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A hospital is a humungous set up to run various wards, labs, ICUs, work stations, etc. The captain of this ship is the Hospital Manager. His role of Professional Financial Management keeps the hospital's ship sailing smooth. He has to be a jack-of-all-trades and still mastermind the hospital's operations and growth. His portfolio of tasks is diverse and requires versatile skills.

A professional Hospital Manager has to juggle various tasks from planning the hospital's work schedule, streamlining its operations, supervising the various departments and coordinating with the staff. His role requires decision-making, communication, multitasking and leadership abilities. With such a Hospital Manager at the helm, your hospital can function both efficiently and profitably. A healthcare consulting agency can help you source and enlist a professional Hospital Manager for your hospital easily.

What is the role of Hospital Management and Healthcare Consulting Firm?For a Hospital Manager, the role of professional hospital management entails the following responsibilities.

1.  Hospital administration-a multifunctional role
A Hospital Manager has to oversee the entire operations of the hospital. From budgeting to disbursement of funds, he has to handle the entire finance of the hospital including new ways to generate revenue. In marketing, he has to organize online and offline campaigns, PR, etc. The Hospital Manager has to interview and enlist staff as part of his HR responsibility. Apart from this, he has to handle inventory, work schedule, task allocation, etc. In short, the Hospital Manager has to don many hats to spearhead the hospital to success

.2. Innovation in Infrastructure Design & Planning
Your hospital has to have cutting-edge technology to offer the best clinical service to its patients. This technology need not include the latest diagnostic or therapeutic equipment alone. It might be the new accounting or CRM software in the market. The Hospital Manager has to ensure that the hospital makes use of the latest innovations to offer better service and gain profits as well. The Manager can also introduce innovation in the form of new strategic measures to handle the hospital's operations.

3. Organizing teamwork and human resource planning
The operations of a hospital rely on teamwork. Every surgery and in-patient procedure requires the skills of many people like doctors, nurses and attendants. For the hospital procedure to be successful, there should be a coordinated effort and teamwork. It is the responsibility of the Hospital Manager to ensure that the teamwork occurs seamlessly.

4. Communicating with the various departments
For a cohesive workflow in the hospital, good communication is essential. Most of the human errors occur due to miscommunication and in a hospital, errors can end in grave results. The Hospital Manager's responsibility is to effect clear communication between departments. He has to ensure that the entire staff of the hospital understand the instructions and guidelines of the hospital and adhere it to them completely.

5. Lean management
One of the most important aspects of hospital management is to attain efficiency. This can be achieved only by continuous improvement through incremental changes. This task called Lean Management is effective in reducing wastage in order to control the costs and overheads at the hospital. The Hospital Manager must implement zero-waste principles throughout the hospital.

6. Staff Training and satisfaction
A hospital's efficiency lies on its staff. Every hospital needs a good team with low churn or staff attrition. It is the responsibility of the Hospital Manager not only to recruit staff but also to retain them. He is responsible for the training of staff and maintaining their satisfaction.

7. A bridge between Hospital Management and staff
The Hospital Manager is the spokesperson of the staff to the hospital management and vice versa. He is the one who liaises between both to ensure the smooth functioning of the hospital.

   8. Maintaining the hospital status
The key responsibility of the Hospital Manager is to ensure that the hospital has a good social reputation. This depends on patient feedback and reviews. A clever Hospital Manager will employ all techniques to keep patients happy. The Hospital Manager creates a patient-friendly environ at the hospital with courteous staff, clean premises, and special facilities for patients. The role of Professional Hospital Management is not only challenging but immensely satisfying. Healthcare consultants help hospitals to find expert Hospital Managers who derive both at your hospital. Firms like Frontenders Healthcare Services help with enhanced and efficient Hospital Management.

Global healthcare is assuming a new dimension as people are rapidly adopting herbal remedies, natural substances and organic items for medicinal cure and healing. One of the greatest impacts of this is the revival of Ayurveda, a traditional form of Indian medical treatment. Recent studies reveal that this revival is not only restricted to Asia but has also widespread effects on Africa, North America and Europe and other continents.

The Ayurvedic market is projected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 16% until the year 2025. Presently, the size of the domestic market for Ayurvedic treatment in India is 4.4 billion USD and the usage of its medicinal products is prevalent in both urban and rural households. It is interesting to note that nearly 77% of the homes here are using Ayurvedic medicines for getting better clinical results.

