Indian Healthcare Sector Research Articles

Stakeholders in the Indian Healthcare Sector

<i>Stakeholders in the Indian Healthcare Sector</i>

An Empirical Analysis Of Trends And Opportunities In The Healthcare Services: A Case Study Of India

The present research paper has been based on the healthcare services in India. Though the country is full of natural and human resources, poor healthcare services are one of the drawbacks of the country. The Indian healthcare sector, one of the fastest-growing industries, is expected to reach $ 280 billion. The paper has focused on the Advantages of healthcare services in India. The functioning of the Indian health services market and healthcare expenditure over the years has also been studied. Appropriate expenses on the healthcare services in India will certainly bring an increase in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In the present paper Private sector and health services in India and the growth of Per Capita, healthcare expenditure has been elaborated. The researcher has also gone through key companies in the Indian healthcare market. There are various trends in the Indian healthcare sector. The study has also focused on growth drivers of the Indian healthcare sector and medical tourism at the same time 12th Five-Year Plan (2012–17) and health services in India. And finally, the paper has studied the Indian healthcare sector and policy support, opportunities in the Indian healthcare sector. The paper concluded with certain suggestions and recommendations.

Medical tourism in India: Challenges and opportunities

Over a period of time Medical tourism, which is alternatively called health tourism or wellness tourism, has gained lot of momentum. India’s emergence of one of the world’s fastest growing economy, coupled with Government policies for promoting overall economic growth, medical tourism has grown in to leaps and bounds in India. It is a silent revolution that has been sweeping the healthcare landscape of India for almost a decade by making significant contribution to Indian economy. The tourism industry of India is economically important and growing rapidly. Indian health care sector is considered one of the largest in terms of both revenue and workforce employment. Indian medical tourism industry is expected to reach $6 billion by 2018, with number of people arriving in the country for medical treatment set to double over next four year. A large and growing population, a booming economy, rapid urbanisation which has expanded the middle class, rising diseases and increased awareness level has enabled the sector to grow at much higher rate. This research paper makes an effort to understand reasons for the growth of medical tourism in India, stake holders & their role in promoting Medical tourism, future prospect of the medical tourism of India.

Estimating Security Risk of Healthcare Web Applications: A Design Perspective

In the recent years, the booming web-based applications have attracted the hackers’ community. The security risk of the web-based hospital management system (WBHMS) has been increasing rapidly. In the given context, the main goal of all security professionals and website developers is to maintain security divisions and improve on the user’s confidence and satisfaction. At this point, the different WBHMS tackle different types of security risks. In WBHMS, the security of the patients’ medical information is of utmost importance. All in all, there is an inherent security risk of data and assets in the field of the medical industry as a whole. The objective of this study is to estimate the security risk assessment of WBHMS. The risks assessment pertains to securing the integrity of the information in alignment with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. This includes protecting the relevant financial records, as well as the identification, evaluation, and prevention of a data breach. In the past few years, according to the US-based cyber-security firm <i>Fire-eye</i>, 6.8 million data thefts have been recorded in the healthcare sector in India. The breach barometer report mentions that in the year 2019, the data breaches found were up to 48.6% as compared to the year 2018. Therefore, it is very important to assess the security risk in WBHMS. In this research, we have followed the hybrid technique fuzzy analytic hierarchy process-technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (F-AHPTOPSIS) approach to assess the security risk in WBHMS. The place of this empirical database is at the local hospital of Varanasi, U.P., India. Given the affectability of WBHMS for its board framework, this work has used diverse types of web applications. The outcomes obtained and the procedure used in this assessment would support future researchers and specialists in organizing web applications through advanced support of safety and security.

Transactional Model of eGovernance: Empirical Evidence from the Healthcare Sector of India

Transactional Model of eGovernance: Empirical Evidence from the Healthcare Sector of India

National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Accreditation System for healthcare sector in India

Quality and standards of services in healthcare have become essential for the current generation of healthcare providers and beneficiaries, that is, patients. Healthcare accreditation has become the most important tool for improving the standard of the hospitals and thereafter benchmarking. Most hospitals and healthcare providers are differentiated and evaluated according to their organizational performance and quality. National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) is an integral board of the Quality Council of India (QCI), which has been established to operate an accreditation program for healthcare organizations/institutions globally. Accreditation is a public recognition awarded to healthcare organizations that fulfill the standards laid by NABH through an independent external assessment, conducted by a qualified team of assessors. In India, healthcare organizations face a lot of burden on the number of patients. However, it is important to have a keen quality and standards of services to such a huge number of patients without compromise. NABH helps with its standards controlling the standard of care and services by the health industry in different areas. There is a constant need that many such organizations are motivated to undergo an accreditation process to have uniformity in the standard of services worldwide as it is a voluntary act in India.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Stock Returns of the Indian Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Sector

