June 2015
Certification ceremony of the 9th Batch of students completing the ‘Certificate Course in Hospital Management’ offered by the Sankara Nethralaya Academy on 27th June 2015 Saturday.
The certificate awarding ceremony of the 12 weekend certificate program in Hospital Management – (9th Batch) conducted by the Sankara Nethralaya academy, an education wing of the Sankara Nethralaya was conducted successfully on 27th June 2015 Saturday at the Sankara Nethralaya main campus, College Road, Chennai 6.
Shri A Mahalingam, Deputy Registrar, the Sankara Nethralaya Academy extended a warm welcome to the program participants and the Chief Guest – Dr T S Surendran.
He lauded him as an excellent teacher who could captivate any student by the unique lecture delivery. H added that in the events at SN, whenever he is on the stage to welcome or introduce a guest or make a presentation, it will be a captivating session with humorous anecdotes and recapitulating some hilarious and past events, relevant to that context or the guest. Shri mahalingam highlighted that Dr TS.Surendran has the unique distinction of conducting a large number of surgeries and procedures done to children. The recent feather to his cap is the “Lifetime Achievement award” by Paediatric ophthalmology society of India at Pushkar, Rajasthan.
The participating candidates from junior to mid and senior level management positions from a broad spectrum of health care institutions ranging from single specialty to multi-specialty hospitals found the course to be of great relevance to their vocation in terms of enhancing their skill sets, equipping them to handle direct and related healthcare issues and to organize their departments much better.
While the course won overall praise for its holistic approach to hospital management, in-depth, wide and well researched content and professional levels of tutoring by the faculty, TSNA staff members won praise and admiration for their efforts in making the entire learning experience very pleasant and memorable. On their successful completion of their course the students had the good fortune of having an interactive session with the Vice Chairman of Sankara Nethralaya – Dr T S Surendran, they shared their experiences with him and received their certificates and good wishes from him. Dr Surendran also highly spoke on the importance of Patient care / Customer services to the group and also encouraged us to be the ambassadors of the institute.
Mrs Sreedevi, Manager – Academics, TSNA and Prof S Ramani Principal were also participated the event. This certificate ceremony, which was very ably facilitated by Shri A.Mahalingam, Sankara Nethralaya Academy concluded with exchanging pleasantries amongst one another.
Few Testimonials from Candidates
Dear Sri Mahalingam,
We had 13 weekend classes on the various important topics in Hospital Management.Each one was dealt in detail by the experts in the respective subject.We had group discussions on each subject during the class.We have submitted assignments on various subjects in between and one in the final as per the schedule.Departmental visits were arranged in between to understand the working pattern of Sankara Nethralaya.
Ambiance:- Class room was very nice with Soft AC and it was well equipped with all the needed Audio / Video gadgets,which has helped us to understand the Course contents effectively.
Faculty : All the faculties were extraordinary and each one has dealt their subject effectively with relevant case studies in the available time. Everyone was saying that each topic should be arranged in 5 to 10 sessions. In spite of time constraint they have done a splendid job and made us to understand the gist very clearly.
TSNA Staff :- Sri.Mahalingam & Sridevi Madam did a exemplary work with a clear dedication & meticulous planning. Kudos to the duo. Every week we will get a mail on details of the faculty of the coming week followed by a gentle reminder. Once the session is over they collect the PPT from the faculty and forwarded to our group almost on the same evening. During the departmental visits staffs from every dept explained to us the protocol followed by them in running a great institution like SN successfully.
Visionary: We were given an exiting opportunity to interact with Dr.S.S Badrinath.He is a great visionary and explained us in simple terms about the Vision & Mission of SN. Interaction with Dr.SSB was of immense use and it has helped us to enrich our knowledge on the present healthcare scenario & a vision to look for an exciting future.
Rural Service: I had the opportunity to visit the Orikkai village near Kanchipuram,where SN has kept their Two Buses equipped with all the materials required for a eye surgery. Kanchi Swamigal addressed the gathering and appreciated the services rendered by SN in restoring vision for poor people at their door step as a free service and giving a free spectacle too for the needy patients. Hats off to Dr.SSB’s vision & his dedicated SN TEAM.
