Hospital Planning Mumbai

Hospitals lose IT clients

The recession appears to have cut into the little luxuries corporate employees enjoyed such as cosmetic procedures done at the company's cost. "Corporate employees opting for electives like cosmetic procedures have declined by 50 per cent," says Dr Umesh Guptha, medical director, Apollo International. According to Dr Guptha, there has also been a 30 to 40 per cent decline in corporate community coming to them since the recession

began to take its toll, Vishal Bali, CEO of Wockhardt, says the employees don't appear to be compromising on life saving and life enhancing procedures despite the new restrictions placed on their health care packages. "We are constantly in touch with the HR managers and other top officials from the corporate sector and we are trying to understand their challenges during this period of recession," he says, explaining that the hospital too is now offering the companies cost effective special packages to ensure that they are able to maintain the quality and stan¬dard of health care coverage given to their employees. Mr Bali asserts the recession has not had any significant impact on the health sector, as it caters to a fundamental need. "Also the health care sector is no longer metro-centric and is penetrating new geographical areas and reaching out to a larger number of people from various sectors where there is lot of demand for it," he says. According to Dr. Vivek Desai, Managing Director, Hosmac, hospitals need to adopt effective business re-engineering and process management tools to address then-current challenges brought about by the global meltdown.

Hospitals told to redesign business to beat recession

BANGALORE, OHNS: A leading hospital consultancy firm has recommended the cutting of costs to address challenges during the current economic crisis. Experts speaking at a seminar here advised hospitals that they should look at Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) and Process Management Tools to address their challenges. The seminar on 'Hospital Re-engineering In an Economic Meltdown' was held by Hosmac Foundation on Friday and was attended by over 150 delegates from the southern states.

Managing Director, Hosmac Dr. Vivek Desai said, "To address the current challenges in the hospital, efficient Business Process Reengineering and Process Management tools can be used to reduce operation costs, generate new revenue opportunities, deliver products and services faster, improve customer service and increase visibility and control."

Desai also said that exponential rise in the cost of delivery of healthcare services, price competition are the major factors that are forcing hospitals to scrutinize their business processes and to redesign them in a manner that would not only help to keep the prices competitive but also help in delivering quality care to the patients.

In India, where the per capital health expenditure is not very high and healthcare budget is decreasing, BPR is expected to provide solutions to reduce wasteful processes in government health setups. Private hospitals also benefit in containing costs and keeping it within the reach of the general masses.

JJ Hospital seeks to apply for the NABH mark

Mumbai: With a Rs-100-crore grant from the Centre for its premier JJ Hospital, the state government is getting a tad ambitious. It has got a third party to audit the hospital's services with the aim of applying for the coveted NABH mark in near future.

NABH (National Accreditation Board of Hospitals) is an accreditation mechanism devised by the central government's Quality Council of India. The mark shows that the hospital maintains a certain standard of quality in patient care and safety.

"We were asked to prepare an audit for the JJ Hospital with NABH standards in mind while the medical college's audit has been done for the ISO certification,'' said Dr. Vivek Desai of HOSMAC, a healthcare consultancy firm based in Goregaon. Dr B M Subnis, dean of JJ Hospital, told TOI that the audit would help upgrade infrastructure most efficiently. The Rs 100 crore that the Centre will give JJ Hospital (along with Rs 20 crore put in by the state government) can thus be used most effectively, it is felt. "We are also considering setting up a new seven- or 10-storey building,'' Dr Subnis said.

The audit is complete, with the firm giving the finishing touches to the report. According to sources in Mantralaya, a presentation on the audit findings and recommendations will be made to Dilip Walse-Patil, the minister in charge of medical education, within a fortnight. What makes the state government's NABH dream ambitious is the fact that only 19 hospitals have secured it while 56 have applied for it. Most of these hospitals hail from the private sector.

While both the hospital and the consultancy firm refused to elaborate on the audit's findings, sources said the thrust would be on setting up new civil infrastructure for the hospital. New machines such as MRIs and gamma cameras measure several tonnes and cannot be accommodated in the existing heritage building, they said.