Increasing COVID-19 cases has not only impacted health and day-to-day lives of people, but it has also had a material effect on India’s economic growth. Stock returns of various sectors are evidence of a country’s stagnated growth but the healthcare and pharmaceutical sector might be affected in a different manner. The purpose of this paper is to find out how has this pandemic has impacted the healthcare and pharma stocks. Daily closing prices of sector specific indexes for 233 days ranging from 15 May 2019 to 24 April 2020 have been taken to compare different sectors with our test sector, on the basis of different criteria. This study has applied the widely used event study methodology on our test sector; calculated abnormal returns, cumulative abnormal returns and also tested their significance. Event study approach suggests that there have been significant abnormal returns and cumulative abnormal returns in our test sector (healthcare and pharmaceutical sector) over the event window, though while comparing it with other sectors through another econometric model, the returns are not statistically significant and do not explicitly indicate the same.

Economic impact of COVID-19 on the Indian healthcare sector: an overview

A fearsome health calamity- the novel coronavirus of 2019 struck the world and created havoc with its rapid spread. Various countries got affected in terms of economic and other losses and the extent of impact depended on the pre-existing financial arrangement of the country and various other factors. Due to this outbreak, healthcare sector was one of the worst affected. Also, it needed most investment and had to respond quickly and effectively to manage this crisis. Among the countries affected, India- a financial centre with significant worldwide connectivity was impacted directly, leading to an imminent breakdown of economical markets. This paper tries to understand the different aspects of economic challenges faced by the Indian healthcare system and devise the possible measures to overcome the effect of COVID-19 pandemic in India. It analyses the short term and possible long-term impact of this pandemic on the health care sector of India in terms of efficiency and equity. The Indian Government had acted rapidly to allocate funds, resources and manpower. It announced relief packages for the marginalized communities and covered costs. Specific research centres in the country need to work to quickly mitigate any further damage.

Prices of combination medicines and single-molecule antihypertensive medicines in India's private health care sector.

More than half of patients with hypertension require two or more medicines to control blood pressure. Combinations of anti‐hypertensive medicines are available as Single Pill Combinations (SPCs) or Single Agent Pills (SAPs). SPCs of two or more anti‐hypertensive medicines facilitate simpler dosing schedules, decrease pill burden, increase adherence to medicine, and simplify procurement and distribution. Despite this, equivalent combinations of separate pills (SAPs) are often prescribed instead of SPCs under the assumption that SAPs are priced lower. This study compared prices of anti‐hypertensive SPCs and equivalent SAPs in the private health care sector of India. High sales volume anti‐hypertensive SPCs and SAPs were selected from 2018 private sector pharmaceutical sales data. SPCs and SAPs price information was collected from online pharmacy websites between November 2019 and January 2020. Anti‐hypertensive SPCs represent approximately 39.1% of India's private sector anti‐hypertensive drug market. Multiple manufacturers produce the same top‐selling SPCs, suggesting a viable and competitive market. A comparison of SPCs and SAPs across different manufacturers showed that the lowest prices of both SPCs and the sum of component SAPs were nearly identical across different manufacturers. An analysis of dual‐drug SPCs and SAPs by the same manufacturer showed that most manufacturers (five of six) had priced their SPCs higher than SAPs. These observations suggest that the price of SPCs could be lowered to match the combined price of the component SAPs, and manufacturing costs and market forces do not present a barrier to the implementation of anti‐hypertensive SPCs.

From regional innovation systems to global innovation hubs: Evidence of a Quadruple Helix from an emerging economy

Despite the growing importance of regional innovation systems as agglomerations of firms and actors that possess technical, leadership and managerial endowments for innovation and R&D activities, their impact on the evolution of global innovation hubs is still unclear. We address this gap by investigating the multiple influences of macro-, meso- and micro-level factors in the formation of global innovation hubs, using a comparative qualitative case study design with four MNEs operating in the Indian IT, pharma and healthcare sectors. We confirm the presence of ‘Communities of Practice’ as a fourth strand in our conceptualization of a Quadruple Helix in the emerging markets context. We also discover the critical role played by the interactions among communities of practice members and meso-level investments in organizational capabilities, learning and relationship quality. Finally, we highlight the importance of managing trust and power dynamics among members of communities of practice in a global innovation hub.

