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Library patients and their relatives at Asian Heart Institute
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Demographic and economic factors such as changes in the disease pattern, growth of disposable income, rise in awareness levels among the masses, growing competition among private healthcare providers, huge geriatric and paediatric population, medical tourism etc. have ushered a sea change in Indian healthcare over the last decade. The emphasis today is on the need for an integrated healthcare delivery system which would pre-dominantly revolve around patient-centric care.
Revolution in hospital design
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Hospital design has also changed drastically to suit the changing needs of an industry which is at an inflection point. Dr Rajeev Boudhankar, VP, Kohinoor Hospital explains, “Earlier hospitals were designed sprawling horizontally with different departments located in different areas. However, with changing times, convenience, operational efficiency, cost control, optimal utilisation of common resources like OT, CSSD, radiology, pathology, blood bank, etc were incorporated into the design. Vertical designs later became a norm given the space constraints in bigger cities. The designs of wards were changed accordingly to bring about more patient privacy and introduce hospital private rooms in ‘patient housing’ area. Other areas of the hospital also kept pace with times and technology upgradation.”
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Adding his insights to this view, Dr Niraj Uttamani, CEO, Cumballa Hill Hospital avers, “Earlier, many hospitals were started as part of a church/dharamshala and used to house patients in a dormitory like area with common toilets/ bathrooms and separate areas for males and females. There was no concept of special rooms and special designs. The idea was to manage more number of patients with common facilities and staff. Modern hospitals are well designed buildings with ample parking space and areas defined to cater to specific needs of the growing population.”
Creating healing centres
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Similarly, gone are the days when a hospital evoked images of a chaotic, sterile, impersonal space without much warmth. Today, they aim to be centres of healing where the patient and his family are permeated with a sense of trust that health would be restored. As Ajay Gupta, Executive Director, KGD says, “A healing environment and wellness approach have started showing in hospital design which has helped us part from a sterile clinical design and embrace warm design philosophies. In today’s day and age, hospitals are hotels with medical gases and clinical support.” KGD is an architectural, engineering and interior design firm which has been involved in several healthcare projects like Apollo Mega Health City in Chitoor, Andhra Pradesh and Columbia Asia Hospital in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Dr Ramakant Panda, Vice Chairman and MD, Asian Heart Institute, says, “Hospital design has changed from providing only medical treatment to a holistic approach which includes patient safety and comfort, as well as service and comfort to relatives.” Elaborating further, Subham Bardhan, CEO of the soon to be launched, Sunrise Hospital in the suburbs of Mumbai, says, “Hospitals of today have now stated incorporating additional features. They include high-end relative waiting areas, Wi-Fi facilities, personal nursing, custom food, ambience, hospitals – without the typical hospital smell, multi-faith prayer rooms, etc.
Precedence for value added services
Factors like patient-safety have also gained precedence in hospital design. As Dr Hilal Ahmed, Medical Superintendent, Asian Institute of Medical Sciences, Faridabad says, “Our hospital design has changed over the years to improve patient safety and patient satisfaction. The hospital is designed to switch from being provider-centred to patient-centred. We have included quality assurance procedures and principles.”
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Tarun Katiyar, Principal Consultant of a healthcare consulting firm, Hospaccx India also informs, “The present scenario of hospitals have changed a lot. Apart from infrastructure and good medical and non- medical staff, nowadays more importance is given to hospitality, patient safety and other value added services.”
Seeking the new differentiator
| Deluxe room at Cumballa Hill Hospital |
Now, every major healthcare provider has incorporated these details while designing their set ups. However, this has also bought in a certain amount of homogeneity. Most hospitals offer good medical support, boast of renowned specialists, have hi-tech equipment, and provide several value added services. So, what is the new differentiator among these hospitals? Many feel that apart from the facilities given to the patients, benefits provided to the families or relatives of these patients could be a major lure and tilt the scales in favour a certain hospital. The rise of medical tourism in this country has also drawn more attention to this aspect as patients coming from different parts of the world are generally accompanied by someone. Thus it has now become imperative to please not only the patients but also the patients’ attendants.
Dr Ramakant Panda, Vice Chairman & MD, Asian Heart Institute |
In Dr Panda’s opinion offering support to patients’ attendants is a part of the service that should be offered by the hospital. He says, “Unlike Western countries, in India, whenever a family member is sick all relatives prefer to visit and spend time in the hospital, giving the much required emotional support to patient. So it is very important for the hospital to provide comfort to relatives.” Dr Ahmed believes that catering to the relatives’ comfort would be beneficial for the patient’s recovery since his family and friends would offer the much needed emotional support at such a time. He opines, “Customising and personalising the patient experience is a key strategy for overcoming the fear, anxiety and stress associated with being at the hospital. The family members can help to reassure patients in times of uncertainty, anxiety or vulnerability.” Gupta also endorses the same view and states, “We as hospital designers and operators have been taught to address patient care all the time, but in addition to that, patient support/family care has become equally important. I truly believe that after clinical and medical support, the patient benefits from have the family and friends’ positive energy around him which can only be achieved if the family members are comforted and taken care too. On a more pragmatic note, the brand and goodwill of a healthcare provider is a direct result of the experience of patients’ family members during the stay in the hospital.”