Reasons for Increasing Interest on Ayurveda

High preference and purchasing power of customers towards organic and herbal products.
Natural approach that focuses on the disease cause and internal cure.
Growing public awareness about the conventional methods of treatments and interventions.
Holistic approach that treats a variety of clinical problems including physical, mental and genetic issues.
Greater penetration of innovative Ayurvedic products, high-quality packaging and proactive strategic marketing plans thanks to the professional expertise of healthcare consulting firms.
Emergence of India as a preferred destination of medical tourism with state-of-art infrastructure and healthcare industry-friendly initiatives.
Expanding portfolio of Ayurvedic items in the personal care and food product segment.
Endorsement from high-profile celebrities and spiritual leaders on the promising results of Ayurveda.
Federal support and regulatory compliance towards traditional forms of medicine from the Indian government.

Advantages of Ayurveda

Offers permanent cure by treating the root cause of the ailments, eliminating all the bacteria from the body and encouraging a healthy lifestyle that improves the mind, body and soul.
Produces nil side effects as most Ayurvedic medicines are prepared from natural extracts of fruits, vegetables and spices which are non-toxic, chemical-free and safe for the body.
Promises more effective healthcare outcomes in curing chronic ailments that affect the liver, heart, kidneys and stomach.
Rejuvenates the damaged cells and offers a long-term solution rather than just temporary relief from pain and other symptoms.
Is pocket-friendly to the masses as Ayurvedic medicines are cheaper making healthcare accessible and affordable to many.
Adopts an integrated and balanced approach to disease treatment and prevention.
Protects and safeguards the environment from the ill-effects of pollution as it uses ingredients from nature and not artificial or synthesized constituents.
Has busted the age-old myth that it can cure only health issues related to abdomen, sexuality and skin.

Some Leading Indian Ayurvedic Companies

Patanjali
Dabur
Himalaya
Vicco Labs
Baidyanath Group

Trends in Ayurveda

In recent times, an increasing number of Allopathic medical practitioners are recognizing the holistic healing benefits of Ayurveda and recommending its’ usage to patients for curing several ailments. Research also reveals that both forms of medication (Allopathic and Ayurvedic) can work together safely to improve the patient’s condition faster without detrimental effects.
On the education front, a remarkable number of students are opting for Ayurveda. This field has replaced dentistry as the preferred choice for medical education.
A good number of practices in Ayurveda (like Shirodhara) are now automated under the guidance of healthcare operations management to deliver a better quality of treatment and improvised services.
Thanks to technological innovations in the healthcare field, some specific and rewarding approaches in Ayurveda like Swaras Chikitsa (remedies from fresh herbal juice extracts) are gaining momentum.
Telemedicine has penetrated the Ayurvedic sector making it possible for patients to take treatment remotely without the necessity of the doctor’s physical presence. This system is also helping the patients to monitor and track their diet, medication schedule, vital body statistics and diagnostic results thereby expanding the global reach of Ayurveda.

Gone are the days when the doctor's words were considered to be from the unwritten Bible- to be heard and followed verbatim. Today's patients are more knowledgeable, aware and enlightened. They want to be fully conscious of their own health decisions. Welcome to the era of patient empowerment and consumerism in healthcare.

What is meant by "consumerism in healthcare"?

Consumerism in healthcare is an ideology that allows the patients to take their own healthcare decision consciously. It is a paradigm shift from following "the doctor's orders" to listening to "what the patient says/needs". It offers a working partnership between the physician and patient with the responsibility and commitment being shared equally by both. It fosters better physician-patient cooperation and promotes better medication adherence by the patients. With awareness mounting on the patient side, physicians are bound to be doubly careful in all the treatment decisions they take for the patient. On the other hand, patients have more responsibility toward maintaining their own health by adopting a healthier lifestyle.

What does consumerism in healthcare offer for the patient?

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.

What does consumerism in healthcare signify for the hospitals?

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.

The role of a healthcare consulting firm in healthcare digital consumerism

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.

Findings by Kaufmann-Hell indicate that

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.

All the above findings confirm the need for a competent healthcare consulting firm in promoting healthcare consumerism.

With healthcare consumerism shifting the focus of hospitals to be more patient-centric, the hospital operations management of healthcare units has no choice but to enlist the services of able healthcare consulting firm to sustain and lead the healthcare market.