13 Weekend Certificate Course in Hospital Management by TSNA,Chennai has helped us to harpen our skills on the various important subjects and has given the much needed confidence by conducting regular classes,weekly assignments,group discussions and departmental tours to learn practically from the experts.I am sure the skills learnt here will be of immense use in our practical approach while running our institutions on a day to day basis. Individually I have learned a lot from Dr.SSB, Sri.Mahalingam, Ms.Sridevi, Our great learned faculties and my own batchmates.
Best Wishes to TSNA & dedicated staffs of SN in their Mission of giving the Visionary to Health care professionals & in restoring the Vision of needy patients.
Regards,
B.Kannan,Director – Business Development
Dr Mehta`s Hospitals, Chennai / bkannan36@gmail.com
Dear Mr Mahalingam ,
Let me first start by taking this opportunity to thank God for enabling me take part in this course, which has been a great eye-opener for me in terms of the sheer scale in which a hospital operates. It was great to know how many departments are involved in its smooth functioning on a day-to-day basis.
Next, coming to the faculties for this course, who are experts in their respective fields. They have been gracious enough to come down to the institution and share their knowledge with us. It was great listening to them and learn from their experiences. The course content which is really huge, was very well abridged by them and the three hours of time given was very challenging to share maximum information. I would like to salute them for their efforts.
Regarding the facilities in the classroom, I would like to say that they were top notch and made it very easy for us to understand the topics. A special thanks to all the personnel involved – right from the security, who helped us in the car park to the canteen people who took care of our refreshments. A mention should also be made about the photographers, who made all the participants look extra special.
I would like to state that it has been a privilege to be a part of this diverse batch of participants, who have contributed in their own way and enlightened me with their experiences.
Regarding the course itself, I would like to say that most of the topics were included. One suggestion here would be to include insurance as a topic as nowadays, this is a major component of healthcare.
Last but not the least, I would like to thank you, Mr.A Mahalingam, from the bottom of my heart for all the efforts you have taken in making this course a great success. The meticulousness with which you sent the profile of the faculties well ahead of the sessions, the PPTs/PDFs of each session after its completion and communication regarding any changes in the programme were top-notch and I am yet to come across such a superb communicator. May God shower his blessings on you to achieve more success.
Thanks and Regards,
Sai Shankar Balakrishnan
Team – Lead, TCS, Chennai
shankar4978@gmail.com
Dear Shri Mahali Sir,
I have taken this course based on my interest in learning about how to handle different scenarios about hospital management.. Such as handling official documentation, financial status about the hospital though I do not have much interest about finance, I wanted to know how it caters the needs of a hospital. Also want to know about patients medical, utilities, operation and the laboratory, through the use of Morden technology..I am sure that this course has helped me to understand the just about all the functions of hospital management.. And I am sure would make my best possible efforts to implement the same in various aspects of my career.
Dr Angeline King Charles, Chennai,
Sir,
It was a memorable journey of 12 weeks with Sankara Nethralaya Academy where we were provided with excellent and experienced faculty. Each faculty introduced us to the topic and gave us a brief understanding about the topic.
Each faculty excelled the other, the coordinator Mr A Mahalingam had coordinated and taken forward the course excellently. Timely communications received from him helped us a lot. His timely guidance and encouragement helped us to complete the course, even before we could realise. The snacks organised by Mahalingam sir were very tasty. The team and the atmosphere were so good that it made me remember my college days.
Meeting with our visionary Dr SS Badrinath sir was the highlight of the course. His talk to the team will help us in our carrier.
I sincerely thank Mr Mahalingam for arranging this meeting.The course will be very useful to me. The time spent in Sankara Nethralaya will be one of the memorable moments.
Thanking you
yours truly
Sumathi V – Administartive Officer , Seethapathy Hospital, Chennai
sumathi.cgsundaram@gmail.com
Training objectives were clearly explained and achieved.
There are too many good points to list!
This course was very relevant to my expectation and hope it will help me in most aspects of my work in future.
I gained greater knowledge.
The power point presentations was very good and the slides were to the point,used in conjunction with good handouts.
The trainers used many ways to pass on the knowledge to us with case studies and some practical sessions.
Before the course i was confused about certain concepts, having completed I feel confident about it.
The trainers had the learning message across by breaking everything down into simplified sections.
This course was very informative and practical.
The syllabus was excellently delivered…. all aspects were clearly explained in context,every trainer was very experienced and was able to answer all of our queries.
The objectives of the course was clear, the contents met with all expectation.
