The boom in India’s healthcare sector has resulted in the increasing need for able administrators to steer enterprises along the right path. Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences’ (TISS) School of Health Systems Studies (SHSS) has a strong accent on the social context within which management principles and techniques operate and believes in creating leaders, not just managers. Dr CAK Yesudian, Dean, SHSS tells Viveka Roychowdhury about the philosophy of the SHSS, new courses as well as gives suggestions to healthcare policy makers
When was the Department of Health Services Studies started in TISS?
| Dr CAK Yesudian |
Since 1980, TISS was working in the field of health and hospital administration. Department of Health Services Studies was started in 1989 with a generous funding from Ford Foundation. When TISS underwent a major reform and restructuring in the year 2006, the Department of Health Services was transformed into School of Health Systems Studies (SHSS) with two new postgraduate degrees in public health (MPH).
What is the philosophy and vision of this department?
The vision is to create a world class workforce in the field of healthcare administration and public health, and undertake research in cutting edge areas to contribute a body of knowledge to the field of healthcare administration and public health.
What is the USP of the Department’s postgraduate degree programmes in the fields of hospital administration and health administration? How are they different from other similar courses?
We do not produce managers of healthcare industries or public health professionals. We are not a business school. We produce leaders of healthcare industries and public health leaders. Our curriculum does not limit to teaching some management principles, techniques and their applications to the health field but we give a much broader view of the social context within which the management principles and techniques operate. Our USP is to produce people-centred leaders who can create a humane environment within which the health workforce operates. Our students stand out, both in the corporate and public sectors.
What has been the industry’s response to these courses?
Very positive. Our students are sought after by hospitals (corporate, government and NGO), insurance sector, IT, consulting firms, NRHM and so on.
What are the new courses on the anvil?
This year we are launching three diploma programmes, targeting working healthcare administrators and public health personnel. Among them, the flagship programme is the Executive Postgraduate Diploma in Hospital Administration (EPGDHA). This is a very unique programme offered in dual mode of contact teaching and online learning. It is a two-semester (12 months) programme, which has two weeks contact programme in TISS at the beginning of each semester followed by online learning by keeping in touch with his/her teacher through our courseware, MOODLE. We plan to launch it in October and the details are already posted on our website, www.tiss.edu.
In addition to EPGDHA, we plan to launch a Diploma in Health Administration (DHA) and Diploma in Public Health Practice (DPHP). Both these diplomas will be conducted using the franchise model. This means SHSS of TISS will identify organisations that have field expertise in these areas as well as training facilities. SHSS will give the curriculum and monitor its implementation, including the evaluation of the students. The diplomas will be awarded by TISS. These programmes are also meant for working healthcare personnel.
You have also worked with the WHO Kobe Centre in Japan in 1998 and 1999 in the field of ageing and health. What are your views on India’s healthcare needs and how can the TISS’ SHSS help deal with these issues?
While India is still struggling with maternal and child health issues, Japan has health and disability problems due to old age. In such a situation, they are finding it difficult to deal with long-term hospitalisation, normally needed for older patients, which is not cost effective. They are looking for other options like home care to a great extent.
India is in the transition stage. Demographically, the country is slowly moving from a predominantly child and youth population to adult and older population. The country is rapidly urbanising. There is an epidemiological transition from communicable to non-communicable diseases. Finally, there is rapid economic growth. All these make our health issues highly complex. There is dual disease burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases. There is unfinished agenda of not achieving the millennium development health goals (MDG) but at the same time we need to focus on the health of the older population.
SHSS works very closely with the government and gives its input to policies and programmes. I was in the Steering Committee on Health of the 12th Five Year Plan. My other colleagues are in various government committees to contribute to their policy and programmes. We conduct research to evaluate the government programmes to see the relevance for the masses. Our research strength is to view the problem from the people’s perspective.
What would be your advice to healthcare policy makers in India, given that India is far from achieving the MDG goals for healthcare indices?
There is no one fix for this country. Healthcare delivery should be people friendly. This means different models for different communities. Government should encourage innovation within its own system to deliver relevant and acceptable healthcare to different communities. For this, the government should encourage different models of healthcare delivery operating within the government health system from one community to another.