Reflecting and Projecting Indian Healthcare
Mr. Joy Chakraborty, COO of P. D. Hinduja Hospital believes with great conviction that technological advances coupled with knowledge will shape healthcare delivery in the next decade.
Not getting a medical seat did not stop Mr. Joy Chakraborty in his mission of working in healthcare field and fulfilling his dream of caring for the wellbeing of patients. After completing his graduation in Human Physiology from Calcutta University and Master’s in Public Systems Management with specialization in Healthcare, he embarked on his career from Shri Ramachandra Medical Centre as management trainee. After moving up the ladder for a period of nine years, he became the administrator of the hospital. In 2007, Mr. Joy Chakraborty joined P.D Hinduja Hospital as Deputy Director subsequently and climbed ranks reaching the position of Chief Operating Officer.
Very few leaders have grown organically in the healthcare. Mr. Joy Chakraborty attributes his deep understanding of hospitals to his more than two-decade spanning career. At the onset of his career, he has spent more than fifteen to sixteen hours in the hospital understanding the working of various departments which have given him a deep insight and exposure to the correlation and interdepartmental working of various departments and how they impact the entire organization.
He also stresses on the importance of continuously learning new things and upgrading educational experiences. To further enhance his knowledge, he has attended courses from premier institutes like IIM Ahmedabad and has also attended the management program from Harvard Business School in managing healthcare delivery.
Importance of Vision and Principles for an organization
“Vision and principles lay the foundation and culture of the organization. The vision of Hinduja Hospital founders ‘Quality for All’ emphasising on the best possible healthcare to people from all sections of society has created a very strong value system in the hospital. The hospital has followed this principle for more than seventy years. Strong research coupled along with healthcare delivery with the latest technology catapulted The P. D. Hinduja hospital as one of the premier institutes in the country,” he explains. Further emphasising that “Many new hospitals have come up but Hinduja has maintained its premier position. In fact P. D. Hinduja Hospital was the first hospital in Asia to install the gamma knife technology. Path breaking and pioneering treatments, technology and the best consultants have aided the hospital in maintaining their position and staying ahead of the competition in spite of many new hospitals coming up in Mumbai.”
Many hospitals in the country talk of quality, affordability, accessibility but in reality very few walk the talk. In true sense P. D. Hinduja hospital follows the Robin hood concept where a patient who can afford the treatment subsidizes the treatment for poor and needy patients. Being a ‘not for profit’ charitable hospital, there is no focus on profit maximization. However care is taken to manage the hospital professionally as a business organization where the efficiency, utilization of assets, return on investment is studied and best practises in the industry are followed. As a result, the organization has a very strong value system and each and every member of the organisation inculcates similar qualities. Value of quality healthcare has provided a rock solid direction for the hospital and has encouraged the employees to continuously improve. This encouraged the organisation to apply for accreditations and certification from organizations like National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare (NABH), National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), the quest for clean and green hospitals to name a few. The ultimate goal is quality healthcare coupled with patient satisfaction and patient centric treatment.
Leadership qualities
The calm and soft-spoken COO emphasizes that nothing replaces ‘ethics’ as the most important quality and foundation stone of a leader in healthcare. Knowledge, skill are also important qualities of a leader. At the same time a leader needs to lead by example. Humanity, empathy and understanding towards patients is extremely desirous in our profession says Mr. Joy Chakraborty. Patients and their families are in distress during sickness and it is our duty to look after them. The leader should provide support and conducive working conditions for doctors, nurses and the entire workforce of the hospital. Happy and satisfied employees keep patients happy- a mantra he swears by.
Consensus Builder
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Unlike other industries healthcare hasn’t evolved in the past few decades and is still nascent compared to other industries in terms of pace and momentum. There are few leaders in the industry who have been in the field for more than two decades and who know the minute intricacies of the industry and how the sector works. As the Chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) – Western Region Taskforce on Healthcare he has been very successful and instrumental in bringing people together to achieve the goals of the taskforce. He adds the CII became one of the platform where all the industry leaders came together. Environment of partnership and collaboration was created. CII -Western Region provided a common platform to discuss issues and adopt best practises across the industry. This proved as a win-win situation for all in the industry. He adds that P. D. Hinduja hospital has always valued partnership with other stake holders.
Past decade trends
From the last twenty years we were confined within the hospitals and within the boundaries of brick and motor. Through technology and digital platforms, the hospitals are now able to reach out to various stakeholders of the ecosystem like patients, suppliers which are not within the hospital.
The last decade have seen an excellent integration of digital technology in clinical and nonclinical departments which has brought about an efficiency and have improved the patient experience considerably.
The next decade is going to be path breaking
Interesting and futuristic technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), virtual reality are currently the buzzwords of the decade from the healthcare sector’s point of view.
AI and virtual reality will provide a huge momentum in improving healthcare delivery. Precision diagnosis and improved turnaround time with the help of AI will aid in bridging the demand supply of the gap due to shortfall of healthcare workers.
Nanotechnologies, molecular biology will have a huge impact on diagnosis of diseases and therapeutic modalities. We have already seen the impact of precision “Robotic Surgery” in reducing healing time after surgery and positive clinical outcome. AI, nanotechnologies, molecular diagnostics and robotics are some areas that will define the next decade for us. The next decade is definitely going to be more interesting and exciting.