Hospital Administration is no cake walk. This department is responsible for achieving a balance through coordination and delivery of results. It makes a firewall between compliance and delivery.
The mother hospitals of the two neighboring states- Post Graduation Institute of Medical Education and Research(PGIMER), Chandigarh and Indira Gandhi Medical College(IGMC), Shimla are heavy on footfall. They deliver and perform under difficult circumstances.Hence, it is very important that the administration department keeps picking at an ideal pace.
The importance of efficient functioning of this department was recently highlighted by the PGMIER Director ,professor Jagat Ram, during a Continuing Medical Education(CME) workshop.
He said ,”With the system constantly evolving, the increasing knowledge and enlightenment about frail healthcare practices have opened a Pandora’s box in terms of legal issues and challenges for the administrators. Therefore, the acid test for health care providers is to focus on giving the patients a better experience while conforming to the prevailing laws.”
The Administration department works behind the scene to put forward a perfect picture of a functioning hospital.It is a never-ending process.
One of the examples of the importance of this department was recently witnessed at the IGMC ,shimla.
Assistant Professor(Forensics)Dr. Rahul Gupta, who is also the in charge of the medical store, initiated a drive to remove middlemen from supplying medicine ,along with heart and ortho implants supply. This was done to make them available at much lesser rates to the patients.
Dr Gupta told himachalwire, ”The poor and the needy can now avail these cheaper medicines and implants from ’Rogi Kalyan Samiti’ shop within the hospital premises. The revenue generated from the sales will be used for improving the infrastructure.”This initiative has blocked the private chemist from making their huge profits. Therefore, there were efforts made to hamper the supply of the medicines but timely intervention by the administrationq department staff ensured that direct vendors were roped in and the treatment of patients continued smoothly.
Dr Gupta shared that procurement of the medicines through direct vendors will bring down the cost of medicines and implants by 15-20%.” This will benefit the needy on one hand and on the other will help improve infrastructure for better care of patients and comfort of their attendants.This is a win win situation for the patients as well as the hospital.”
It remains to be seen how such practices are taken to the health care institutions at regional , district and primary levels.
