The Hindu Business Line : MIOT Hospitals chalks out growth strategy

Keyhole surgery
A small hole is made in the body through which a camera-bearing scope is sent that lets the surgeon see the internal organs on a video and perform the surgery through the hole
The surgery is safer and cheaper due to lesser chance of infection and a shorter stay in the hospital

Chennai , Aug. 22

After a financially successful half-decade, Chennai-based MIOT Hospitals appears to have two distinct strategies for its future. The first is its expansion plan. The second is positioning itself as a leader in `minimal invasive surgery' (or `keyhole surgery', as the hospital calls it) area.

Business-wise, figures show (table) that the hospital's performance has been improving. In 2000, its turnover was Rs 7.90 crore. Dr P.V.A. Mohandas, Managing Director, MIOT Hospitals, expects this year's turnover to cross Rs 60 crore.

Dr Mohandas told Business Line recently that the demand for the hospital's services was growing. Number of in-patients has increased from 3,700 in 2002-03 to 6,636 last year.

Expansion plans

The financial performance and the growing demand for services have provided MIOT with the justification to expand capacity. At present, the hospital has 290 rooms, each containing one patient bed. Dr Mohandas said that this capacity would be raised to 1,000 rooms over a period of five years, in a phased manner.

Alongside MIOT Hospitals has built a `MIOT Retreat', a 100-room residence facility for patients and their families. MIOT Retreat is to be formally inaugurated later this month.

The first phase of expansion is likely to be discussed in the hospital's forthcoming board meeting later this month, Mrs Mallika Mohandas, Chairman, MIOT Hospitals, told Business Line.

But more than the expansion, it is about the second prong of the strategy— positioning itself as a leader in `keyhole surgery' that Dr Mohandas is passionate about.

At MIOT, all major surgeries, including coronary bypass, brain tumour and hip surgeries, are done by minimally invasive techniques. Basically these techniques work like this: make a small hole, send into the body a camera-bearing scope that lets the surgeon see the internal organs on a video and perform the surgery through the hole.

Benefits

The medical as well as economic advantages are significant, Dr Mohandas pointed out. Medically, the surgeries are safer because unlike in a cut-open operation the internal organs are not exposed and therefore are protected from infection and dehydration.

It also helps the patient save money because his or her stay in the hospital is significantly shorter, Dr Mohandas said. In most cases, the patient could be discharged the day after the operation or the next day.

MIOT Hospitals has begun to advertise its expertise in keyhole surgery on billboards in Chennai. Is a hospital right in advertising? Asked this, Dr Mohandas said that it was only through advertisements could doctors create awareness among the public about advances in medicine.

In this context, Dr Mohandas called for evolving standards for hospitals so that a patient knows what kind of a hospital he is going to. The patient should know, before entering the hospital, the kind of facilities it has— such as whether it has an imaging facility or a blood bank or an intensive care unit.

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