Single-speciality hospitals are more tuned to patient needs because they are in a position to offer greater personal care and financial benefits to the needy
While most hospitals are multi-speciality, with different departments and various services existing under one roof, a change in the pattern of demand from patients has emerged. Patients are becoming more like consumers relying on a particular brand, picking their services and looking at incentives that will make it easy on their pockets. A change of this nature, along with the ever-growing burden of patients in multi-speciality and general hospitals, has created a market for single-speciality hospitals. In fact, single speciality chains are now attracting more investment than multi-speciality hospitals.
In India, single-speciality hospitals have opened across all surgical divisions, from eyecare to cardiology to dental care, gynaecology, nephrology, oncology and urology. Moreover, these hospitals are transforming in to chains and venturing from big cities to the smaller cities and villages. The interiors of India lack healthcare facilities and are services- and resources-starved. Here, single speciality hospitals and chains are functioning to offer the optimal customer satisfaction. The structure of single speciality chains allow them to be profit- and expansion-driven while providing monetary incentives to patients.
A single-speciality hospital must always reinforce its ‘speciality' its core business in terms of knowledge and competency. In the case of expansion of the business, the know-how and skills accumulated in the core business are helpful in minimising the negative trade-offs that often come with the growth of an organisation. The accumulation of knowledge also leads to improved supply chain management because of standardisation, and allows the human resources to be managed more simply.
Most single-speciality hospitals not only offer satisfaction and benefits to their customers but also incentives to doctors and other hospital staff. An effort is made to offer a good working environment so as to have a strong base through a skilled staff. As opposed to the bureaucratic decision-making process in general hospitals, doctors in single-specialities feel they are more in-charge of situations and the patients they are dealing with. This, combined with a better nurse-to-patient ratio, contributes towards increased efficiency and a shorter turn-over time.
Another way in which single specialities are able to quote lower prices and earn profits is by combining two or more related services. The can be basic or complex surgeries. The chains are focused in their specialisation and so they demonstrate superior performance both therapeutically and financially.
While single-specialities are creating a sizeable market share for themselves, there is one major deterrent to their growth. The lack of skilled staff is a general plague in the healthcare industry but it is a bigger impediment for single-specialities. As per one Planning Commission report, there is a shortage of six lakh doctors and 10 lakh nurses in India. However, the Government has now rung the gong of skill development with its Skill India plan.
A not-for-profit initiative, Healthcare Sector Skill Council, has been jointly taken by the Confederation of Indian Industry, National Skills Development Corporation and other healthcare bodies, which aims to create a skilled workforce of 48 lakh professionals in the sector of Allied Healthcare and Paramedics. Retaining talents is equally important as investing in skills enhancements of those talents. The single-specialities have been working at creating their own skilled nursing and tertiary staff, especially in places that have a dearth of these facilities, such as tier II cities and rural areas.
The smaller towns are now being looked upon as the potential profit hubs shaping the future of healthcare systems. Going to such towns with the idea of single specialities is both a challenge and opportunity. The risk paves the way for recognising the challenge and coming up with effective solutions. With much planning in the way single-specialities are here to foster their own growth and in turn that of the nation's healthcare industry because the new business dynamic for healthcare is ‘doing what you are best at'.
(The writer is CEO and co-founder, Eye-Q Super Speciality Eye Hospitals)