etc.

• It helps hospitals to reach a worldwide audience through digital marketing
• It enables hospitals to highlight their medical services and facilities on their website effectively
• It enriches the social media presence of hospitals to gain attention from medical tourists.
• It helps medical tourists contact the right hospitals for the right treatment
• Travel and accommodation arrangements too are made by some healthcare consulting firms to help medical tourists
• A competent healthcare consulting firm arranges for the hospitalization, treatment and  surgery and even post-operative care for the tourist completely
• The role of a healthcare consulting firm is to liaise between hospital and medical tourists and ensure that their needs are met both ways.

• It has unlocked the doors of Indian hospital to a world-wide audience
• Indian hospital will now hone their clinical skills to match world standards
• The facilities at Indian hospitals will be upgraded to cater to the need of international tourists
• Profitability will increase for Indian hospitals due to medical tourism in India

Risk assessment is a continuous process and the preventive measures need to be evaluated on a regular basis. The guidelines can be revised or renewed based on the effectiveness of the solutions or guidelines.

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Effective risk assessment or management in hospitals can be challenging if there is no coordination between various stakeholders involved in hospital safety. Activity characterization, hazard identification and risk evaluation is a skill that is developed after years of observation and involvement in various hospital safety activities.

• With healthcare digital consumerism, patients are exposed to a wider range of healthcare and hospital options via the internet, social media and mobile apps. They are also aware of the pros and con of each treatment procedure and are even well-informed about the operating procedure to the last detail. Patients hence have the liberty of "checking out" or "shopping around" for hospital or healing options to get the best treatment deals.
• Secondly, patients have more exposure and access to medical insurance, health plans and retirement benefits. This offers them more purchasing power to select or shape healthcare services as per their budget and need.
• Although healthcare consumerism statistics reveal that only 15% of the Indian population has health insurance, the recent health plan offered by the Indian government like Modicare or PMJAY-the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana aims at bringing at least half-a-billion people under insurance cover.
• Consumerism in healthcare thus promises affordable and easily accessible healthcare options for the patients in India with the hope of a healthier tomorrow.

• This kind of supreme patient engagement importance offered by consumerism in healthcare force the hospital operations management to spruce up and improve its efficiency and service. Hospitals are forced to cut down on their in-patient, bed, and treatment costs while offering the same sterling service to the patients.
• Consumerism in healthcare has made hospitals look for profitability not by merely charging patients but rather by cutting their overheads, inventory and wastage.
• In order to sustain in the market, hospitals must employ healthcare digital consumerism to attract patients online through digital and social media marketing by offering them quality treatment plans at competitive pricing. To accomplish this, hospitals must engage the services of a proficient healthcare consulting firm to promote themselves.

• Patients today feel more empowered as healthcare consumers. They have a multitude of choices when it comes to choosing the hospital or treatment method. According to Mckinsey, the number of patients who were willing to receive treatment at retail clinics rose from 9% in 2013 to 24% in 2017. This kind of stiff competition necessitates the need for astute healthcare digital consumerism and this can be offered only by an experienced and expert healthcare consulting firm.
• Clever strategizing, brand positioning and digital marketing are the tools employed by the healthcare consulting firm to promote the image of the hospital in the consumer's eyes.

• 64% of the hospital consider digital tools to be the top priority in promoting healthcare consumerism.
• Only 32% of the hospitals use customer segmentation while the rest still use traditional customer surveys.
• Only 15% of the hospital have research specialists on their team to study consumer behaviour.

• Understanding and interpreting the realities of the design and construction process
• Meeting the budgetary constraints
• Evaluating  healthcare technology for the best possible patient outcomes

Medical Equipment Planning (MEP) forms an integral part of this process and the demand for it is rising by the day thanks to the voluminous surge in the number of healthcare services and hospitals. This necessitates the specialised knowledge of the clinical requirements, budgeting, architectural design and building process. That is because medical equipment is useful in the diagnosis, treatment, monitoring and follow-up of several ailments. They may be classified as

• Diagnostic equipment such as X-Ray, Endoscope, ECG Machines, MRI, PET and CT scanners
• Therapeutic Equipment including Lasers, Electrosurgical Units, Pacemakers, Infusion Pumps and machinery for Short Wave Diathermy.