TQM implementation practices and performance outcome of Indian hospitals: exploratory findings

PurposeThis paper explores and interprets the linkage between total quality management (TQM) practices and organizational performance measures for improving the healthcare firms’ performance. Indian healthcare firms are aware of TQM practices and their benefits, but the awareness level varies among the firms and staff. The study looks into the effectiveness of quality awareness to meet quality performance in Indian hospitals.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire based on previous research was circulated among the managers and medical staff. The model linking TQM and organizational performance is analyzed with structural equation modelling and confirmed the hypotheses stated. Interpretations to improve hospital performance are made.FindingsThe study identified ten relevant TQM factors and confirmed their importance towards the improved organizational performance of Indian hospitals. Top management initiative, continuous process improvement and team work are the most contributing TQM factors. Differences in the awareness levels by the management staff and medical staff are attributed. The managers and medical staff are aware of the benefits of TQM towards firm performance, but it is to be improved further.Research limitations/implicationsCross-validation and interpretation are affected due to the limited sample size. Longitudinal study is recommended to explore the individual hospital as specific cases. Larger sample size is suggested as an extended work to overcome the demographic and infrastructural limitations of the firms included.Practical implicationsThe management is more interested in TQM, but there is lack of awareness among the staff. The quality awareness and customer focus by medical staff are the most weakly loaded factors, and the weaknesses can be remedied by the lead role by the hospital management in providing proper training and thereby improving the attitude of the medical staff.Social implicationsEffectiveness of hospital operations is highly dependent on customer focus. Properly communicated, committed and trained staff with good-quality awareness can better implement TQM and thereby improve hospital performance. Lead role by the management is very important, and the paper lists ways to attain these outcomes.Originality/valueVery little is reported from the Indian healthcare sector linking TQM and outcome performance. The quality awareness, customer focus, communication and learning by the medical staff are to be improved, and the paper suggests ways to link TQM more effectively to improve the performance in hospitals. These findings may be useful to the managers, medical staff and researchers in healthcare to bring better results.

Data Visualization for Accelerated Business Intelligence in the Indian Health Care Sector using Tableau

Purpose Big data analytics capability is the new source of competitive advantage. This is very axiomatic and it is also known that this capability covers the domain of descriptive, diagnostic, predictive and prescriptive analytics. Apart from the capability of managing data coming with high velocity, huge volume, and high variety the capability to analyze data with the same or more speed is a not only a hygiene factor but a compulsion for any organization. Ease of use of data visualizing tools which help in describing the data is driving the consumption of visualization tools and Tableau has taken a clear lead, and is witnessing mass adoption. The paper is a detailed account of creating a interactive visualization of heath care infrastructure data using Tableau Publix as a business intelligence tool. Methods: The Visualization is done on data taken from Open Government Data (OGD) Platform India. The paper is a demonstration of the use of visualization for exploration of data, generation of relevant questions and thereafter finding the right answers. Result: The papers explores the data and does the following through visualization 1. Maps the geography (Indian states) with total number of patients) 2. Maps the state name with segregated number of patients suffering from acute and chronic disease. 3. Maps the state name with segregated number of patients suffering from chronic disease. 4. Maps the state name with segregated number of patients suffering from acute disease. 5. Builds all the above in an interactive dashboard.

Assessment of Knowledge, Perception, and Willingness of using Telemedicine among Medical and Allied Healthcare Students Studying in Private Institutions

Introduction: Telemedicine is a developing technology in the Indian healthcare sector. The success of any new technology depends on factors such as knowledge, perception, and willingness of users and professionals to engage it. This study assessed the knowledge, perception, and willingness of healthcare students to use telemedicine. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among healthcare students from May 10, 2020 to June 30, 2020 in India. In this study, there were 428 individuals selected using Non-Probability Convenience Sampling and were approached through online Google Forms. The pretested study questionnaire that administered had four parts: demographic details, willingness, perception, and knowledge level. Data analysis was performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. Results: Out of the total study population, 40% were male and 60% were female. Forty-three percentage of the total population reported insufficient knowledge of telemedicine, and 52.1% had insufficient knowledge about its application. However, 90.9% viewed telemedicine as a viable approach, and they were willing to use telemedicine and integrate it in their practice in future. It was determined that perception toward telemedicine influenced willingness for adopting in their careers. Conclusion: Even though each participant’s knowledge and awareness were limited, the majority of individuals reported positive perception and willingness toward using the telemedicine in their career. Thus, it is essential to build proper and effective communication channels and awareness among students, professionals, and users for telemedicine to succeed in India.