Everyone thinks that healthcare is the same throughout the world. But unfortunately, not so. Although the tenets of healthcare and its founding principles are universally the same, the quality, cost and time involved for treatment vary geographically.

India is the forefront of quality healthcare, offering clinical services on par with the rest of the world. albeit at a lower cost. Healthcare technologies in India match global standards while the calibre of its physician surpasses that of world doctors.

India is easily the hottest medical tourism hub with nearly more than 5,000,000 medical tourists arriving in India from the U.S., U.K. Australia, Europe, Middle East, Africa etc annually. Still, there is always a debate and comparison about International hospitals vs. Indian hospitals. Let us take a good look at Indian healthcare facts to see how Indian healthcare core over international healthcare.

Indian Healthcare Facts:

The Indian healthcare industry is currently valued at $61billion or R. 4 trillion today.
The hospital industry in India has a stupendous growth rate at a CAGR of 16-17% and the industry is expected to touch $133billion or Rs. 8 trillion by 2022.
The Indian healthcare industry, in total, will touch $280 billion by 2020.
This healthcare sector in India will generate 40 million jobs by 2030
Medical tourism to India contributes $3billion currently and is expected to reach $9 billion by 2020.
The number of qualified medical doctors in India was 8,41,104 in 2017.
Private hospitals in India account for 74% of the hospital industry while government hospital form only 26%.
The Government of India has increased its budget contribution to the Indian healthcare industry to $4 billion or R. 31crore under the National Health Mission in 2019-20.
The Ayushman Bharat program is the largest Government-funded healthcare program with nearly 500 million beneficiaries throughout the country.
In India, "state-of-the-art" cardiac surgery cot a mere $ 1,800 . This is just 2 % of the average cost of heart surgery in the U.S. which is $90,000!
Indian cardiac surgeons perform nearly 35 heart surgeries a day, including a heart transplant. This amount to 900 operation a month.
The number of operation carried by Indian heart specialists in a month (900) equal the number of operations performed by U cardiologists in a year!
Indian hospitals use sophisticated and "state-of-the-art" medical equipment for imaging, diagnostics, and surgery.
EHRs have been implemented in most Indian hospitals and integrated with a central system with option for accessibility by clinical physicians even through an iPad. This drastically reduces the diagnostic time for patients.
Bedside monitoring systems are also installed at Indian hospitals to help measure the patient's vital parameters.
In India, the time taken by a physician to intervene in an urgent medical problem at night was just 8 minutes while in the U.S., it took an hour or even a whole day over the weekend!
The savings augured by foreign medical tourists by seeking treatment in India range from 65% to even 90%.
Reputed Indian hospitals treat as many as 50,000 foreign patients a year with the tourists thronging the hospital from even the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia and Europe.
On an average, at least 10% of the revenue of an Indian hospital comes from foreign patients.
Cardiac surgery, Paediatric Cardiac surgery, Neurosurgery, Spine surgery, Bariatric surgery, Cancer and IVF treatment are the most popular streams of clinical therapysought-after by medical tourists from abroad.

With such a huge influx of medical tourists into India, every Indian hospital must have top-class hospital quality management to cater to these patients with world-class services. To achieve this, every Indian hospital must enlist expert and professional healthcare consulting companies to streamline, optimize and enhance the efficiency of their clinical services.

The usage of Mobile Apps is increasingly becoming ubiquitous across all industry sectors. Healthcare is no exception as it is largely driven by Patient Centricity. Current forecasts predict that the global mobile health market will generate an estimated $28 billion in 2018. Therefore healthcare consulting firms are now seeking to enhance the experience and increase patient satisfaction through highly customized solutions and long-term engagements.

In the past, hospitals were perceived as uncomfortable, intimidating and stressful destinations for treatment options and physician consultations. This no longer holds good with changing scenarios. There is a strong focus on meeting patient needs and comfort with the delivery of quality healthcare through technological advancements and medical innovations.

Today’s digital-savvy patients and caretakers seek quick responses, 24/7 access to their health information and ability to monitor and take their own healthcare decisions. Healthcare Apps fulfils all these sophisticated expectations. They enhance patient experience through specifically tailored and ‘easy to use’ user-interfaces for exploring various treatment routes and managing options. Apps also provide seamless integration of healthcare systems, payers and providers for successful implementation of digital strategies.

