Oncology Program with Lowell Schnipper.

Wockhardt looks beyond accreditation to a network built on knowledge and continuous learning

Sunday, August 10, 2008

In the nearly three years since its hospital in Mumbai was accredited by Joint Commission International (JCI), Wockhardt Hospitals Limited (WHL) has received a great deal of media attention both inside and outside India. Much of this focus can be attributed to growing interest in the trend of “medical tourism,” which has U.S. newspapers publishing first-hand accounts of first-class treatment received by American patients in one of Wockhardt’s specialty hospitals. Observers also point to Wockhardt as a major player in the emerging “corporate” health care sector that is evolving to address the needs of India’s growing middle class.

Meanwhile, Wockhardt continues to enhance its network of hospitals on several fronts: quality and performance monitoring, professional staff development, and new clinical program development in accordance with growing patient demand. At the same time, Wockhardt is looking to increase capacity in some existing facilities and expand the network’s reach across India.  

During a recent visit to Partners Harvard Medical International (PHMI), WHL Chief Executive Officer Vishal Bali said that the hospital’s leadership are working to maintain their competitive focus while also considering how to measure and learn from the progress they have already made. “We are asking ourselves the question: what is the next step that we must take to differentiate ourselves?” he said.
 

Drive to quality
Wockhardt, Ltd., parent company of Wockhardt Hospitals Limited, is a leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology company founded in the early 1960s. From its Mumbai headquarters, founding Chairman Habil Khorakiwala presides over a global operation that includes more than 5,500 employees operating businesses ranging from the manufacture and marketing of pharmaceutical and biopharmaceuticals, active pharmaceutical ingredients, vaccines, medical nutrition products, and animal health products.

Wockhardt made its first entry into the health care delivery market in the late 1990, when it established a cardiac hospital in Bangalore and a urology/nephrology Hospital in Kolkata. Today, Wockhardt operates a network of super-specialty hospitals offering high-quality care in disciplines such as cardiology, orthopedics, brain and spinal medicine, and minimally invasive surgery. The network—at present more than a dozen hospitals, with several more in the works—spreads across India, with facilities located in Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Nagpur, Rajkot, and Surat. In 2000, Wockhardt entered into a multi-year relationship with then-Harvard Medical International focused on the development of high-quality facilities and clinical programs.

In August 2005, Wockhardt’s Mumbai hospital was surveyed and accredited by JCI, only the second hospital in India to earn the distinction. Recently, another Wockhardt hospital, this one in Bangalore, followed suit. Said Bali, now that many staff members in the Wockhardt network have been part of accreditation initiatives, “The entire JCI quality process has been internalized.”

In fact, the concept of accreditation has taken hold in India, as hospitals in the thriving private sector jockey for market position. But it’s not just the JCI stamp that is coveted by local organizations. “Everyone in India is talking about and seeking NABH status,” says Bali, referring to the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Health Care Providers. Wockhardt’s own Dr. Lloyd Nazareth, who has played a lead role in the network’s quality efforts, sits on the NABH Board.

More Wockhardt hospitals are in the accreditation queue, but Bali believes the time is right for Wockhardt to capitalize on the experiences of previous quality drives. “We looked at the JCI journey at that time as a way to demonstrate our focus on quality and standards. Now we want to crystalize what we do at Wockhardt post-JCI,” he said.

Wockhardt, he said, aims to be a leader in clinical care that measures its work, publishes outcomes, and improves care based on this knowledge and learning. This kind of self-study and publishing is unprecedented among Indian hospitals.
 

Looking at clinical programs
In recent months Wockhardt and PHMI have been tapping experts in the Harvard Medical School community for insight into clinical program development. In April, Dr. Lowell Schnipper, head of oncology and hematology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, guided Mr. Bali on a tour of his department. Later this year, Dr. Schnipper will visit Wockhardt and review its programs in surgical, medical, and radiation oncology.

In May, Dr. Peter Black, a neurosurgeon at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, accompanied PHMI Director Dr. Regis de Silva on a visit to Wockhardt’s facilities in Bangalore and Mumbai. In addition to providing an assessment of the neurological services at these clinical sites, Dr. Black met with local neurosurgeons and gave a public lecture on recent advances in the field. He is now working with PHMI to develop a scope of activities that could potentially bring Wockhardt specialists to Boston for advanced training in the treatment of brain tumors, cerebrovascular (stroke) service, and deep brain stimulation.


Attracting international patients
Vishal Bali is aiming to look beyond the phrase “medical tourism.” Instead, he believes that terms like “medical value travel” or “global care options” truly define the globalization of health care delivery. Terminology aside, Wockhardt’s specialty hospitals have been able to draw some 3,500 foreign patients in the last year and a half. The Wockhardt Hospitals website features a collection of video testimonials from several U.S. and European patients who found in Wockhardt a provider who could meet their need for affordable, high-quality health care services, including hip resurfacing surgery, knee replacement, spine surgery, and heart valve replacement.