Determinants of diffusion of environmental sustainability innovations in hospitals of Bihar state in India

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the effect of the characteristics of innovation and change adopters on the rate of adoption of environmental sustainability innovations in hospitals of Bihar state in India.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from hospital administration, managers, doctors, nurses and staff working at various levels in both public and private hospitals of Bihar. Research model was tested using regression analysis with the help of statistical package for social sciences 24.FindingsInnovation characteristics of relative advantage, simplicity, trialability and compatibility were found to significantly predict the adoption of eco-innovations while innovativeness and environmental opinion leadership failed to demonstrate any significant impact on sustainability adoption in hospitals.Originality/valueThis study provides important information to the change agents on how to diffuse green innovations in the unsustainable and inefficient areas and make them more sustainable. With no systematic investigation of sustainability innovations being done in the health-care sector in India, this study on eco-innovations in a resource-constrained state of India provides a fresh perspective and practical insights on the state of sustainability innovations in health care.

Clinical research during coronavirus disease pandemic: Challenges and way forward

With the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) being declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization, the Indian health-care sector is at the forefront to deliver optimal care but with constrained resources and several challenges. The pandemic has also brought about a state of urgency to develop suitable management principles for COVID-19 with the help of suitably designed clinical trials. However, the pandemic along with the lockdown and other restrictions has affected the conduct of clinical trials in terms of restrictions on travelling, trial site staff availability, investigational product availability, and medical oversight among others. This article provides structured recommendations for sponsors, investigators, clinical trial personnel to adapt to the situation by identifying potential risks and challenges and mitigating them to conduct clinical trials well within the ambit of local regulatory guidelines and requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Balanced Scorecard Adaptation using AHP for the Corporate Healthcare Sector in India

The Balanced Scorecard(BSC) developed in the 1990s as a performance management tool finds significant applications in several areas including healthcare. Healthcare Industry though was slow in utilising the BSC due to complications in data sourcing and its management. The varied nature of data generated and handled in the process of healthcare delivery poses a challenge in measuring and prioritising the Key Performance Indicators(KPI). In the present study, to tackle this challenge the Analytic Hierarchy Process(AHP) which uses mathematical modelling and powerful synthesis for combining data and judgement to effectively rank options and predict outcomes has been applied. Here, the AHP was used to develop a comprehensive BSC that will not only give priorities within each perspective of the BSC but also provide an overall ranking list to aid performance management. Twenty senior administrators from a Corporate Hospital in India took part in the AHP exercise to give their pairwise choices for all the KPIs. The eigenvector method of the AHP aided in consolidating and processing their collective opinions to give a scientifically designed BSC framework. To ensure data validity in terms of consistencies and to perform the complex calculations involved, the Business Performance Management Singapore (BPMSG) template was used. By adopting the Row Geometric Mean Method this template provided the final output in an easy-to-read graphical form which can be displayed on a digital dashboard. The primary advantage of this method of display is the flexibility it permits in modifying the target values of the KPIs, real-time. The outcome of this study is expected to provide strategic directions to the hospital. The developed BSC framework is also expected to provide a benchmark for other similar healthcare institutions across India.

Adapting Management of Sarcomas in COVID-19: An Evidence-Based Review.

With the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) being declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization, the Indian healthcare sector is at the forefront to deliver optimal care. Patients with cancer especially are at serious risk for increased chances of morbidity and mortality due to their immunocompromised state. Currently there is a paucity of definitive guidelines for the management of sarcomas during the pandemic in a resource-constrained and diverse population setting like India. Health care professionals from various specialties involved in the management of sarcomas have collaborated to discuss various aspects of evidence-based sarcoma management during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article provides structured recommendations for HCP to adapt to the situation, optimize treatment protocols with judicious use of all resources while providing evidence-based treatment for sarcoma patients.

SUN-428 Rural India Embracing Advanced Techniques in MIS:- A Series of 20 Cases of Thyroid Surgeries by Transoral Endoscopic Thyroidectomy-Vestibular Approach (TOETVA) Technique with Respect to Acceptance of Progressive Surgeries Using Advanced Technologies, Techniques by Rural Patients and it’s Safety &amp; Feasibility in Small Setup Hospital in Rural India