Categories of Healthcare Apps

Emergency Care Apps: Recommend nearest and most effective care destination to patients in the event of emergencies. May also provide information about waiting times, routes, insurance possibilities, approximate treatment costs and travel times.
Wayfinding/Guiding Apps: Aid patients in quickly finding concerned departments, physicians and other concerned medical staff in healthcare destinations.
Pregnancy and Childbirth Apps: Help parents especially mothers to schedule and track their appointments. Also provides education on pre-natal, post-natal and newborn care.
Hospital Apps: Apps used to aid hospital marketing, branding and advertising. It also gives details about services and facilities available, shows virtual tour demos and provides general hospital information.
Outpatient Care Apps: Guide patients about their health status, helps to monitor it and increases adherence to prescribed treatment plans. These apps also have treatment trackers for managing diagnostic results and care procedures.
Appointment and Referral Apps: Facilitates speedy appointment bookings and referral processes thereby boosting doctor-patient relationships.
Wellness Apps: Educates and helps patients to monitor their well-being with health trackers, exercise schedules, nutrition/diet recommendations and health tips.
Medication Tracking Apps: Encourages adherence to prescribed medications by tracking doses, intervals, meals and also provides reminders for immunization and re-stocking drugs.

Desirable App Features

Possessing relevant functionality based on patient requirements and demands
Having a pleasant and user-friendly interface
Aiding staff training for better application implementation and adoption
Promoting its usage by leveraging marketing strategy and social media

Healthcare App Benefits

Provide complete transparency to patients by informing waiting times and even allows them to select the nearest suitable healthcare facility with shortest waiting times in crisis situations.
Gives access to right information in a time of need thereby answering patient concerns and eliminating ambiguity. Example:Online ’What to expect’ booklets for pregnant mothers.
Bridges the emotional gap with patient empowerment by involving patient in decision making, goal setting and self-monitoring and bringing them closer to medical staff.
Enables chronically ill patients to take control of their own health with easy usability and connects them with caregivers for any issues thereby promoting early medical intervention.
Offers splendid digital experience with quick 24/7 access to healthcare information. It also intimates patients about special discounts, healthcare packages and offers, sends personalized messages and collects feedback which in turn fosters better patient relationship management.

Thus Medical Apps for Patients as digital care solutions significantly aid in better healthcare quality management. Apps encourage higher medication adherence, increase cost-effectiveness and improve patient outcomes.

When we say the word " Nurse", the one person who immediately comes to our mind is "Sister Florence Nightingale". Imagine if such a nurse was to leave your healthcare organization? Wouldn't it be a huge loss? Well, this is what happens most of the time in Indian hospitals and is called "attrition".

Attrition is the voluntary abandonment of a job due to resignation, retirement or employee dissatisfaction etc. When healthcare HR management is struggling to implement employee retention strategies, attrition of nurses in healthcare is looming as a major deterrent to hospital management.

How to reduce the level of attrition of nurses? A reputed healthcare consulting firm gives us the following tips.

Ways to reduce the level of attrition of nurses

A survey revealed that in an Indian hospital, 57% of the employees leaving are nurses. With nurses forming the considerable employee strength of a hospital, this attrition level has to be immediately addressed and reduced in the following ways.

1. Respect the yeomen service of nurses

The nursing profession is relegated to a subordinate position in hospitals and seldom are nurses held in regard. Glorifying the noble aspect of their work and treating them with respect is one way to make nurses feel their contribution is recognized. If they feel valued and respected in the organization, the nurses will have no cause to leave.

2. Offer better remuneration or perks

65% of the nurses quoted poor salary as one of the reasons for quitting hospitals. Hospitals spend most of their money on infrastructure, equipment, physician and consultant pay packages etc. Most often they tend to forget the most indispensable workers in their organization.

Paying nurses en par with industry standards will only keep them motivated to continue in your hospital. With skilled nurses being highly in demand, ensure that your hospital does not lose any by paying less.

Attractive perks and incentives should also be offered to skillful nurses and senior matrons. This will only make them feel rewarded for their sincerity and induce them to work harder.

3. Provide a good work environ

Offering a good work environ is conducive to productivity. Nurses need their own workstations and separate rooms to rest or change. Ensuring that they are provided with clean and hygienic work areas and uniforms are some ways to keep them happy. Offering them special privileges at canteens or providing them beverages at work will help them to keep on with their job.

