“Nirmal Gujarat is also about implementing strategies, innovations, recycling and cleaner-greener technologies, rules and regulations, incentives, administrative charges, and special campaigns. It is an eco-friendly way of living and a completed behavioural change to a green way.”
– Dayanand Nene
Challenges
While the healthcare sector is slowly progressing with the support of above initiatives, there are a number of challenges faced by the sector in the state:
• Improper hygiene standard and uncleansed high traffic areas at civic and many private hospitals
• Burden of infectious and chronic diseases
• Reproductive and child health and nutrition: Life expectancy in India at birth is 66 against the world average of 72. Mortality rate stands at under five per 1000 children, 56 against world average of 48.
• Lack of equal access to healthcare facilities: Due to lack of quality infrastructure and specialized doctors, rural population depends on urban hospitals and spends most of their income. Though healthcare facilities in urban India have developed in the past few years, the supply and demand gap has widened, despite increase in the spending capacity.
• High healthcare costs: Healthcare expenditures exacerbate poverty, with about 39 million people falling into poverty every year as a result of such expenditures.
• Insufficient healthcare workforce and infrastructure
First time being held in Gujarat, Clean India Show will address the above issues and will help meet the solutions under one roof.
Outsourcing FM
There is always a disagreement between cost and quality standards. While in other sectors, it is a bit easy to manage by outsourcing FS at large, in case of hospitals, it is not as simple as that as at the end of day, it is hospital which would be held accountable first for any mishaps. Better late than never, under the improvised SLA where providers too will have to take the responsibility from their side, many of the hospitals groups have started outsourcing their facility services. To keep up to the expectations and get the expertise, some service providers have collaborated with the leading research institutes to keep themselves ready in the field.
While Wockhardt, Mumbai recently decided to outsource its payroll activity to Mafoi Care Hospital, Hyderabad has also outsourced its payroll activity as a pilot initiative to examine its permanent viability. Hiranandani Hospital, Mumbai has made a tie up with the University of Sydney in Australia to train its nursing staff. Among the other areas being considered are billing, revenue cycle management (RCM) for credit billing, back-office work, medical records storage (electronic and hard copy), patient records transcription or medical transcription and diagnostic facilities.
There is a great potential for service providers in healthcare sector in Gujarat. The state has got good infrastructure, single window clearance policy and easy manpower availability in place, which one needs to harness and rise up to the healthcare expectations.
Pilot projects are being run to check the permanent visibility.
Apollo Hospitals, Ahmedabad adopted the Bhat Village with a population of approximately 10,000, in Gujarat, and organized Cleanliness Programs and Health Awareness drive, all of which were extremely well received.
Compiled by Suprita Anupam With inputs from Express Healthcare