Aims & ObjectivesTransoral Endoscopic Thyroidectomy Vestibular Approach (TOETVA) an alternative surgical technique for thyroid surgery is slowly gaining widespread popularity.Majority of TOETVA surgeries are performed in Tertiary Care institutes. It’s safety & Feasibility in small setup hospitals has not been reported until now. The key challenges in Indian Rural healthcare sector are Lack of Quality Infrastructure, Dearth of qualified medical functionaries and NonAccess to basic medicines and medical facilities thwarts its reach to population in rural India. Indian Health Care sector is a self-pay market. Lack of awareness & affordability being a challenge with patients they remain apprehensive in acceptance of Advanced Technology or newer Techniques.This series is an attempt to study A shift in acceptance of progressive surgeries using Advanced Technologies & Techniques by Rural Patients and its Safety & Feasibility in Smaller operative setups in rural India.MethodsProper patient selection along with proper instrumentation & OT setup helped complete the procedures without any major complication.Advanced Instrumentation along with essential Operation Theatre setup were utilised for performing Total of 20 TOETVA procedures.For successful execution of TOETVA surgeries extensive Training Programs were furnished to equip stakeholder teams with respective Skill, Knowledge & Attitude sets.Organisational SWOT Analysis & Competency mapping contributed to strategise a helping approach to Educate & Influence stakeholders.ResultsTotal 20 patients were operated by TransOral Endoscopic Thyroidectomy - Vestibular (TOETVA) Technique from May 2018 till September 2019.Three SubTotal Thyroidectomies & 16 Hemithyroidectomies were performed. One patient was operated for Thyroglossal cyst.Increased awareness about a need to Improve on competence of Empathy & Accountability, Pursuit of Quality Care & Inculcating Cost-Effective use of the results of relevant research in regular functions.ConclusionsThere is a noticeable paradigm Shift in acceptance of rural patients as well as of rural paramedical staff that these surgeries which require Advanced Technology & Innovative Techniques are easily Accessible & Executable without undue cost burden with utmost safety at their own vicinity even in the small setup hospitals.This study aids to recommend Feasibility & Safety of TOETVA even for small setup of hospitals in Rural India.

Ensuring accountability and responsiveness of the private health sector in India: National workshop report.

The increasing prevalence of unethical practices such as unnecessary investigations, overcharging, and violation of patients' rights, especially in private hospitals, have drawn attention to the unregulated and overwhelmingly commercialised nature of the private healthcare sector in India.

Google trend analysis of climatic zone based Indian severe seasonal sensitive population

BackgroundOur earlier Google Trend (GT) Analytics study reported that the worldwide human population severely subject to four seasonal (sensitive) comorbid lifestyle diseases (SCLD) such as asthma, obesity, hypertension and fibrosis. The human population subject to seasonal variability in these four diseases activity referred as “severe seasonal sensitive population”. In India, the estimated burden of these four seasonal diseases is more than 350 million as on the year 2018. It is a growing crisis for India with a projected disease burden of 500 million in the year 2025. This study was aimed to decipher the genuine SCLD seasonal trends in the entire Indian population using GT and validate these trends in Indian climatic zones.MethodsGT is used to study the temporal trends in web search using weekly Relative Search Volume (RSV) for the period 2004 to 2017. The relative search volume (RSV) of the four-severe seasonal comorbid diseases namely Asthma, Hypertension, Obesity and Fibrosis were collected with and without obesity as the reference. The RSV were collected using the GT selection options as (i) Whole India (ii) Jammu and Kashmir (Cold zone) (iii) Rajasthan (Hot and Dry zone) (iii) West Bengal (Hot and Humid zone) and (iv) Uttar Pradesh state (Composite zone). The time series analysis was carried out to find seasonal patterns, comorbidity, trends and periodicity in the entire India and four of its states (zones).ResultsOur analysis of entire India (2004–2017) revealed high significant seasonal patterns and comorbidity in all the four diseases of SCLD. The positive tau values indicated strong positive seasonal trends in the SCLD throughout the period (Table). The auto correlation analysis revealed that these diseases were subjected to 3, 4 and 6 months period seasonal variations. Similar seasonal patterns and trends were also observed in all the four Indian temperature zones. Overall study indicated that SCLD seasonal search patterns and trends are highly conserved in India even in drastic Indian climatic zones.ConclusionsThe clinical outcome arise out of these observations could be of immense significance in handling the major chronic life style diseases asthma, hypertension, obesity and fibrosis. The possible strong comorbid relationship among asthma, hypertension, obesity and fibrosis may be useful to segregate Indian seasonal sensitive population. In disease activity-based chronotherapy, the search interest of segment of the population with access to Internet may be used as an indicator for public health sectors in the early detection of SCLD from a specific country or a region. As this disease population could be highly subject to the adverse effect of seasons in addition to life style and other environmental factors. Our study necessitates that these Indian populations need special attention from the Indian health care sectors.