The lecture sequence was perfectly planned.
The level of this course was too high!!!!
This course has exposed us to new knowledge and practices.
I will recommend these type of courses very strongly to my colleagues.
The lectures were clear and easy to understand.
The teaching aids were effectively used.
The trainers encouraged interactions and were useful.
It gives me immense pleasure in writing my feedback about this course. Thanks to THE SANKARA NETHRALAYA ACADEMY, highly esteemed institution in conducting these highly effective short term courses. It empowered great knowledge in a short duration. Special thanks to A Mahalingam sir for his valuable time and efforts for supporting us throughout the course.
Ms Jasantha, B.Tech Biotechnology, jessy_ashok@yahoo.co.in
Sir,
I am indeed very lucky to come across the certificate course in hospital management, and having taken it has given me immense pleasure of attending the same.
I would like to express my gratitude to the professors of excellence who have managed to abridge the course to three hours per day for our understanding.
A course of such a wide subjects which takes two full years have been taught meticulously with ease of understandingness.
I also wish to thank Mr.A Mahalingam sir and ms.sreedevi madam for arranging the venue and arranging a cool atmosphere to attend the class in this scorching Chennai heat.
The PPT provided by Mr.Mahalingam sir, was and will cherish us in our learning’s and mistakes which we all will come across in our daily today activities, and correct us to mend our selves for betterment of our working environment.
Having chosen the course and planning to shift to hospital environment if, given an opportunity in the near future, I shall vouch for the learning’s I had which will make me stronger and successful in my career ahead.
I wish to thank again Mr.Mahalingam for planning of the classes and bringing the 9th batch a successful team into his credit.
Thanking you.
S.R.Gandhi / Manager – Marketing /gandhisrg@gmail.com
Mountainous lamp, rays thru all the way,
Greatness of Dr.SS Badrinath of that say!
Fountainous knowledge oozes its flow,
Lectures speech of that blow!
Nestling like a care of womb,
SN academy near to its comb!
Faithful apostle, with his discipline,
Hail to Mr.A Mahalingam with a Crown!
Railing with the bunch of memories,
Priding with the SN aluminous series!
Shri U Amalraj / General Manager / Tirame Technology Pvt Ltd, Ch
Healthcare Management Executives share a memorable moment with “Visionary” Padma Bhusan Dr SS Badrinath
As a part of the Certificate Course in Hospital Management (CCHM), the participants had an opportunity to meet the Chairman Emeritus of Dr.S.S.Badrinath on Saturday, the 20th of June 2015 and spend cherished moments with the living legend and shared their feelings.
“We had a very meaningful interaction with him as he made some observations on our backgrounds and enquired what we felt about the course and sought suggestions/improvements.
We shared our thought to introducing the hub and spoke method of treatment in eye care across the country and introduction of insurance as a topic in the course. After a patient listening, the Chief told us that it was a challenge in the present day scenario to get good eye care doctors who are willing to work as a team.
He said that the Nethralaya was fortunate to be blessed by Kanchi Paramacharya while the institution was run on the support of the donations from philanthropists and well-wishers across the globe.
He made special mention about the Mobile Eye Surgical Unit, which goes to the villages and conducts surgeries, greatly benefitting the villagers. A mention was also made on the research that is being conducted in the institution with respect to the various areas in eye care. Dr Badrinath also encouraged us to be the ambassadors of the institute.
This session, which was very ably facilitated by Shri A.Mahalingam, Deputy Registrar of the Sankara Nethralaya Academy concluded with exchanging pleasantries amongst one another”.
The Sankara Nethralaya Academy conducts a niche session on ‘Accreditation for Hospitals’ for healthcare management executives on 20th June 2015, Saturday.
Shri C S Ramakrishan, Chief Operating Officer, ACME Consulting (Healthcare Quality Consultancy) at the Accreditation session
The session started with a warm welcome and the need for hospital accreditations for healthcare professional managers by Shri A. Mahalingam, Deputy Registrar of the academy and also introduction of the speaker Shri C S Ramakrishan, for his kind acceptance and support to our academy.
Mr. Ramakrishnan, – Chief Operating Officer & Senior Consultant – Quality Management Systems & Information Security and Management Systems, At ACME CONSULTING, he has been involved for about 8 years, directly heading all the NABH Projects of Acme and all the Quality Improvement Projects of ACME being done for the National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC), overseeing the ISO 9001 Certification Projects of NHSRC in the North East Indian States of Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh and at 48 Primary Health Centres in Tamil Nadu.
