Health sector: Real-time management is in

There is a shift from retrospective management to real-time management in the health sector around the world, said Dr Mukunda Das, director of the Chandragupt Institute of Management Patna (CIMP).

 Das made this observation while delivering a talk on ‘Health care management: Emerging Perspectives’ as part of the silver jubilee celebrations of the Child Development Centre (CDC) at the Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram.

 ‘’India’s public health system should evaluate hospitals on the basis of their customer-centric approach to patients, and make customer satisfaction an index of quality health service delivery,’’ he said.

 Terming it ‘Clinical governess metamorphosis,’ he said the public health management systems in India need to focus on service quality dimensions that influence patients’ overall quality perceptions.

Describing patient satisfaction as an important index of the status of a hospital, he argued that it would greatly impact the quality of medical service.

 In this connection, he listed five factors that would determine perceptions of quality and patient satisfaction - Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, Empathy and Tangibility.

 Das made an imperative case for all the functionaries in the public health delivery system in Kerala as well as in the rest of the country to undergo transformation in terms of patient focus.

 “While systems have changed through technology in health care, the management system has not changed much. I am sure CDC will show a path to bring in such transformations highly required in health care management in India. The time has come for all institutions with public health agenda to change their modus operandi through increased focus on patients as customers,” said Das.

 Training needs to be imparted for changing the perspective and mindset of all functionaries, including doctors. Such training can change the attitude and behaviour of medical professionals and health delivery service agents, such as doctors and nurses, and help them become more customer-oriented or patient-oriented, he said, adding that it would lead to high levels of satisfaction for each patient.

 He appreciated the excellent work being done by CDC in the area of adolescent health care in India through research, counselling and other medical inputs. He also stated that CDC can emerge as a role model for India.  As part of its silver jubilee celebrations, CDC is organising a lecture series on ‘Different dimensions of health care for adolescents in India.’

 CDC director M K C Nair said that CDC has planned a series of academic sessions on health care and related subjects with focus on adolescents.