We need more Hospitels
The concept of Hospitels ( hospitals + hotels ) or hospitals with holistic approach and touch of hospitality is becoming popular. With the eye on the international market and aiming to provide state of the art technology and quality medical care , Indian hospitals are gearing up for service provision to lure customers ( patients ) . Many upcoming hospitals are adopting innovative interior decoration to camouflage the traditional hospital look into a look of a hotel or a resort, This attempt to mimic a hotel environment is certainly an interesting aspect , but a question arises in mind, wouldn't this practice increase the cost of the project and invariantly the cost apportionment would increase the healthcare cost . Secondly if this facility provision be only for international patient wards / VIP suites . and not for others , then it would be a classic example response to disparity and it is existent, But we certainly need more hospitels. There has been a paradigm shift in hospital planning , and over a period of time the number of beds assigned for in single and double sharing rooms has been increasing , more and more people preferring single rooms ( Indian situation ) and the number of general ward beds are decreasing, however another practice is critical care beds are becoming major portion of total number of beds and major money spinners out of surgical intensive care units with lesser number of average length of stays. I would request honorable memebrs to put in their thoughts.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Roshan Shah on -
Hospitals shouldn't try and mimic hotels. It is not their line of business and trying to do too much outside their core competencies (i.e treating patients) may backfire.
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Permalink Reply by Ashok Panda on -
If possible please try to visit AHIRC , Mumbai, Pantai hospital , Ipoh , Malaysia. The biggest success and pioneer in this is Bumrungrad hospital .But at the same time I would like to hear more, why it may back fire, hospital management science is an applied science covers hundreds of disciplines and no core competency can be developed than optimal performance and coordination in each discipline. Treating patients is not just providing clinical care . it includes a whole lot of other exercises. If you want drop me a line , can discuss elaborately what all comes under treating a patient.
Regards
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Permalink Reply by Mubbashir on -
Dear Mr Ashok Kumar,
Greetings from Kuala Lumpur.
Very important aspect in the current medical tourism development that the hospitals are going through a shift from traditional two ended approach to a more one sided feel. Means payers and providers are on the same side. Healthcare over all is getting this feel, not just because of medical tourism but because of improving knowledge of health seekers (payers/ patients). I think, this is also natural that human beings are getting more intelligent to cope with these new dynamics of lifestyle and healthcare.
I think, more and more hospitals will be transformed into more relaxed and natural looking ambiance of wellness and it is not because this is need of Medical Tourism but it is natural change in healthcare. Only that it comes to those high end providers who are also focusing medical tourism and put them as a unique selling preposition to travelers for health.
I am sure, some of us may have heard of hospitals where one can bring their pets and one can cook their favorite food and can play piano or have daily music performances or they have in room service channels not just on healthcare but sports, and variety of fun and entertainment. I hope all these things have not caused any derangement in provision of healthcare.
Best regards
Mubbashir
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Permalink Reply by Ashok Panda on
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Dear Dr. Mubbashir
I appreciate your view point. There remains diversity amongst the healthcare provider countries providing medical tourism and different delivery systems are available. Some countries' government patronize medical tourism and hence there is a different channel for the hospitals or costs are distributed or lesser. In some countries the total promotional activities are taken care by the hospitals only. But in call cases the goal is to brand medical tourism and attract the population crossing border for healthcare services be it curative or holistic medicine. In these circumstances the value added services create a different perception and earns goodwill of the patient who turns brand ambassador while back home clears the idea of others that developing countries are overcrowded and patients are neglected there.The creation of ambiance is one time cost but has huge hidden ROI.
Regards
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