A Post Graduate from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur is in charge of day to day operations at Chennai. He also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration from the Loyola College Of Business Administration and is a qualified Lead Auditor for the ISO 27001:2005 ISMS, for Information Security and Management Systems
He was part of a large team of multi-national consultants, carried out Viability studies for industrial clusters across Sultanate of Oman, covering 165 industrial units, representing about 45 industry types. The study was spread over 6 months using interview methodology, analysis of financial performance, market analysis, infrastructure studies, etc. The study identified major causes of non-performing industrial units and provided recommendations for revival, wherever possible and a sense of direction for future industrialization of Oman. He is also a Lean Management expert, handling the Lean Management initiatives for Healthcare.
The session was meant to educate and create awareness on the critical need for quality accreditation for health care institutions in an increasingly competitive healthcare marketplace and a highly demanding patient base, among health care managers, healthcare entrepreneurs currently operating their own health care institutions and individuals and corporate bodies planning to enter into this fast growing and high potential field.
The session covered the entire gamut of quality and work flow processes and practices both clinical and non-clinical, from minute details like employee educational credentials to installation of advanced equipment imperative for accreditation by prestigious certifying bodies both national and international.
Accreditation is a clear indication of the quality and capability and a stamp of high standard of hospitals in India; it is an indication of world class treatment to patients and would gradually boost Medical Tourism in India. The accreditation brings in the much needed credibility as it symbolizes quality, it helps in branding of the hospital, enhances hospital value and reliability making India truly a great Medical Tourism destination.
Delegates included Hospital Administrators, Doctors, Nurses, Quality Managers from various Private, Mission and Public sector hospitals who interactively participated stood to gain and share the knowledge in the field of accreditation Process.
The Speaker enumerated on 10 important NABH Stands viz.,
• Access, Assessment & Continuity of Care (AAC)
• Care of Patient (COP)
• Management of Medication (MOM)
• Patient Rights & Educations (PRE)
• Hospital Infection Control (HIC)
• Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI)
• Responsibility of Management (ROM)
• Facility of Management & Safety (FMS)
• Human Resource Management (HRM)
• Information Management System (IMS)
The speaker also highlighted the various benefits of NABH Accreditations for the Patients, Institutions and third parties like healthcare insurance sector and at the end of the session the delegates shared their learning experiences and feedback of this unique session.
At the end of the session, Shri A. Mahalingam & Shri C S Ramakrishnan made a quick announcement about the forthcoming 12 weekends Certificate Course in Healthcare Quality Management by the TSNA– the 2nd batch to be conducted in collaboration with the Association of Healthcare Providers India (AHPI), New Delhi and ACME Consulting (Healthcare Quality Consultancy) Chennai which would be commencing from 18th July 2015 and requested the participants to visit www.thesnacademy.ac.in to know more and to apply online.
Lions club of Central Madras and Sankara Nethralaya reiterate their firm resolve to eradicating blindness on ‘Helen Keller Day’.
If there is anything as noble and as worthy as alleviating the pain and suffering of humanity, it is the act of helping, encouraging, facilitating and funding such initiatives. The Lions Clubs International are known for their ‘Intelligent Philanthropy’ a phrase used by Shri Gopal Krishna Gandhi, illustrious diplomat and grandson of the Mahathma to highlight charity where every dollar or rupee reaches the gold standard in service. They have a knack of identifying and bringing crusaders and champions working silently and unnoticed in the most remote regions under the limelight and honouring them. It was a vivid demonstration of this quality to identify and honour the spirit of service, compassion and sacrifice, so intrinsic and central to healthcare delivery which occupied centre stage at the ‘Helen Keller Remembrance’ and ‘Dr G.Sitalakshmi Gift of sight Award’ day at the Sri V.D.Swami Auditorium, Sankara Nethralaya main campus on the 15th of June 2015 by the Lions Club of Madras Central 324A1 and Sankara Nethralaya.