4. Ensure good nurse-supervisor relationship

Nurses should share a good rapport with their reporting officers. If they feel any discomfort, try to address their grievances by setting up an enquiry or changing their commanding officer. Ensure smooth relations exist between nurses and other hospital staff to maximize coordination.

5. Empower nurses with more authority

Instead of relegating nurses to inferior positions below doctors, entrust them with some authority and make them feel more accountable. Conferring with their opinion on patient status also makes them feel important and motivated.

6. Avoid using nurses for non-clinical jobs

Nurses are trained medical professionals. Do not utilize their services in non-medical areas like reception, housekeeping etc. which diminishes their worth. These type of practices demoralize nurses and make them feel misused, making them quit.

7. Provide scope for learning

Nursing is a challenging field in itself with lots to learn. Provide opportunities for nurses to participate in training programs to improve their skills, Deploy skilled nurses in various departments and rotate their positions to ensure that they learn all clinical practices.

Nursing is a noble profession and one that is highly in demand too. With a healthcare consulting firm, combat the attrition level of nurses to achieve continuous success in your hospital.

Digital marketing is spreading its domain everywhere and healthcare is no exception to it. Marketing in the healthcare industry has taken a new digital dimension and healthcare consulting firms have revolutionized patient engagement through social media and websites.
The following statistics just prove that healthcare digital marketing has a huge impact on the potential patients and their selection of hospitals.

Statistics on the use of digital marketing in healthcare

According to a Deloitte survey, 52% of the consumers searched online for treatment options.
A Demi Cooper Advertising survey reveals that

1. 19% of the Smartphone users have at least one health app downloaded on their phones.
2. 41% of the respondents agreed that social media would affect their choice of hospitals.

Reasons why digital marketing is the best method of retaining patients

A patient's journey in healthcare is totally governed by digital marketing. Let us see how.

1. The Online search for awareness or treatment options

A patient searches online typically either for treatment of an existing ailment or for awareness about a medical condition. In either case, digital marketing has a powerful role to play.

Through SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and through SEM (Search Engine Marketing), hospitals can channelize the traffic to their websites through the use of apt keywords in their websites.
Blogs can also be optimized with keywords to divert traffic to hospital websites.
Patient engagement strategies can be implemented through social media through relevant content, social media campaigns etc.
Social media ads can also create awareness among the audience on healthcare options.

2. Contacting the healthcare centre

The next step in the patient's journey is evaluating the healthcare options, selecting the right one and establishing a contact with the hospital. Here again, digital marketing enters.

By offering SMS or call options as CTA, the patient can be made to quickly contact the hospital by visiting the hospital website.
A mere visit to the hospital website can be tracked through web analytics and the patient can be followed up.
Through Landing page optimization, the patient's details can be collected.

3. Becoming a patient

Once the patient makes an inquiry online through the website, he has to be engaged and converted into a patient by email marketing and call follow-ups.
Features like online scheduling of clinical appointments, timely reminders for check-ups etc, keep the patient engaged.
Going a step further, mailing prescriptions and scan reports or reminding patients about medication can be done by email marketing to enhance patient satisfaction.

4. Engaging with the hospital

After becoming a patient, the patient's engagement with the hospital should continue.
This is ensured by sending thank you emails, asking for feedback, taking satisfaction surveys etc.
Updating patient's with thoughtful content on their ailment and treatment can be done by directing them to blogs on the hospital website or through email newsletters.
Open chat on websites with physicians for Q & A sessions should also be provided.

5. Retaining the patient

This is the most crucial factor to be achieved by healthcare digital marketing and this can be done by

Acknowledging the patent as a precious customer through regular emails.
Enlisting the patients in loyalty programs through emails.
Offering special discounts and privileges to existing customers through emails or SMS.
Using patients as influencers can also be done through social media.

Digital marketing is the best way to retain patients and ensure their complete satisfaction. Contact an experienced Healthcare consulting firm to evolve a dynamic digital marketing strategy for your hospital with full success.

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.

Healthcare sector is currently undergoing intense flux. There is an exponential growth in medical transactions coupled with immense advancements in medical technology, pharmaceuticals and patient care. Consequently, hospitals are no longer viewed as confrontation corners for contending parties (medical staff, sick people and caretakers). Rather they are perceived as healthcare facilities designed for personalized patient treatment.