In Katiyar’s view, relatives or friends could be instrumental in creating a good or bad impression about a hospital in the minds of patients. “Nowadays, it is more important to provide comfort to the patient’s relative than to the patient, because generally patients’ relatives have more complaints. So, hospitals are also designing and giving more importance to value added facilities for relatives of the patient.” Katiyar is also the MD of Vasudev Hospitals (VHPL) group which recently inaugurated their first hospital in Bijapur, Karnataka. Dr Boudhankar puts it very concisely, “It is an important factor and plays a big role in the patient satisfaction index.”
Attending to patients’ attendants
| Playing space for kids in the OPD waiting area at Sunrise Hospital |
So, what are the measures that these hospitals have taken to ensure the comfort and convenience of the patients’ attendants?
Asian Heart Institute, which was ranked amongst the Top 10 World’s Best Hospitals for Medical Tourists by Medical Travel Quality Alliance (MTQUA), claims to have introduced several firsts in terms of benefits for patients and their attendants. Dr Panda informs, “We were the first one to provide a separate resting lounge with bed, Internet facilities to ICU patients’ relatives, counselling area to patients’ relatives while procedure is going on.” He also informs that other facilities such as separate lounge in each patient floor area for relatives to relax, travel assistance to patient and relatives, free airport pick up and drop service for all foreign patients, cafeteria 24×7, library, prayer room, Wi-Fi facility, ATM facility are part of AHI’s services. He further states, “In India, relatives play a significant role in the patient’s decision making about the hospital and the doctor. So, though directly they may not be the major differentiating factor, indirectly it plays a role in decision making because of good experience of the relatives.”
Dr Boudhankar informs that Kohinoor hospital has adopted ‘patient affection’ as one of its main goals; and has introduced innovative measures such as air-conditioned waiting areas for ICU patients’ relatives, counselling for ICU patients’ relatives, two times a day by the chief intensivist; financial counselling before admissions for billing so that patients’ relatives are well aware about the expected hospital bill for the treatment; TPA cell to facilitate pre-authorisation of hospital expenses before admission; separate room for breast feeding for mothers whose babies are in NICU/PICU; fathers to be allowed to be by the side of their spouses when they are admitted for deliveries; free collection of pathology samples and delivery of medicines for patients who require long-term medications, free pickup and drop of patient/relatives at airport and assistance for clearance from Mumbai Police for foreign nationals.
Dr Ahmed also assures that several facilities are accorded to patients’ relatives at his hospital. He says, “We have tie-ups with various insurance companies for easy payments and with leading travel companies to facilitate smooth travel of international patients and their family members. We also assist patients in making the appropriate arrangements for their travel and stay within India. We assist the patient/ family to take an informed decision in finding an accommodation near the hospital.
“Apart from the medical and nursing team, managers in our hospital take care of all the needs of patient and family. The devoted managers facilitate the international patient and families and provide all the necessary assistance required for hospital registration, payments, appointments, admissions, billing, language interpreters and translators, foreign exchange, etc. Multi-cuisine customised menu, ATM and Wi-Fi Internet facility is available inside the hospital premises,” he further elaborates.
Thus, hospitals are going all out to ensure that they adapt themselves to the changing times. In fact, many of them have even start offering services like Jain food, multi cuisine for international visitors, local tours such as ‘Mumbai Darshan’ for international patients, crèches and play areas for children, gift shops and so on.
Time for untried concepts
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In fact, untried concepts like establishing a hospital in a mall are also being implemented. The soon-to-be-launched Sunrise Hospital’s CEO, Bardhan informs, “When it comes to Sunrise Hospital, Mumbai, we are trendsetters, making the hospital inside a mall, an innovative thought process of our promoters. A lot of brain storming went through to break the monotony of old conventional hospital offerings. So this idea of giving expert care with a certain amount of pampering to the patients’ attendants came into play. Our hospital includes all the facilities that any other tertiary care hospital offers; and yet is aesthetically designed to make you not feel as if you are either in a mall or in a hospital.”
Explaining further, he says, “Sunrise Hospital has attendant staying facilities from twin sharing beds upwards till suite level. We also have well placed dormitories facility for ICU patients. To add on, we have been thinking differently for the attendants, offering them all the facilities which are available inside the mall. The second floor, which is part of the mall, has got a food court, a resto bar, game zone, bowling zone, a six-screen multiplex and different shopping locations. One single floor has everything. Attendants can spend their time qualitatively on multiple activities inside the mall; yet be close to their loved ones.”
More than a trend
With rapid growth of medical tourism in India, healthcare players are increasingly becoming convinced that offering these services to their patients and their families would be beneficial to them in the long run.
Gupta advises, “A hospital is a place where the patient and the family are the most vulnerable, some of these services help them approach the healthcare provider with little more ease, and bring out the best environment around the patient. Agreeing, Dr Boudhankar says, “These added benefits give psychological and emotional support to the relatives and thereby even to their patients. It forms a bond between the hospital and patients on levels of loyalty and care.”
Dr Uttamani feels, “Not only the patient’s experience but his entire family’s experience is part of his recovery. It can be proactively utilised, especially for positive health information.”
Dr Ahmed also informs, “These services have improved the level of patient satisfaction and trust in our hospital.” Thus, this growing practice of offering utmost hospitality in a hospital is set to become the norm than a trend.