The day’s proceedings got off to a great start with the Lions Oath of allegiance and a silent prayer for world peace by the Lions and the entire gathering. Introducing the dignitaries on the dais Lion Captain G.N.Venkat Rajaram, President, Lions Club of Central Madras, lauded the spirit of Helen Keller which had manifested in the perseverance and courage of Ms Beno Zephine the first visually challenged IAS officer, Shri Krishna Gopal Tiwari who swam against the current of diversity to become the first visually challenged to reach the position of District Collector and Karthik Sawhney the visually impaired youngster who had strived hard in his academics in spite of his handicap as a reward of which he was selected by the world famous Stanford University to pursue a course in computer science. He cited these as the very epitome of the indomitable courage and hope displayed by Helen Keller in whose honour and memory the day was being observed. A spell binding and riveting short movie capturing the epic of Helen Keller making her historic appeal at the Lions International Convention at Chicago where she describes dispensing eye care as a ‘Challenge’ and an ‘Opportunity’ was screened thanks to the efforts of Lion S.N.Harinarayanan, President-Sight First. Dispensing eye care had become a challenge and an opportunity to Lions worldwide after this watershed meeting.
Senior Cornea Consultant Dr. Swetha Agarwal fondly recalled the yeoman services and passion of Dr G.Sitalakshmi who pioneered the MOOKP process in India, she described her as a ‘Charismatic doctor’ and the ‘Goddess of the Temple of the Eye’. Speaking on the occasion, Chief Guest PMJF Lion N.S. Sankar, International Director, Lions Club International described Lion Dr.SS.Badrinath, Chairman Emeritus, Sankara Nethralaya as a man of extraordinary and selfless service. The hard work, planning and sincerity of Lion S.N. Harinarayanan, MJF, District Chairperson-Diabetic Retinopathy Detection, Lions Club of Central Madras were highlighted by every Lion speaker; he was lauded as the pillar and backbone of the function. Lion Harinarayanan thanked the speakers and utilized the occasion to express his personal and the Lions Clubs gratitude to the personnel at Sankara Nethralaya for their unflinching support to him and the Lions Clubs initiatives by honouring them with gifts which were given away by senior Lions Club office bearers. Doctors and hospitals offering their service in the remote parts of the country and bringing about a change in the quality of lives of the socially and economically backward sections of society were honoured with the ‘Knights of the blind’ and ‘Dr.G.Sitalakshmi gift of sight award’ by the Chief Guest and dignitaries gathered on the occasion.
The Sankara Nethralaya family salutes the doctors and paramedics and institutions chosen for this rare honour and takes great pride and pleasure in sharing the same below
“I (EYE) CARE” Award. to:
• Lions Karnavati SVP Eye Hospital, Ognaj, Ahamadabad, Gujarat,.
• Kalapataru Lions Nashik, Maharashtra.
“KNIGHT OF THE BLIND” Awards.
• Dr Smita Dheer,l Lions Karnavati SVP Eye Hospital, Ognaj, Ahmadabad,Gujarat..
Dr. G.Sitalaksmi Gift of Sight Award.
•Dr Sharad Patil, Kalpataru Lions Eye Hospital, Nashik, Maharashtra.j.
The ‘Temple of the Eye’ observes the 122nd Jayanthi of its patron saint and divine force by doing ‘Madhava Seva’
The Mobile Eye Surgical Unit (MESU) the first of its kind ‘operation theatre on wheels’ in Asia, a medico-engineering marvel developed jointly with IIT-Madras and its dedicated outdoor community ophthalmology team embarked on yet another historic trip in their journey towards eradicating blindness in the rural pockets of India by dispensing high quality eye care, totally cost free, right at the doorsteps of the visually impaired on the 5th of June 2015. The camp being conducted at Orikkai village in Kanchipuram District jointly with Ms Kuehne Nagel the well known global logistics and business enterprise company, and under the auspices of the Kanchi Mutt assumed great significance since the locale was regularly frequented by the Mahaswami. The MESU camp started on the 6th of June 2015 and received enthusiastic response with a large number of residents from Orikkai and the neighbouring areas turning up for eye screening and remedial care. A function celebrating the camp and the 122nd birth anniversary of His Holiness Mahaperiyava Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi was held at the ‘Kanchi Mahaswami Manimandapam’ at 5:00pm on the 10th of June under the reverential auspices of the Kanchi Pontiffs, His Holiness Jayendra Saraswathi Swamigal and His Holiness Vijayendra Saraswathi Swamigal.
