• 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.

• 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

• Unsuitable documentation - Every project plan must be documented clearly and exhaustively. This must be done after having detailed discussions with the concerned stakeholders on the expectations with respect to cost, time and healthcare quality. All milestones must be properly tracked to have a clear-cut understanding of where the project is heading in reality in comparison to the stated goals. It is also very important that a strong business case is established in line with initiatives and expectations. Often, lack of proper or relevant documentation and proper business case hinders the scope, priorities and successful execution of the project. 
• Poor scheduling - Apart from allocating the resources, it is vital that the healthcare project is well scheduled to handle the competing priorities. All goals and milestones must be clearly defined and deadlines must be planned realistically. Scheduling must consider all resources including infrastructure, funding and staff and handle risks proactively. Poor scheduling due to wrong time estimation results in a lot of confusion and hampers the progress of the project.
• Multitasking overload – Due to severe pressure for meeting the costs and timelines, most healthcare project managers assign multiple roles and tasks to the team members without sufficient introspection. It is crucial that the task load is planned and shared based on the qualification, experience and capabilities of the healthcare staff. Often, inexperienced people are given multiple roles and responsibilities which they cannot handle leading to failure.
• Management stress - Healthcare management faces stress in various aspects including handling the project finances, human resources, technology, culture and communication. There must transparency and proper communication between all levels of management including the upper, middle and lower levels to avoid misunderstandings and delays. All project members must be allowed to express their concerns, give their opinions and suggestions and make complaints if necessary. Following medical ethics and handling compliance issues is crucial for the management because healthcare business runs on patient satisfaction and delight. The management must also clearly articulate the short-term and long-term goals, vision and mission of the healthcare organization to avoid ambiguity and stress. Having able leaders is also the key factor that contributes to the project’s success because he or she ensures that the entire team strives towards the accomplishment of the target.
• Poor assumptions and change management - Many healthcare projects are baselined with wrong assumptions. This could be due to poor planning and forecasting. The project must be executed with the goal of delivering the right output and information within the specified timelines and not exceed the planned budgets. All constraints must be taken into account cautiously without making unrealistic assumptions so that the correct adjustments may be made in the workflow to ensure correct scoping, budgeting and scheduling of the project. Similarly, in an attempt to fulfill the technical details or meet deadlines, most projects ignore the aspect of change management which is essential for successful completion. The staff must undergo training and communication programs to face any unforeseen challenges and changes. Having proper portfolio management goes a long way in evaluating and prioritizing the project processes to ensure a seamless implementation.

• 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.

• 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.

• Patanjali
• Dabur
• Himalaya
• Vicco Labs
• Baidyanath Group

• 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.

Measures to be taken for increased energy efficiency –

• Conducting regular inspections on energy equipment.
• Keeping a track of each equipment’s energy reading and checking it against the next reading.
• Upgradation of equipment with emerging new technologies such as Central Automated Management Systems.
• Implementation of monitoring mechanism that provides detailed reports on energy consumption and the condition of the equipment.
• Conducting training sessions for the staff on the efficient usage of the equipment.

• Air Conditioning – The necessity of providing comfortable room temperatures for the patients as well as to the equipment make hospitals the most energy consuming facilities. Installing the advanced air conditioning systems such as thermal insulation improvement and maintaining them adequately can help in reducing power consumption.
• Lighting – As an institute that needs to be functioned around the clock, lighting is one of the most important factors and also the factor that consumes more energy. Use only the high performance lighting system for reduced energy consumption. Using local capacitors for correction of the power factors can also reduce power consumption to a whopping 50%.
• Heating – Heating requires at various levels in a typical hospital day to day operations. Most of the hospitals are still using gas for their heating requirements. Replacing gas heating with thermal insulation can reduce the costs significantly. More importantly, hospitals can conserve more energy if they replace oil usage with natural gas.
• High energy consuming medical equipment – Medical equipment contribute to high energy consumption. However, same equipment by different manufacturers project different energy consumption numbers. Compare all the equipment from different manufacturers and purchase the ones that consume less energy and comes with durability.

• Level 1 – Do not require replacement of equipment or reconstruction. Regular maintaining activities and monitoring is sufficient to ensure better energy conservation.
• Level 2 – Required reconstruction of equipment. Actions involve replacement of the parts in the equipment and general maintenance that is more than just Level 1 care.
• Level 3 – Requires replacement of the equipment. Involves capital investment and demands a proper techno-economic survey to save more on the new purchase.