• Choosing the right equipment with sufficient servicing and back-up facilities is critical for high quality and uninterrupted patient care.
• Equipment selection is dependent on the patient volume to be handled as there are remarkable price differences in each of its variants. Other factors to be considered in choosing these clinical devices include the type of healthcare service to be provided, the extent of disease burden in the primary and secondary catchment areas and financial budgeting.
• Doing regular maintenance and upkeep, audit and training of medical staff for using the medical equipment is an important part of hospital operations.
• The productivity of the new equipment needs to be analyzed in terms of demand for service, cost, volume, operational efficiency, quality and return on investment
• MEP is a multi-faceted process that involves the collaboration of various stakeholders in the healthcare arena including clinicians, chief operating officer, biomedical staff, procurement team and finance department.
• Selection of vendor for buying the equipment is also important and is dependent on multiple parameters including offers available, track record and past experiences of the vendor and their product installation base.
• Healthcare organizations must adhere to certain quality norms and manufacturer guidelines for designing the required infrastructure and room layout for medical equipment.

• Assessment of installation site for equipment and planning
• Managing financial aspects including budgeting and costing
• Preparing functional and detailed specifications
• Doing a detailed techno-commercial analysis for weighing the pros and cons of prospective equipment deal
• Participating in the vendor evaluation and selection process
• Procuring, installing and commissioning the medical equipment
• Providing assistance in the maintenance and repair contract procedures including buying the Annual Maintenance Contract(AMC)
• Aiding in the decommissioning and safe disposal of the equipment when required
• Executing checks on infrastructure adequacy
• Integrating the medical equipment with healthcare information technology and facilitating training

• According to the World Health Organization, one in ten patients encounters safety concerns while receiving treatment.
• There are more than 43 million patient safety incidents globally every year.
• Errors due to dispensing of wrong medications and drugs worldwide cost approximately USD 42 billion annually!

The Top 10 Patient Safety Issues

1. Wrong and erroneous diagnosis - This happens to be a multi-faced problem that is a result of various cognitive or systemic factors or sometimes a combination of both. It is a challenging issue as it often goes unnoticed until the patient is discharged. Miscommunication also causes diagnostic errors.
2. Unsafe usage of opioid medications for treatment – Opioids are medicines given for treating pain. They usually have addictive properties and physiological impact which may result in dangerous side-effects on the patient’s health. Often these drugs are misused in outpatient departments and referrals which may initiate self-medication in patients causing irreversible damage to body organs.
3. Lack of Internal Co-ordination - Failure to communication and lack of internal communication between the staff in hospitals leads to multiple consequences. This includes medication errors, delay in follow-up procedures and diagnostic lapses which deters effective treatment in patient care.
4. Staff induced Workarounds - Sometimes, hospital staff is tempted to circumvent a barrier by deploying their own workarounds between authorized and actual care practices. Though the problem may be temporarily solved, it is likely to go unnoticed and pose unsafe conditions to the patients endangering their lives.
5. Lack of Interoperability in Electronic Health Records (EHR) - Disparate and heterogeneous health systems deter the interoperability of EHRs which negatively impacts patient care. This creates hurdles by not providing a holistic view of the patient’s conditions particularly for medication reconciliation resulting in harmful drug interactions. EHR interoperability also hampers efficient care during emergencies and natural calamities.
6. Mismanagement of Behavioural Health - Acute healthcare calls for sufficient and competent behavioural strategy interventions. Failure to disseminate this can result in episodes of patient self-harming, violence, unauthorised discharges, poor healthcare outcomes and undue interference in treatment.
7. Lack of Emergency Preparedness - There is a rise in natural calamities like hurricanes, forest fires, volcanoes, earthquakes and cyclones and even man-made disasters like terrorism and indiscriminate shootings. Unpreparedness in such situations results in wrong alterations of healthcare operations leading to mass casualties.
8. Inadequate Staffing – Lack of licensed and qualified staff increases workloads and negligence thereby causing a rise of patient mortality rates.
9. Drug shortages - Severe shortages of emergency medications delay life-saving procedures leading to fatalities.
10. Lack of Hygiene - Failure in providing hygienic conditions and sterilized medical equipment leads to compromised care and has devastating effects.