The senior management team of Dr. SS.Badrinath, Chairman Emeritus, Dr S.Bhaskaran, Chairman, Dr. TS.Surendran, Vice-Chairman, Dr KS.Vasan, MD from Sankara Nethralaya and Ms Rekha Narayanan and Ms. Lakshmi Iyer of Kuhne Nagel participated in the function. Speaking on the occasion Dr S.S.Badrinath thanked the sponsors of the camp and expressed his respectful Pranams to the Kanchi Acharyas present at the venue, a man who never for a minute forgets the support of well wishers and friends he thoughtfully mentioned to the gathering that the day happened to be the birthday of Shri Rahul Bajaj one of the institution’s most generous supporters and sought the blessings of the Swamijis for his long and healthy life. He highlighted the yeoman service rendered by the mobile eye surgical unit in the most remote regions of the country and lauded the sincere efforts and technical expertise of Colonel N.Raghavan, Advisor- Projects, Sankara Nethralaya for being the driving force and chief architect of the ‘MESU’ from the Sankara Nethralaya side, he thanked him for his services and warmly invited him to take the blessings of the Kanchi Acharyas. Colonel Raghavan paid his humble pranams and received the blessings of the Sages. A highlight of the function was the video release of ‘Vidiyal’-‘Dawn of Hope’ a real life and poignant portrayal of Sankara Nethralaya’s cost free community service through the ‘MESU’ as perceived by a beneficiary, produced by Shri Badri Surendran, son of Dr TS.Surendran, Vice-Chairman Sankara Nethralaya. The video was released by His Holiness Jayendra Saraswathi Swamigal and the first copy of the same was received by Dr.SS.Badrinath to the thunderous ovation of the gathering. The Pontiffs of the Kanchi Mutt blessed the gathering and the eye camp and delivered their Anugrahabashanam. The program was presented by ardent devote of Mahaperiyava, Srimathi Revathi Sankaran, the well known TV personality and friend of Sankara Nethralaya, she moved the hearts of the gathering with a soulful rendering of ‘Maithi Bajathi’ the timeless melody of Srimathi M.S.Subbulakshmi, rendered at the United Nations.
We take great pleasure in sharing the details of the camp with our readers
Duration of camp – 5th to 15th of June 2015
Total number of people screened- 773
Total number of patients diagnosed as needing cataract surgery- 279
Total number of patients found physically unfit for surgery and referred to the base hospital to prepare them for surgery – 54
Total number of patients referred to base hospital for detailed evaluation and cross consultation for other eye ailments– 194
Total number of cataract surgeries performed – 158
The Sankara Nethralaya Academy Conducted a Session on Total Quality Management in Healthcare on 13.06.2015.
Dr T V Subramaniam delivering a lecture on Total Quality Management
This penultimate session handled by Dr T V Subramaniam dealt with various principles, processes and performance measure that constitute Total Quality Management.
Quality Guru & Sankara Ratna Dr TV Subramaniam( Dr TVS) is currently the Chairman Board of Studies at Bharathidasan Institute of Management, Trichy and Visiting faculty at IIFMR,Chennai & Sankara Nethralaya Academy With a PhD from IIM Ahmedabad he has to his credit, 38 years of Corporate & Management consulting, training & teaching, Having handled around 50 major consultancy assignments for public & private sector organizations and conducted more than 600 management development programmes, he is also the recipient of the Honorary Fellow Award for Significant contribution from the Indian Institute of Materials Management.
The origin of Quality Assurance could be traced to the Inspection Era, wherein the product was inspected for compliance to acceptable standards. This later gave way to process inspection and finally the inputs that go into the processing of a product, were surveyed for standards in quality. Quality Control refers to the procedure of identification of the defects at the end of the entire processing whereas Quality Assurance and Quality Standards happen in the preventive phase of processing to avoid wastage of resources.
The growth and development of an organization depends on the level of co-ordination and design of its processes and policies to ensure that all activities that take place within are working in tandem towards a common goal. In a healthcare setting, the complexity of these co-ordination increases due to the nature of business, volume of patients, use of technology along with manual inputs, logistic hurdles and so on. Therefore it is all the more important to set up stringent standards to assess quality in such processes that deal with human life.
This is particularly unique to the hospital industry because here, the product and the end-user are the same ie., the patient himself. The customer is an observer of all activities of the organization; therefore he is in a stronger position to question discrepancies immediately unlike the manufacturing sectors. Yet another significant difference between other industries and healthcare is the value of the human element involved. Patient profiles are not defined unlike inputs in other segments that are clearly pre-defined.