General Energy Conservation Methods You Could Employ –

• Reduce the usage of doors between 2 different room temperatures.
• Check the windows and doors at regular intervals for any cracks or damages.
• Taking measures that increase thermal insulation for the openings can help in reducing energy consumption at a great deal.
• Internal shading in the areas that are exposed to direct sunlight is advisable.
• Periodic maintenance of boilers, heaters and other boiling equipment save that extra power needed for boiling purposes.
• Installation of hearth blades, exhaust gas turbines, diaphragms in the chimneys and permanent measurement systems can be the major solutions for your energy conservation measures.

What is a Virtual Consultation –

The Benefits of Virtual Consultations –

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.

Public Relation is an evolving concept that is gaining a lot of importance in the hospital setup today.
That is so because of its vital role in communicating within the various departments of the hospital and to the outside world. Specifically speaking, with an increased focus on value-based care, the hospital and patient relationship assume paramount significance here for achieving patient satisfaction and building long-term reliable healthcare engagements.

The various entities in the healthcare chain including the society, patients, employees, caretakers, visitors, media, suppliers and medical personnel give their opinion and feedback on the care services. This influences the brand, reputation and competitiveness of the hospital for continued business sustenance. Therefore, there is a need for good public relations through communication mechanisms for begetting appreciation and goodwill from these valuable stakeholders.

Yet, there are a number of challenges faced by Healthcare Operations Management which call for the need of developing better public relations in hospitals by seeking the professional expertise of Healthcare Consulting Firms. Some of them are -

• Contending with increased healthcare expenses and meeting the sophisticated demands of patients to avoid public criticism
• Overcoming several hurdles  for delivering quality care at affordable rates
• Efficiently handling the professional management of the hospital
• Monitoring and balancing the increased involvement of government agencies and consumer protection forums with respect to patient care and hospital internal management issues

• Assist the top management in clearly articulating the hospital’s policies, vision and mission to the outside world.
• Help the various departments within to showcase a consistent image of the hospital for good publicity.
• Suggest and improvise adoption of latest marketing techniques for maintaining the competitive edge.
• Formulating and guiding the hospital staff training and retention activities to ensure that they are kept abreast with the latest medical technologies and reduce turnover.
• Inculcate the correct communication mechanisms to the hospital management so as to reinstate the importance of courtesy, kindness, empathy and friendly approaches in patient care to provide a comfortable healing environment.
• Enable the hospitals to be proactive in epidemic management by clearly communicating preventive methods to the patients and their families, installing the necessary medical equipment for screening and taking precautions to effectively treat the affected patients without ignorance.
• Advise the hospitals to maintain and upgrade their infrastructure to be compatible with the latest industry standards.
• Recommend the new relevant healthcare technology updates and processes to the hospital so that the patients are benefitted with the best treatment approaches.
• Supervise the hospital in maintaining proper hygiene standards and waste disposal management so as to maintain a clean environment and prevent infections and diseases.
• Deploy the appropriate communication methods in all possible ways to aid the hospital in

• Conveying its message to the public
• Dealing  with the media
• Ensuring smooth intramural functioning and internal operations.

• Providing relevant information to patients, families and visitors for inquiries, registration, health status at discharge, follow-ups
• Facilitating an open house approach to address visitor queries without disturbing the routine care functions.
• Using easily comprehensive signage boards and floor plans at strategic points and providing information brochures and visitor guides for familiarizing the hospital environment.
• Improvising proper methods to record and track complaints, suggestions and compliments through emails, collection boxes and registers.
• Improving public interactions through health fairs, awareness programs, healthcare campaigns, voluntary services and donation camps.
• Advising the administrative staff on overcoming shortcomings in hospital functions.
• Advertising through social media, billboards, newsletters and articles for better branding.
• Conducting patient satisfaction surveys and general opinion polls to improve care quality.

Impact of poor internal communication in a hospital

• Patient safety experts like CRICO have identified at least 7000 of 23,000 medical malpractice lawsuits has having been caused due to communication errors in relaying patient data.
• Similarly, the Doctor's Company has identified that 27% of the malpractice claims between 2012-2016 were attributed to communication errors.
• Nearly 32% of the nursing cases and 25% of the surgery cases were caused due to lapses in communication in patient care.
• The total price paid by hospitals to settle the malpractice claims were roughly $1.7 billion, according to CRICO.