• Developing integrated strategic financial and capital plans of the healthcare organization in line with its vision and long-term goals. For this, it is important to bear in mind that while profitability and revenue margins cannot be underestimated, patient satisfaction must be given the utmost priority for business continuity.
• Creating stringent yet effective capital allocation processes keeping in mind the infrastructure, clinical and technological resources and manpower required.
• Analyzing and assessing the forecasted financial results and the associated risks and sensitivity by comparing it with the key assumptions. A detailed market study and a close watch on the prevailing healthcare trends must be done to minimize losses due to fluctuating demands and market conditions.
• Optimizing the budgeting across the complete healthcare organization with uniformity. It is important to have sufficient margins and certain surplus (buffer) fund allocations for meeting unforeseen challenges in business.
• Designing an evolving forecasting model and tailoring processes that adapt to the rapidly changing healthcare sector. Having a robust back-up financial plan is also essential for risk mitigation.

• Creating and reviewing monetary guidelines for all the individual units of the organization and providing advisory services for the same.
• Conducting detailed market research and data analysis to aid the organization’s senior management on effective strategies to increase revenue without compromising on the quality of care services.
• Reviewing the financial intricacies for all clinical, administrative and billing procedures including insurance claims and reimbursements. They must also ensure that the binding legal compliances and the prevailing government policies and regulations are thoroughly met in all reporting tasks.
• Controlling risk by appropriate mitigation techniques by scrupulously judging the probability of losses and analyzing market trends to set the pricing of patient care services suitably.
• Training, supervising and assisting the team of budget analysts, accountants, financial auditors and other clerical staff for handling the finances of the healthcare organization.
•  Making strategic decisions that aid healthcare administrators to plan and implement smart business decisions.
• Helping healthcare facilities to pro-actively plan and coordinate their monetary matters without overspending. This must be done to combat the increased penetration of insurance companies and meet the higher demand for medical services.

• Patients and their caretakers visit a hospital with an ailment that is already causing them distress. The hospital should understand this and act in an addressing manner.
• Always analyze your performance not only as a healthcare provider but as a capable provider who could understand the patient needs.  
• Every staff member in the practice should share the responsibility of the patient, not just the doctors and the nurses.
• Being empathetic, using the assuring words without hiding the facts and striving to fulfill patient's needs always leave a good impression on the hospital.

• Building your own network and database is key to get new referrals, every day. Work on your network and increase the number of practices that refer your hospital.
• By bettering your connections with the PHPs will increase your patient in-flow. Build the relationships that are mutually beneficial.
• By provide enhanced care to the patients referred by the PHPs, you can secure a long-lasting relationship.

• Make sure you have a strong presence in the market on both offline and online platforms.
• Develop a user-friendly website and strong digital marketing team that takes care of your social media presence. 
• Appearing on the top result listings increases the chances of new customers than any other marketing activity by taking help from healthcare consultancies.
• Being specific about the messages in your promotions and stick to your strengths will yield the results. 
• Make sure you maintain an engaging relationship with your followers on the social media platforms and conducts online live sessions with your doctors frequently.

• Always stay in touch with your patient base through reminder messages, appointment alerts and by making them a part of health-oriented promotional activities.
• Develop the strategies that increase your patient base as well as open doors for deeper relationships between the healthcare providers and the receivers.
• Be in touch with the target audience by providing valuable information on your social media platforms and newsletters.

• Contribute largely to the society by organizing health camps and other corporate social responsibility activities.
• Know your local community's health needs and be the first reliable source for the public.
• Adhere to the medical ethics and ensure your practice reciprocates as per the interests of the large community.

NABH Standards for Hospitals

• 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.

1. Hospitals
2. Blood Banks
3. Dental Facilities
4. Wellness Centres
5. Small Healthcare Organisations
6. Diagnostic Centres
7. Medical  Imaging Services
8. Oral Substitution Therapy Centres
9. 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

• 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?

• 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.