The basic tenet of good quality service is to meet and then exceed customer expectations. The customer in a healthcare industry refers to the patient. The care delivered should be right the first time, every time and on time so that the maximum benefit is achieved.
Some of the guiding principles for good total quality management were elucidated with insightful illustrations.
• The most important being total customer focus, therefore all policies, plans and systems of all people in the organization should be trained towards securing a positive outcome of good judgement by the customer. If the patient is a customer to the entire hospital network, then the employee too is a customer in the context of the inter-departmental work that goes on in a hospital.
• Yet another important principle to keep in mind is the continual pursuit of excellence in quality of services by taking small measurable steps towards perfection.
• Quality Management is important to strengthen every part of the process to ensure enhanced output to the customer and also to help decision making and deploy action based on the analysis and interpretation of relevant information collected.
• Cross-functional perspective refers to the inter-related activity approach as every person/activity affects and in turn is affected by others.
• The Deming wheel of PDCA – PLAN-DO-CHECK-ACT – can be a useful tool for achieving overall efficiency in the organization.
IDEA APPROACH:
An innovative and valuable method to sustain standards in patient quality care would be to involve every employee of the healthcare organization in decisions and development of the organization by inculcating a sense of belonging. This will bring about total employee involvement and will in turn help in identifying and channelizing their potential for the betterment of the hospital.
To ensure continuous development of not just the hospital but the employee within, it is important to continually encourage the employees by asking for their suggestions, guiding them and then delegating responsibilities, after imparting requisite knowledge and skills training.
A sure formula for retention of good quality workforce is the note of appreciation of exceptional efforts put in by an employee in the event of a difficult situation.
Adequate training should be planned to impart not just conceptual knowledge to staff but to apply it to real-time contexts while keeping the organization’s vision in focus. This, together with the imbibed values, behavior and attitude of the person at work, will surely contribute to a substantially improved performance.
PROBLEM-SOLVING STEPS:
Any crisis at work should be resolved not just rationally, but also effectively and efficiently. There could be several ways to resolve any critical situation in a department but it is usually optimal to have a quality circle with at least one external member to continually monitor the performance.
An effective approach to any policy-decision making should involve the following:
Analysis refers to the existing process documentation.
Measurement of baseline process performance data is crucial to identifying gaps in performance and will set scope for improvement.Setting up improvement goals and working towards development and implementation of the same initially on a trial basis.Evaluation consists of assessing the impact and then standardizing the process with periodic monitoring.
The session was enriched throughout with the enlightening anecdotes from the extensive experience of the speaker, thanks to his varied professional associations spanning several decades. The participants found the session to be lively and thought-provoking.
The high power Session on Total Quality Management in Healthcare closed with a Vote of Thanks by Mr A Mahalingam, Deputy Registrar – The Sankara Nethralaya Academy.
VIBS – Valedictory function of Hands-on Summer Training programme(18th – 5th June 2015)
Date : 5th June 2015
Venue: Lecture Hall, I Floor KNBIRVO Building
The Hands-on-summer training programme for Post graduate students was conducted by the Vidyasagar Institute of Bio-Medical Science(VIBS) a Unit of Medical Research Foundation between 18th May and 5th June 2015. A total of 13 participants from leading Arts and Engineering colleges and Universities namely Women’s Christian College, Chennai (5), Sastra University, Thanjavur (1), Jeppiaar Engineering College, Chennai(1) Rajalakshmi Engineering College (2), AMET University, Chennai(2), Vels University, Chennai (1) & Central Leather Research Institute, Chennai (1) underwent training. The participants were assigned to various Research departments namely the R.S. Mehta Jain Department of Biochemistry & Cell Biology (4), SN ONGC Genetics & Molecular Biology (4) L & T Microbiology Research Centre (5). .
The participants performed well in the evaluation at the end of the programme by all three departments. They gave a good feedback on the training programme during the valedictory function conducted on 5th June 2015. The faculty from the respective departments appreciated the enthusiasm and involvement with which the participants learnt the techniques. The participants were requested to share the acquired knowledge and impart the skills to their juniors and colleagues in their respective colleges. All the faculty members and the Scientists involved in conducting the programme shared their experience with the students.