This paradigm shift in expectations is fueling hospital architecture design & planning for transforming hospital services from ‘healthcare’ to ‘human care’. Consequently, healthcare providers must rethink the concept of care-delivery to pay utmost attention and priority to patient needs.

Prevailing Trends

Currently some key trends are revamping the entire spectrum of hospital infrastructure and management. Therefore, future hospitals must be thoroughly equipped for

Increase in volumes of outpatient care and decrease of in-patient volumes
Reserving hospitals for catering to needs of mostly acute-care patients
Distantly monitoring less critical patients or those with lifetime chronic ailments with healthcare sensors, wearable diagnostic devices and telemedicine
Increasing rise of consumerism and requirement of retail clinics
Redesigning and aligning the care process proactively for enhancing patient experience and delight
Ensuring extensive collaboration and co-ordination between all healthcare stakeholders to improve standards

Factors determining Futuristic Hospital Architecture

Flexibility and scalability of medical processes, devices and hospital areas is crucial. Substantial investments have been made already and scope for renovation is limited. Making treatment rooms and structural systems adaptable to technology, mechanical systems fool-proof from security threats, data systems scalable and individual spaces multi-functional are some such measures.
Promoting technology driven design wherein role of system integration and information technology cannot be undermined. The entire hospital building must be capable of handling ‘plug and play’ integration.
Design will play a significant role since today’s patients consciously make informed healthcare decisions. So it is important to balance financial constraints with elements of choice and involve hospital staff in designing. Hospitals must deliver noticeable services that cater to human needs in quality environments. This ensures patient satisfaction and medical staff retention.
Enabling higher precision in levels of care as hospitalized patients will need greater support systems. Hospital design must be adaptable to handle this transformation with outpatient clinics needing greater efficiency and streamlining for handling significant volumes and inpatient zones needing higher acuity levels for treating critical patients.
Equipping outpatient spaces for higher efficiency as major population chooses to live in healthier environments minimizing frequent hospital visits. The business model should support better improvements in patient reception and tracking, telehealth facilities and technology- enabled ambulatory services.
Ensuring hospital facility repurposing is important for seamless integration with technology modifications and information technology advancements. This reduces financial commitments and fosters reusability of viable facilities.

Healthcare Consulting Firms(HCF), with their professional expertise, can help in planning such futuristic healthcare campuses and also guide in the installation and maintenance of medical equipments.

Some Patient Friendly Measures

Amiable ambience with pleasant colours, lighting and round consultation tables
Online access to patient health records and live medical chats
Special lighting effects, decorations and playful toys in kid treatment zones for distraction
Spacious therapy rooms and lively corridors for socialisation of caretakers with physicians
Comfortable patient-seats for better mobility and reduced bed-confinement
Greener environments for quick healing
Minimal waiting times by cognitive computers
Hi-tech devices for entertainment and patient education
Usage of robotics for performing repetitive tasks

Indeed, Futuristic Hospitals are meant to be truly optimistic and life giving spaces that facilitate ‘patient empowerment’. Though this gives a boost to healthcare industry, both hospital architecture and hospital infrastructure planning must fully adapt itself to accelerate this goal.

A Hospital is the "Mecca of Medicine"- a veritable sacred ground where battles are fought every day against disease. Every day, doctors, surgeons, nurses, radiologists and a host of other hospital staff render yeomen service in saving hundreds of lives. Yet sometimes it's ironic how some hospitals are not able to gain the due recognition for their contributions to the world of healthcare. Why so? This is because of the flaws in their external communication which can be corrected only by an able healthcare consulting firm.
External Communication is the "image that the hospital portrays to the world". It is the message that people derive from print, social and digital media about the hospital. A hospital's reputation, stature, social and business standing and professional competence - all depends on its external communication. This is why external communication is pivotal for the hospital’s functionality.

Why is external communication vital for hospitals?

Effective communication in healthcare is achieved only when the right messages are conveyed across all channels, both within the hospital and to the outside world. Of this external communication is most crucial because

The hospital's brand reputation relies on its external communication.
It nurtures trust in the minds of the people, patients and the media.
Even government and policy-makers rely on the hospital's external communication.
It reinforces the stakeholders' trust in the hospital.
It silences unwanted rumours or false propaganda against the hospital.
It handles the Public Relations and furnishes the right information to the media
It manages the online reputation of the hospital by responding to negative feedback and taking immediate remedial measures.
It acts as the "Voice of the hospital" in the outside world.