Factors that cause communication errors in a hospital

• Work pressure - Excessive workloads on nursing staff may lead to their forgetfulness or lapse in communicating patient information to physicians or vice versa.
• Malfunctioning EHR system - System errors in the ER system may result in the patient's records not being updated and remaining current.
• Poor work culture - Lack of work discipline may lead to inadequate work proficiency or medical expertise, irregular follow-ups on instructions, inordinate delay in response etc. which may prove costly for both the hospital and patient.
• Distractions - Usage of mobile devices during work hours may cause the hospital staff to get distracted and cause communication errors with serious consequences.
• Assumptions due to familiarity - Hospital staff may assume certain factors with known persons and this may cause big lapses in communication.
• Complexity in information interchange - A patient's condition is ascertained only after consultation by multiple health specialists like an anaesthesiologist, cardiologist etc. This complex information interchange may have some lapses in communication.

Ways to address the communication errors in a hospital

• Increasing the transparency in the exchange of information
• Setting roles and objectives for each department and ensuring complete coordination between them
• Demarcating clear lines of responsibility among the staff and ensuring their ownership of the communication
• Providing  professional hospital  staff training using expert healthcare HR management with emphasis on communication
• Advocating strict work culture with no distractions
• Ensuring regular maintenance of hospital's EHR records and communication, lab and diagnostic equipment
• Providing checkpoints for the communication to be verified
• Administering constant evaluation of verbal and written communication to avoid any lapses
• Performing periodic communication audits using a hospital consulting firm to ensure that no communication errors exist.

Role of a hospital consulting firm in minimizing communication errors in a hospital

• Offer an assessment view of the present communication scenario in the hospital
• Identify the grey areas where problems lie
• Offer immediate solutions and help in their execution
• Prepare a communication blueprint for the hospital
• Impart professional hospital staff training with special focus on communication
• Audit and review the communication channels periodically.

• 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.

Why small healthcare clinics are more beneficial?

Role of healthcare consulting firm in small clinic healthcare management

Healthcare ethics (also called medical ethics/bioethics) encompass a set of moral principles, beliefs and values that guide our choices and decision-making in healthcare. It is the core and heart of the patient-centric healthcare system. Ethics help us in judging and discriminating between our sense of right and wrong, reinforcing our beliefs about the rights we possess and endorsing the duties we owe to society. A careful contemplation of the ethical aspects enables us in choosing the right options for making justifiable healthcare decisions.

All healthcare professionals are bound by legal and ethical obligations to ensure the best interests of patients seeking care services. They must necessarily demonstrate ethical behavior and responsibility by doing the right thing for the patient to ensure the best possible healthcare outcomes. Most healthcare professions define ethical codes and practices.

Here are a few examples of healthcare ethics:

• Taking crucial decisions about end-of-life care like continuing life support system to a brain-dead patient.
• Doing fund allocation by prioritizing the treatment of chronic diseases and promotion of public health.
• Crucially identifying gaps in the health status of the population strata and contemplating on the ethical obligations to ensure equitable healthcare access to all.
• Enabling pathways for ensuring ethical conduct in medical research.
• Investigating the ethical implications of cloning technology in genetics.

Underlying Principles of Healthcare Ethics

• Autonomy which implies that the patient’s right to take their own healthcare decisions must be completely respected.
• Beneficence which indicates that the patients must be supported and helped adequately in their best interests for improvement of health status.
• Nonmaleficence which is essential to ensure that no harm is done to the patient.
• Justice which promotes unbiased handling of all patient engagement alike in a fair manner without partiality.

Impact of Healthcare Ethics

Benefits of Healthcare Ethics

• Standardizes healthcare decision making – By deploying a consistent model of ethical standards creates a roadmap for uniform decision making by all employees in the healthcare organization. It thus simplifies the process by setting predefined norms with a set of principles resulting in fewer ethical dilemmas because standardized protocols and action guidelines are in place.
  Improves patient centricity – Ethical standards promote primary healthcare concerns with a strong focus on patient needs by using predefined guidelines. This minimizes medical errors by the practitioners who are committed to following the rules.
  Enhances public support for the medical profession - Promotion of ethical practices improves public image and builds public trust. This, in turn, encourages community donations and funding for new healthcare projects and initiatives.
  Promotes research and development - Ethical principles determine the types of medical research to be conducted. This is crucial for the continuance of the healthcare profession in addressing curing existing diseases and developing preventive healthcare approaches.