The function came to an end with a warm Vote of Thanks by Dr.K. Lily Therese, Programme Co-ordinator, VIBS. She gratefully acknowledged the faculty, scientists and technical staff involved in training the students and the management of Vision Research Foundation & Medical Research Foundation for providing the facility and the Founder of VIBS, Padmashri Iravatham Mahadevan, I.A.S. for providing the wonderful opportunity to train the Post graduate students from various Science & Arts Colleges & Research Institutions.
The Sankara Nethralaya Academy conducted a Session on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in Healthcare on 30th May 2015.
Prof T. Ramanan delivering a lecture on ICT
The Sankara Nethralaya Academy, a unit of medical Research Foundation, Chennai conducted a session ICT in Healthcare on 30th May 2015 by Prof T. Ramanan M. SC. IT and MBA Technology Management – a seasoned and multi-faceted professional who brings with him an expertise on diverse areas and subjects like Information Technology, leveraging the same effectively in various industries, product development in satellite industry, IT support, training and business development.
The Session presented an in depth picture of how Information & Communication Technology has seamlessly blended into the Healthcare Delivery process and how it has simplified the access and update of Medical Record of the patient from anywhere/anytime.
He spoke in detail on the deployment of ICT in various areas of Healthcare, like Quality Medical Service Delivery, technology enabled onsite/offline Education methodologies; the Clinical Decision Support Systems to supplement the diagnosis process and in Tele medicine to reach out Medical Care to the door step of the rural Poor.
Mr A. Mahalingam, the Deputy Registrar of the Sankara Nethralaya Academy took this opportunity to thank the participants for their cooperation and wished them successful completion of the session.
At the end of the session, Shri A. Mahalingam made a quick announcement about the forthcoming 12 weekends Certificate Course in Healthcare Quality Management by the TSNA– the 2nd batch to be conducted in collaboration with the Association of Healthcare Providers India (AHPI), New Delhi and ACME Consulting (Healthcare Quality Consultancy) Chennai which would be commencing from 18th July 2015 and requested the participants to visit www.thesnacademy.ac.in to know more and to apply online.
The Sankara Nethralaya Academy conducts a niche session touching on the legal aspects of healthcare delivery on 6th June 2015.
Addressing the delegates, A Mahalingam, Deputy Registrar, The Sankara Nethralaya Academy, Unit of Medical Research Foundation, Chennai observed that this unique was intended to focus on challenges and issues in Health care sector and their related legal management for effective and smooth functioning of the institution.
To precisely meet this objective of issues relating to legal aspects, medical negligence, consumer protection, Sankara Nethralaya Academy, conducted a session on “Medico Legal Issues in Healthcare and Laws Related to Healthcare Administration on 6th June 2015
With the rapid emergence of corporatisation of health care sector, extremely demanding patient segment and insurance providers for health care management, it has become imperative now than ever before for those related to health, medicine, hospitals and hospital administrators, NGOs, Trust operating hospitals to adhere and execute appropriate policy matters with respect to medical care.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri D Samuel Abraham, Senior Law Officer, Christian Medical College, Vellore said it was critical for any hospital management to be equipped with expertise on laws governing medical practice, particularly to handle medico legal cases.
The power packed sessions included topics on “Medical Negligence and its consequences on the reputation of hospital”, “Informed Consent and its role in consumer cases”, “Application of Consumer Protection Act to Hospitals”, “Importance of Medical records”, “Medico legal cases and role of Medical profession”, “HR issues in Hospital Administration” handled by veterans Mr.D. Samuel Abraham, Senior Law Officer, who not only offered his rich knowledge and expertise with ease to the avid listeners, but also encouraged and welcomed interactive participation.
This session attendances included senior Administrative officers and Medical professionals from prestigious institutions
like Port Trust Hospital,J K Hospital,Porur Child health Clinic,Tata Consultancy Services,Seethapathi Hospital,Tirame Technology Pvt Ltd
Mehta Hospitals,Saradha Nursing Home,Deepam Hospitals, Chrompet
Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Limited,A.V. Diabetic Centre & Nirmals Eye Hospital, Tambaram, Chennai
The utterly satisfied participants remarked that the sessions enabled better understanding of the nuances on the subject to handle subtle issues with real time scenarios from the experts, who delivered maximum content on the topics within short span of time.