The audit has reportedly also pointed out the need to pool in technology so that patients of all the four government hospitals-JJ, GT, Cama and St George's-can benefit. "There is a radiotherapy facility at Cama Hospital that is used only for female patients. There is an MRI machine only in JJ Hospital. If there is better coordination and use of these high-tech machines, it will benefit a larger group of patients,'' they added.

City hospitals spend most on electricity: study

Mumbai: A SURVEY by the Hosmac India Private Limited on Tuesday revealed that hospitals in Mumbai spend the most in terms of electricity consumed per bed a day- about Rs 483 per bed a day- as compared to the hospitals in other cities

The company had conducted a survey among nine hospitals across four cities- Mumbai, Banglaore, Delhi and Kolkata - to collate information regarding the consumption of electricity per bed at hospitals across India

According to the survey, high-tech hospitals spend more on electricity. Meanwhile, all the hospitals surveyed share some common features. "The expenditure on electricity at these hospitals is 2 to 4% of the total expenditure Hospitals with a high dependence on artificial light spend three times more than the hospitals that use natural lighting systems. Hospitals with higher level of technology spend four times more than what hospitals with basic technology infrastructure spend," said Dr Vivek Desai, managing director, Hosmac

"With electricity rate jacked up by all the suppliers in Mumbai, it becomes imperative to look into their consumption pattern and to alter it to adopt green hospital concept This will help hospitals give better healthcare at an affordable rates," said Dr Desai

"Hospitals in their efforts to ensure a sterile and clean environment to patients tend to consume large amount of electricity. Energy is a significant expense head in a hospital following manpower and consumable expenses. This clearly signifies the opportunity for hospitals to cut costs and also contribute to reducing the ecological carbon footprint," said Desai

"There are several options for hospitals to cut their power cost. For instance, they can adopt green healthcare," said Dr Desai. Green hospitals make maximum use of natural light or solar energy These hospitals allow daylight in most of the areas

Efficient lighting techniques, installation of efficient air conditioning systems, zoning hospitals and reduction of wastage will also help hospitals cut down power costs.

Bangalore hospitals, big power guzzlers

Bangalore : Bangalore hospitals are the second biggest electricity guzzlers in the country after hospitals in Mumbai, according to a four-city hospital survey conducted by hospital consultancy firm Hosmac India P Ltd.

They spend a relatively high Rs 459/bed/day. By cutting 27 per cent of the bill, hospitals can save around Rs 40 lakh a year, the survey has found, Hosmac said in a release here.

The bigger and technologically better equipped a hospital is, the bigger is its electricity bill.

High-end tertiary-care hospitals with 300 beds and more spend nearly 60 per cent of their power expenditure on services directly related to patient care - out- and in-patient departments; intensive care units, radiology and diagnostic services.

The recent survey covered nine small and big hospitals in Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. Two big hospitals in Bangalore are among them.

Significant expense head

Electricity is a significant expense head for hospitals and amounts to 2-4 per cent of a hospital's total spend. It plans to make recommendations on their consumption pattern and make them move towards the concept of 'green hospitals'.

According to Dr. Vivek Desai, Managing Director, Hosmac, "Hospitals in their efforts to ensure a sterile and clean environment to patients tend to consume large amounts of electricity. Energy is a significant expense head in a hospital, after manpower and consumables. This clearly signifies an opportunity for hospitals to cut costs and also contribute to reducing the ecological carbon footprint."

The Hosmac survey has found that facilities with higher level of technology spend four times more on electricity than hospitals with basic technology.

Those that use much artificial lighting have electricity bills that are more than three times those of hospitals that use natural lighting systems.

Some hospitals have optimised their electricity use by installing solar energy devices, efficient lighting and air conditioning systems, zoning the hospital and reducing wastage, said the consultancy firm set up in 1996.

Jehangir Hospital, Pune, saved Rs 46.25 lakh with an investment of Rs 27.95 lakh.

It reduced electrical energy consumption by 12.66 per cent, water consumption by 53.9 per cent, and consumption by AC systems by 17.9 per cent and on lighting by nearly 6 per cent. Coimbatore's Kovai Medical Centre and Hospital put in place energy monitoring and reduction systems and considerably cut its power bill.

