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Madhumathi D.S.

Targets mid-sized hospitals for its `New Mantra' initiative

Bangalore , Dec. 18

IBM's healthcare division has started prescribing its `new mantra' for mid-sized hospitals on how to get the best out of information technology in their business.

The first step is to make them go electronic with their data and the objective is to make them patient-friendly on all fronts, be it quality, cost or service, according to Mr Mohammed Naseem, Vice-President and Head of IBM's healthcare practice in India.

This is the IT major's first comprehensive healthcare pitch that has just started unfolding in India; IBM Healthcare expects to have 4-5 pilot cases ready by end-January 2007 and showcase their experiences a few months thereafter to the other stakeholders - government, consumer, insurance and pharma companies.

The `New Mantra,' which is also the technology major's healthcare slogan, is targeted at mid-sized hospitals of 50-200 beds with basic IT needs. These are typically run by doctors, treat 70 per cent of cases in the country; and have turnovers upwards of Rs 5-10 crore depending on the treatments they offer. Much of their patient records are still paper, unlike the large, corporate, metro-based hospitals that start off IT-savvy.

To begin with, revenue management will be the focus area and the hospitals will be helped with billing and patient scheduling, said Mr A. Srivathsan, Head, IBM Healthcare Business Solutions. The next aspect would be cost-cutting.

The roadshow has been in Mumbai and Bangalore and will roll into Delhi and other cities.

Mr Naseem said IBM would bring to them global and domestic experiences; make them re-look at their own business model; and help them innovate it through IT and get a better grip on their routine practices. "We would be helping them to take the right decisions," he told Business Line. The work done by IBM's Indian and seven global labs with Mayo Clinic in the US will be showcased, where they unravelled records of four million Mayo patients.

Currently, Indian hospitals' IT spend is put between Rs 20,000 and a few crores of rupees, depending on their size, location and services offered.

Healthcare in the US, despite getting the world's largest spending, is in a crisis as patient benefits, especially care of the elderly and chronic patients, are falling short of costs and expectations, as per a study by the IBM Institute of Business Value. "We in developing economies are within striking distance of such a crisis," Mr Srivathsan said. IBM plans to bring in more hospitals and stakeholders in the country within its `IT movement' next year.

More Stories on : Outlook | Medical Institutions & Hospitals | Software

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