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Managing Hospitals

I am not a doctor…

When we talk of health professionals it does not always mean that we are referring to people having a medical background. The dictionary meaning of a health professional is 'a person who helps in identifying or preventing or treating illness or disability'. While medical personnel are the frontline of any healthcare organisation, there are other healthcare professionals in whom patients invest their trust and hope-even though they're not always aware of who these people are or the roles they play. These professionals are healthcare executives (also called healthcare administrators and healthcare managers). They are the men and women who manage today's hospital and healthcare organisations.

Emergence of Indian Health Sector

Health care is a public right, and it is the responsibility of governments to provide this care to all people in equal measures. The conference on primary health care on 12th September 1978, commonly known as Alma-Ata declaration has strongly expressed the need for urgent action by all governments, all health and development workers, and the world community to protect and promote the health of all the people of the world.

Since India became free, several measures have been undertaken by the national government to improve the health of the people. Prominent among these measures are the national health programmes, which have been launched by the central government for the control/ eradication of communicable diseases, improvement of environmental sanitation, nutrition, control of population and rural health. Various international agencies like WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank, SIDA, DANIDA, NORAD, USAID etc. have been producing technical and material assistance in the implementation of these programmes.

In India, health care is completely or largely a governmental function. However, considering that the governmental budgetary provision for health is a mere 3%, there are several other private and voluntary organisations that share the ever-growing concern of keeping 1,065,462,000 people healthy.

Hospitals

Hospitals and health care organisations have changed the very face of health care sector in India, in terms of services, administration, business and employment. The sector which was placed on the 7th stage at one time among the top ten business sectors in India, today occupies the top most position, surpassing even the IT industry. Today, the look of hospitals has changed dramatically. They look less like hospitals and more like hotels. The effort is to provide better ambience, increased accommodation facilities and quality care to the patients.

The commercialisation of the hospital sector has opened job avenues for well-trained professionals in the field of hospital and health administration.

List of some of the tertiary care hospitals Escorts Hospital Fortis Hospital Wockhardt Hospitals Narayan Hrudalaya Hinduja Hospitals Apollo Hospitals Sir H N Hospital Rockland Hospital Manipal Hospital

CSR

Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business houses to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large. CSR is a new concept that deals with supporting the community.

A few CSR organisations ICICI Social initiatives Escorts Rural Development Aditya Birla Group Lupin Human Welfare Dabur India Ltd. Azim Premji Foundation Mahindra and Mahindra Piramal Enterprises Ltd. Infosys Foundation Ranbaxy Laboratories EI Dupont India Ltd. Hero Honda Motors Ltd.

 

Government Sector

The government sector comprises various departments and organisations looking after the health and other basic needs of the people. These departments are the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Women and Child Department, Department of Rural Development among others. and some government organisations are National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW), National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) etc. They initiate various health programmes and also get support from international agencies like WHO, UN, World Bank in the form of grants to implement their programmes.

Voluntary Organisations

Non-Government Organisations (NGO)

Popularly, the term NGO and Voluntary Organisations are used synonymously. Most of these organisations are registered as trusts or societies under relevant central or state acts; they work on a non-profit basis, work in social services sector; survive and thrive on external financial assistance from state, centre, national and international agencies. Because the label "NGO" is considered too broad by some, as it might cover anything that is non-governmental, many NGOs now prefer the term private voluntary organisation (PVO).

Today, NGOs play an important role in delivering health services to the people. They don't work parallel with the government but assist the government in delivering health services to the public.

NGOs work at various levels and on various issues like AIDS, Immunization, Gender issues, stigma and social outcast due to RTI/STIs, Safe Motherhood and Child Nutrition, Family Planning and Welfare, Capacity Building of the members, Need Assessment of the people, but their job is not restricted to this. They represent the problem of the people to the government. So, it makes them an important stakeholder of the government. While implementing any new programme or if there is any change in policy at the government level, the concerns expressed by these organisations are considered seriously.

NGOs also get a lot of monetary and technical assistance from various international agencies.

Apart from national and international NGOs, various international agencies are working in a big way in India and funding several projects.

