How to become a better health care manager Dr Aniruddha Malpani, MD Medical Director HELP

It’s hard being a student of healthcare management ! Need to understand management principles Need to understand healthcare delivery – complex ! Deal with teachers and professors

It’s hard being a student of healthcare management ! Pass examinations Deal with doctors and hospitals. These can be scary places – how do you manage ? Need to get a job ! Keep your parents happy Compete with your peers Have a life !

It’s hard being a teacher for healthcare managers ! How do we teach students Ethics ? Legal principles ? Advances in medical technology ? Managerial principles ? CRM, ERP, IT ?

It’s hard being a teacher for healthcare managers ! How do we make sure the curriculum is uptodate ? What standards should we follow ? How do we give them real-life experience ?

It’s hard being a teacher for healthcare managers ! How do we grade them ? How can we ensure placements for them ? How do we know we are doing a good job ?

Difficult Challenges ! Huge opportunities ! Healthcare managers can change Indian society You can make a difference!

Where do we start ? How do we teach the next generation of healthcare managers ?

A different viewpoint ! You cannot teach anyone anything ! You can only help them to learn

Job of a good teacher Empower students to learn for themselves Give real-life opportunities to do so Let them make mistakes in a controlled environment “ See one, do one, teach one”

Let students learn from each other ! The web allows them to do this. Online learning communities where they can share knowledge Allow students to design their own teaching. Can get useful feedback from fresh grads !

The web ! Web 2.0 technology allows this to happen with ease Wikis and blogs Online textbooks Online courses E-learning !

Open source Everyone can contribute ! Free Not to compete – but to co-operate Everyone wins ! Huge opportunities – we have lots of talents and brains – let’s make use of this. Good teachers learn from students

India specific ! We need to learn from Indian success stories Aravind Eye Care – SOPs and systems We do not need to ape the West or try to borrow their standards – recipe for disaster and failure

My advise for students Learn to be an entrepreneur These are real-life skills which will help you for the rest of your life Don’t only think of your next job – plan a career and a life ! You are your own brand – You, Inc

Think “out of the box” – and apply what you learn to managing your own career ! If you do what everyone else does, you’ll be another cog in the wheel ! What’s your USP ? Differentiate ! For example, start a blog. This is your digital reputation !

You have certain skills the older generation does not have. Capitalise on this ! Don’t expect to be spoonfed – need to learn how to learn for yourself You are a lifelong learner !

What does a healthcare manager do ? Manage what ? Money ? People ? Resources ? Equipment ?

What does a healthcare manager do ? Help people to get better healthcare Help people to remain well

How to become a better healthcare manager Become a patient ! This will help you see things from the patient’s point of view

Today’s Health Care System Physician Health Insurance Self-Care Information Overload Media The Patient

Doctor versus Patient ► ► Patients are unhappy with doctors ► ► Make them wait ► ► Do not explain ► ► Doctors are unhappy with patients ► ► Underpaid ► ► Stressed and burntout

What is a healthcare manager to do ? You need to keep your doctors happy You need to keep your patients happy

Doctor and Patient We are all on the same side – the patients’ Medicine is a service profession Doctors like helping patients Want them to get better How can we create a win-win situation ?

We will always have a shortage Shortage of doctors Shortage of nurses Shortage of money Shortage of equipment Shortage of resources

This is the challenge Too many patients Not enough doctors/nurses/equipment/ hospital beds/money ! This is seen to be the problem. We are a “poor country”

This is the opportunity !

Patients are not the problem – they are the solution ! Patients are the largest untapped healthcare resource !

Today Patients make medical decisions all the time ! Can I manage this headache at home ? Should I smoke ? Cheat on my diet ? Go to the gym ? Join a yoga class ? When should I go to a doctor ? Which doctor should I go to ? Should I take out an insurance policy ?

Often they make poor decisions This hurts everyone ! How can we help them make better decisions about their health ?

Information Therapy ! Information Therapy is Powerful Medicine ! Help patients to make better health decisions Patients are the largest untapped healthcare resource ! Empower them with information – so they can take better care of themselves, in partnership with their doctor.

Don’t underestimate a patient’s abilities ! 1. Patients are smart. With the right tools, they can make the right decisions ! 2. Knowledge is Power ! 3. The doctor is a partner You cannot afford to leave everything upto God – or upto the doctor !

Information Therapy helps patients save money on medical care 1. Promote SelfCare. Help you to do as much for yourself as you can, so you are not completely dependent on the doctor

Information Therapy helps patients save money on medical care 2. Provide Evidence-Based Guidelines, so you can ask for the right medical treatment that they need - no more and no less

Information Therapy helps patients save money on medical care 3. Help you with Veto Power, so you can say No to medical care you don’t need, thus preventing overtesting and unnecessary surgery.

My personal experience I learn a lot from my patients ! If you treat patients with respect, they will respect you in return Patients get the doctors they deserve – and doctors get the patients they deserve Well-informed patients are easier to treat, because they have realistic expectations

Our focus areas now are: Encouraging health insurance companies to invest in patient education Makes business sense !

Our focus areas now are: Encouraging corporate to invest in patient education Makes business sense ! Reduces medical absenteeism and sick leave

National Network Every hospital should have a Patient Education Resource Center Win-win situation Great tool to empower patients Helps doctors and hospitals too !

Patient Information Center Core collection of books Core collection of books DVDs DVDs PC with internet connection and printer PC with internet connection and printer Staff member Staff member “Corner” centers – need just about 100 sq ft “Corner” centers – need just about 100 sq ft Costs only Rs 2 lakhs per year ! Costs only Rs 2 lakhs per year !

Online Information Therapy Free Free 24/7 24/7 Easily accessible Easily accessible Increased internet penetration Increased internet penetration Answer questions free by ! Answer questions free by !

How do we provide the right information to the right patient ? Free floating information ( google) is useless Free floating information ( google) is useless Information Therapy needs to be prescribed to them, tailored to their needs, based on their medical problems Information Therapy needs to be prescribed to them, tailored to their needs, based on their medical problems How can we do this ? How can we do this ? Personal Health Record

PHR – Personal Health Record For the Tax Department, you are your tax return For the Tax Department, you are your tax return For the Bank, you are your bank statement For the Bank, you are your bank statement For the healthcare system, you are your medical record. For the healthcare system, you are your medical record.

PHR Patients store their medical records on their personal website. Patients store their medical records on their personal website.

PHR = organised medical information = improved medical care Keeping this record will help them to get better medical care. Keeping this record will help them to get better medical care. Patients need to manage their own health record. Patients need to manage their own health record. Doing so will teach them a lot about their health Doing so will teach them a lot about their health

How patients can improve the healthcare system Patients can add a lot of value to the healthcare system using Patient to Patient ( P2P) networking. Patients can add a lot of value to the healthcare system using Patient to Patient ( P2P) networking. Social networking – an online community, in which patients share information Social networking – an online community, in which patients share information “ Wisdom of the crowds” “ Wisdom of the crowds” “Expert patients “ can act as mentors and buddies. “Expert patients “ can act as mentors and buddies.

How patients can improve the healthcare system Grading system for doctors and hospitals Grading system for doctors and hospitals Get feedback from patients Get feedback from patients Help doctors and hospitals ( and healthcare managers) to improve their services Help doctors and hospitals ( and healthcare managers) to improve their services

Today’s Health Care System Physician Health Insurance Self-Care Information Overload Media The Patient

The Patient as Integrator Care Choice Information & Feedback The Empowered Patient – with the help of Information Therapy