How to implement effective external communication in Hospitals?

1. Define Communication Strategy
Outline a clear Communications strategy with definite goals, audiences and timelines. Communications Strategy is a must for any hospital. It can be created in-house or with the help of a Healthcare Marketing Agency. The Communications Strategy must synchronize with your brand values and mission statement

2. Proactive or Reactive?
External communication involves media campaigns about the hospital in print, electronic and social media like print and TV ads, Facebook ads, Instagram or Twitter posts, promotional campaign mailers and leaflets, newspaper article and blogs. Decide whether your external communication is going to be proactive and talk about the hospital's values or be reactive and just reply to comments and feedback in the media? A right mix of both proactive and reactive responses makes your communication effective.

3. Integrate internal and external communication
For effective communication, integrate your hospital's internal and external communication seamlessly. The same message must be conveyed throughout both inside and outside the hospital. Use your hospital's communication department to achieve this by keeping them well-informed about the campaigns, PR events and all necessary details to handle media inquiries.

4. Convey a strong, positive and unique image
Your hospital is doing a wonderful work. So, why not talk about it strong and positive? Highlight the uniqueness of your hospital- Is it the strong competence of the medical professionals, the genuine patient care, cost optimization or the latest equipment or healthcare information systems? Create a bold brand image and stick to it.

5. Use real-life examples
With concurrence from the patients, try to cite real-life successful examples using EMRs from your Hospital Information Management systems. This renders an authentic touch to your external communication.

External Communication is the lifeline of your hospital's success. Craft your external communication cleverly with the help of an expert healthcare consulting firm and achieve a new milestone of success.

The management of all sizes of healthcare practices have recognised the prominence of seamless patient flow at the hospital. In fact is the key for success and it has to be done just the right way in order to increase the efficiency and derive best results in terms of ‘Increased Patient Satisfaction’. Gone are the days when hospital used to depend on appointment and waiting-room process. The lives of people have become eventful and individuals expect seeing the doctor or any healthcare provider should not be time consuming.

The clinical practices should give greater importance to patient flow even from the initial stages of hospital planning. The patient bottlenecks causes unnecessary delays that take big toll on the overall patient experience.
Right from the reception, hospital management should ensure the patients and their assistants feel comfortable and the waiting period should be as less as possible. When they feel cared and recognized by the hospital staff, hospital is gained good respect and the patient experience is just enhanced!

However, despite maximum efforts it is not always as easy as it is said. Patient Experience increases over time and healthcare practices can achieve it by constantly evolving and surpassing all the obstacles. Here are few step that could help you in establishing seamless patient flow.

Internal Traffic Flow and Clear Idea of Operation Flow – Every staff member of the hospital, even at the bottom levels should be well aware of the patient flow and they should be able to direct the patients in the right direction. The patient flow stream should be focussed more on the patient convenience that provides better patient experience.
Ensure Diagnostic and Consultation Processes that Don’t Overlap – The diagnostic facilities should ensure proximity with proper signboards within the hospital area. Most importantly the diagnostic centres should not cross paths during the checking process. A faster consultation and diagnosis process make the patients to find solution for the ailments or sickness without any further delay.
Cover All Patient Touch-Points based on the Patient Health Condition – Hospital management very well know each health condition requires a separate diagnostic pattern. The healthcare provider should be aware and streamline the patient flow in such a way that all the touch-points are covered based on the health condition before moving the patient to a different department. Pulling back a patient for any test or consultation will result in negative patient experience, which the healthcare provider should focus in a meticulous manner.
Well Stated Patient Destinations and Flow Chart – It is important to have the infrastructure with clear and understandable signage. A clear blueprint of the hospital infrastructure stating which department located where along with the directions, avoid any sort of confusion within the reach. The waiting lobbies, consultation rooms, restrooms, diagnostic centres, cafeteria, pharmacy and billing section should be rightly placed and managed with clear signage.
Parking and Other Hospitality Facilities – For every hospital infrastructure it is important to maintain a free traffic flow. Both emergency and non-emergency vehicles should be aligned appropriately and ensure seamless flow. The emergency vehicles should have easy access to reach the trauma care department and to the other diagnostic facilities.

In today’s increased peer competition era among healthcare practices, it is highly important for all healthcare dreamers to ensure proactive support and care while touching all the essential touch points that increase overall patient experience.

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