Personal Touch: Delivering quality care at the lowest cost

If hospitals have always fascinated you rather than scared you off, and if you have an empathetic nature along with a flair for organisation and an eye for detail, then a career you can consider is health and hospital management, one of the top ten professions of the new millennium, according to a recent survey.

With the increasing privatisation of healthcare management, there is a greater need for efficient hospital administrators. The quality of healthcare and patient satisfaction has become very important, and this has created a tremendous need for persons with professional qualifications in hospital management.

What do I have to do?

Hospital management deals essentially with non-medical responsibilities such as general management, coordination, and the smooth running of all services provided by the entire staff of a hospital or healthcare centre, from clerks to consultants, from cleaners and cooks to nurses, doctors and all other professionals in the area.

You will be responsible for the overall organisation and management of the hospital. You will also need to ensure complete satisfaction of the patient. The emphasis is on quality, efficiency and cost management.

The challenge is to deliver the highest quality care at the lowest cost. It entails giving 100 per cent of your time to developing patient care of good quality, lessening the duration of patients’ stay in hospital, decreasing resource utilisation and working with the medical and administrative staff to coordinate all aspects of in-house care.

Usually, technical aspects such as the procurement of equipment and medical expendables, the management of professional and research work, and the recruitment and training of staff are handled by doctors. On the other hand, the management and assignment of staff duties, maintenance, services and security are looked after by non-medical graduates trained in health services management.

You should have a good understanding of finance and information systems. You should also be able to interpret data and maintain a good rapport with the staff of various departments. Monitoring and improving patient care should be on a hospital manager’s “to-do” list.

What should I study?

For the bachelors degree in hospital administration, the minimum requirements are Plus Two with biology and a minimum of 50 per cent marks. Postgraduate courses in hospital management are available for both medical and non-medical graduates. For instance, the minimum requirement for those who are seeking admission to the course at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences is MBBS whereas at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, the eligibility is a bachelors degree in any discipline.

Admission to most institutes is on the basis of a general entrance test, followed by a personal interview.

What next?

Healthcare management is one of the fastest growing occupational fields in India and offers many opportunities for healthcare professionals. The structure and financing of health care is changing rapidly. Future health services managers must be prepared to deal with evolving integrated health care delivery systems, restructuring of work, technological innovations, and an increased focus on preventive care. They will be called upon to improve efficiency in health care facilities and the quality of the health care provided.

More than half of all jobs in this field are in hospitals. The remainder are in home health agencies, medical and dental laboratories, offices of dentists and other practitioners, and other health and allied services. New graduates with masters degrees in health services or hospital administration may start as assistant hospital administrators or as managers of non-health departments like finance. Postgraduate residencies and fellowships are offered by hospitals and other health facilities such as Tata, Max, Wockhardt and the Metro group of hospitals. With the rapid growth of this sector, many avenues have opened up for hardworking, sincere and humane candidates.

where to study

• All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
• Christian Medical College,Vellore.
• Indian Institute of Health Management Research, Jaipur.
• Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
• Symbiosis Centre of Health Care, Pune.