Not for Profit

A non-profit organisation (often called "non-profit" or "not-for-profit") is an organisation whose primary objective is something other than the generation of profit. Such organisations are typically funded through a mix of private or public (i.e. government) donations. They may also generate income through their own commercial activities, but the extent to which they are able to do this may be constrained, or the use of such income may be restricted in certain ways.

A few national NGOs ICE CINI SNEHA CHETNA SEWA Helpage India Society of Social Services CCDT CEHAT ARTH

 

List of some of the international NGOs working in India CARE India Pathfinders CRS Red Cross World Vision CECODECON ActionAid Hope Foundation Save the Children UK FHI ICHAP

Health Professionals and their Roles

Healthcare management, in many ways, is a "hidden" career. When we think of a hospital or a clinic, we tend to think of physicians, nurses and other caregivers. The myriad of people who work in the organisations that support health services delivery organisations, like insurance and managed care companies and government policy-making and regulatory agencies, are even more invisible and are not who we think of when we hear the phrase "health services." However, they play very important roles in making health services available and accessible.

International agencies funding projects UNICEF UNAIDS UNFPA UNDP GTZ European Commission World Bank WHO UNESCO

 

Hospital Managers

The growth of health care services has created the need for professionals to manage affairs. It is a hard fact that effective management leads to increased efficiency and productivity. As a result more and more hospitals, private as well as government run, health care centres and nursing homes have sprung up. For the smooth running of the hospital and to ensure better services to patients, hospitals are recognizing the need for professionals to run the management of the hospital.

A hospital is an institution, which is primarily engaged in providing medical, diagnostic and major surgery facilities for medical care and treatment of sick and injured persons on an inpatient, outpatient and emergency basis under supervision of duly licensed physicians and 24-hour nursing service. Hospital managers/ administrators deal with planning, finance, personnel management, purchase and supply, housekeeping, building and equipment maintenance, catering and cleaning. Hospital management is concerned with efficiency and cost effectiveness at all levels of health services. The administrators/ managers assist the governing board to determine hospital objectives and policies and link them to departments and services.

A few prominent non-profits Oxfam Amnesty International Melinda Gates Foundation Lions Club Rotary International Ford Foundation

The job of managing a health care centre involves planning, organising and coordination of services. So, the administrators/managers should be able to take quick decisions and possess strong time management skills and a high degree of integrity and commitment. They must understand the finances and information systems, be able to interpret data and maintain good communication with staff and members of various departments. They must establish ways to monitor and improve patient care.

Careers in Health Sectors Health Care Financing Health Care Marketing Social Marketing Health Research Health Economics Health Sector Reforms Health Insurance Health Administration Health Communication Consultancy Programme Management Hospital Management

Hospital management focuses on social services in hospitals, financial management, organisation and administration of clinical/ support services, legal framework of hospitals, hospital planning, quality assurance, marketing management, strategic management and information management.

Health Managers
Health management specialisation focuses on areas related to community health, health research, public health legislations, urban health, health policy formulation and implementation, financing of health services, management of national health programmes and so on.

Health managers deal with general areas of health policy and administration, management principles, resource management, health economics, qualitative research methods, labour legislation, operation research and organisation behaviour.

This is a list of few areas but in reality the sector is diversified and a lot of options are available.

There's a deluge of scope in this sector as it's an upcoming sector. The job satisfaction is enormous and the perks are also handsome. Generally, health/ hospital professionals start with a salary of 15,000-25,000 per month.

List of Institutes providing courses on Health/ Hospital Management
For Medical Graduates
AIIMS, New Delhi Armed Force Medical College, Pune Kasturba Medical College, Manipal The National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi	www.aiims.ac.in www.armedforces.nic.in www.manipal.edu/kmc/ www.nihfw.org
For Non Medical Graduates
Indian Institute of Health Management Research, Jaipur Tata Institute Of Social Sciences, Mumbai Apollo Institute of Hospital Administration, Hyderabad ASCI - Hinduja Institute of Health Care Management, Hyderabad IGNOU, New Delhi IMS, Indore	www.iihmr.org www.tiss.edu   www.ignou.ac.in
FMS, Delhi provides a part time MBA in Health Care Administration
The tuition fee for the entire programme is approx 2 - 2.5 lakhs excluding the boarding. For further details, please visit the websites.