Hospitals should educate staff and undertake energy and water audits regularly to assess the usage patterns and identify areas where they can be used less, Dr. Desai said.


HOSMAC India propagates energy efficiency in hospitals
In the present period of economic slowdown, when every sector of industry is searching for ways to reduce its expenses, private hospitals in different parts of the country appear to be quandering huge amounts of money on account of power consumption. "For most private hospitals in etros, electricity bills are the second or third biggest head of expenditure, after salaries and consumables," says a veteran of the healthcare industry. Referring to a nationally renowned private hospital in central Mumbai, he points out that the average daily electricity bill of this institution is as much as Rs2.5 lakh, which works out to about Rs600 per bed per day! Now HOSMAC India, a leading Mumbai-based hospital management consultancy firm, has shown in its latest survey that hospitals with more than 300 beds with tertiary level of care spend Rs496.1 per bed per day on an average, while hospitals ranging from 100-300 beds spend approximately Rs300 per bed per day. Smaller hospitals with a limited range of services and specialties spend as low as Rs 82 per bed per day. As part of the survey, a total of nine hospitals across Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi and Kolkata were studied to assess the utilisation patterns of power and electricity. All the hospitals surveyed were multi-specialty hospitals, catering to varied needs of the population. Among the important findings is the fact that within any given hospital, the consumption varies from department to department. This depends upon the services provided by the hospitals and includes primary patient care services such as the OPD, ICU, radiology and diagnostic services, etc, and support care services namely housekeeping, kitchen and canteen services, etc. Of these, approximately 60 per cent of the total power expenditure is incurred on services directly related to patient care. A substantial component also goes towards HVAC (heat, ventilation and air-conditioning) systems and hospitals in which the entire building is fully air-conditioned require about 3.5 times more energy than the average. In a city like Mumbai, where Reliance Energy charges the hospitals at Rs11.30 per unit, electricity bills can make a substantial dent in their balance sheet. The rates would be considerably less in the non-metro cities, where state electricity boards are responsible for the supply of electricity. But power supply is quite erratic there, forcing the hospital management to invest in diesel generator sets.
	Energy audits "Energy audit studies conducted across different.sectors, including hospitals, indicate an energy saving potential of 23 per cent to 46 per cent, especially for end uses, namely lighting, cooling, ventilation, refrigeration, etc," says Dr Vivek Desai, managing director, HOSMAC. Already, an increasing number of hospitals in different cities are conducting their own energy audits, either through in-house resources, or with the help of specialised companies such as Conzerv. By taking a number of measures designed to control its energy expenditure, the Kovai Medical Centre, Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu managed to slash its yearly electricity bills by Rs25 lakh, while the Apollo Hospital in Chennai reduced its daily consumption from 61.31 units to 57.62 units and Pune's Jehangir Hospital could lower its electricity bills by Rs46 lakh annually between 2005 and 2009.
To propagate these ideas further, HOSMAC is using its Knowledge Forum to hold seminars on the theme of 3 'Green healthcare', the first of which 2 was held in Mumbai last fortnight. % "Green hospitals focus on healthy and sustainable building design and construction and have a better ability to improve patient care and reduce operational expenses (especially on qnergy and water). Greening operationsifocus on lowering the use of environmentally toxic material in hospitals, recycling and reusing material, wherever possible, which further reduces costs, but enhances acceptable and environment sensitivity among patients," says Desai. In addition, the USAID (UnitedStates Agency for International Development) has recently brought out a document: Energy EfFciency in Hospitals, Best Practice Guide, and has conducted studies to pinpoint opportunities for reducing electricity consumption. This is in tune with global trends in the healthcare industry where organisations, like Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), are assisting hospitals everywhere to become more eco-friendly. Besides, the US Department of Energy launched the Hospital Energy Alliance - a programme designed to promote energy efficiency in the nation's hospitals. Under the new alliance, hospitals and healthcare organisations will have access to the resources and technical expertise available at the energy department and its national laboratories to develop and deploy innovative olutions to cut costs, lower energy usage and reduce pollution across the country.