Leaders and game changers congregate at Healthcare Senate 2016

Deliberate and discuss on crucial issues in Indian healthcare and the ways to tackle them at the three-day conference held from September 22-24, 2016 in Hyderabad

Express Healthcare, a leading publication from The Indian Express Group, inaugurated the first edition of Healthcare Senate – The National Private Healthcare Business Summit, in Hyderabad. Held from September 22-24, 2016 at HICC, Novotel in Hyderabad; it saw private healthcare leaders and game changers come together to discuss the future of healthcare delivery in India.

Day 1: Setting the stage for a healthcare revolution

The event began on an auspicious note with a lamp lighting ceremony by senior dignitaries such as NC Borah, Founder & CMD, GNRC Group of Hospitals; Dr A Velumani, Founder, CEO and Managing Director, Thyrocare; and Dr Sabahat Azim, CEO, Glocal Healthcare. They were joined by Viveka Roychowdhury, Editor, Express Healthcare.

Roychowdhury welcomed the august audience and thanked them for their support in ushering a healthcare revolution in India.

It was followed by a very rousing key note address by Dr Velumani. His entrepreneurial journey from a small village with low resources to one of the most renowned players in the diagnostics sector, inspired and enthralled the entire audience.

“Experience is gained through problems and the learnings they offer as we overcome them. Lucky are those who are born poor. Life offers them more opportunities to learn,” said Dr Velumani.

“Move out of your comfort zones to succeed. In life there is security or prosperity. There is nothing called secured prosperity. Disruption brings about growth. Be a disrupter or get ready to be disrupted,” he advised. The audience gave him a standing ovation for his valuable insights.

The day ended with Healthcare Citations, wherein visionaries who have chosen areas of practice with huge challenges, of serving the underserved and difficult to access corners of our country, were recognised for their invaluable contributions to improve healthcare delivery in India.

Thus, Healthcare Senate 2016 began on a very positive note and set the stage for more fruitful and informative sessions over the next two days.

Day 2: Enhancing healthcare delivery

The second day of Healthcare Senate 2016, the National Private Healthcare Business Summit, saw industry leaders deliberate and discuss on crucial issues in Indian healthcare and the ways to tackle them.

The first panel discussion of the day was on ‘Recent Practices in Accreditation and in Good Hospital Pharmacy Practices.’ The panel was moderated by Dr Suresh Saravdekar, Director, The Rural Centre, Krishnamurti Foundation India, Varanasi – UP. The session focused on quality issues in healthcare and pharmacy practices and the role of accreditation to mitigate these issues. The panelists, Dr Arun Palaniswami, Director – Quality Systems, Kovai Medical Center and Hospital and Dr Harish Nadkarni, Consultant for NABH, CEO and MD, Quality Care, gave valuable insights from their experiences in ensuring that best practices are implemented and adopted at all levels in their organisations.

It was followed by a panel discussion which highlighted a challenge faced by all modern day healthcare organisations, ‘Medico-legal tangles and the cost burden arising out of them’. It was moderated by Mahendra Bajpai, Advocate, Supreme Court of India. The panel for this discussion were Manpreet Singh Sohal, CEO, Global Hospitals, Mumbai & Hyderabad; Dr Vivek Jawali, Director, Fortis Hospitals, Bengaluru; Dr Suganthi Iyer, Deputy Director, Legal & Medical, PD Hinduja Hospital & MRI, Mumbai; Dr Alexander Thomas, Executive Director, AHPI; Dr Nikhil Datar, Founder President, Patient Safety Alliance & Medical Director, Cloudnine Hospital, Mumbai. The eminent panel offered their recommendations to deal with medico-legal tangles effectively. The panelists advised that the medical fraternity to be more legally literate; introduce a grievance redressal cell; ensure that their practice is based on the values of integrity, compassion and effective communication as it would prevent medico-legal issues considerably; and regularly train healthcare workers in hospitals to minimise errors. The audience appreciated the session immensely.

The last session for the day was another panel discussion on an interesting topic which has huge relevance in the current times, ‘Patient-driven Innovation in Healthcare’. The panelists of this session were Lalit Pai, CEO, Nightingales Home Health Services; Dr Aniruddha Malpani, Director and Values Custodian at Solidarity Advisors; Dr Nagarjuna Mishra, Chief Officer – Business & Strategy & Co- founder, Purple Health; and Suresh Satyamurthy, Founder, Tarnea Technologies. The session was moderated by Chayan Chatterjee, COO and Co-Founder, Lattice Innovations.

Some of the key takeaways from the session were, patient first is the basis for all patient-driven innovation, technology plays an important role in the growth of this trend which can enhance healthcare delivery but there is an equal need to implement standards to ensure quality.

The second day’s itinerary also saw power discussions, networking opportunities and meetings.

Day 3: Knowledge sharing galore

The third day at Healthcare Senate 2016, began with an impromptu yoga session which saw active participation from the esteemed speakers and delegates. After this invigorating start, industry leaders continued their discussions on quality and finance related issues within the sector.

Dr KK Kalra, CEO, NABH, keynote speaker for the day, reiterated how imperative it is to invest in quality and elaborated how accreditation helps to sustain quality standards. Healthcare is India needs a transformation, said Dr Kalra and advocated the need for continuous quality improvement in healthcare.

The first panel discussion for the day, ‘Raising Capital for Healthcare,’ was addressed by an eminent panel which comprised Dr Rana Mehta, Leader – Healthcare, PwC India as the moderator, Apoorva Patti, Director, Currae Healthcare & Currie Healthtech Fund; Dr N Krishna Reddy, Vice Chairman, Care Group of Hospitals; and Dr Harish Pillai, CEO, Aster Medcity, Kochi & Cluster Head – Kerala.

The panelists shared valuable insights on fund raising and also spoke on the trends in this segment. Dr Mehta quizzed the panelists on their strategies to raise funds for their organisations. Dr Pillai pointed out that investors are studying the nuances and subtleties of different geographical markets before betting on any healthcare organisation. He also stressed on ensuring good governance to enhance funding. Dr Reddy, whose hospital has raised five rounds of funding, advised that hospitals should look for investors who understand their organisation’s philosophy to build meaningful partnerships. Patni recommended hospitals to find an underserved need and explore unexplored segments to raise funds. The audience appreciated the session immensely.

The last session of Healthcare Senate 2016 was also very interesting. CXOs of leading hospitals across the country shared the stage to discuss one of the most important issue s within hospitals – Balancing profitability with responsibility. Amit Misra, Head – Consulting Services, North India, IMS Health moderated the session. The panelists were Joy Chakraborty, COO, PD Hinduja Hospital and Medical Research Centre; Dr Tarang Gianchandani, CEO, Jaslok Hospital; Dr Alok Roy, Chairman and MD, Medica Synergy; Dr J Sivakumaran, COO, Kovai Medical Center and Hospital; and Aloke Mullick, COO, KIMS were the panelists.

Improving operational efficiency, right pricing of services, using feedback from patients to reduce errors etc were the suggestions given by experts to build a profitable yet responsible healthcare organisation.

The audience appreciated the session and interacted with the panelists for further clarity on the subject.

The day concluded with the Express Healthcare Excellence Awards. Partnered by United Biotech, it sought to recognise the pathfinders, innovators and game changers from the private healthcare industry for their invaluable contributions to healthcare in India.

Thus, the inaugural edition of Healthcare Senate 2016 was a resounding success.