Wockhardt made its first entry into the health care delivery market in the late 1980s, when it established a cardiac hospital in Bangalore and a kidney center 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 the country’s second largest hospital chain—spreads across India, with facilities located in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Nagpur. In 2000, Wockhardt entered into a multi-year partnership with then-Harvard Medical International focused on the development of high-quality facilities and clinical programs.

The Indian health care industry is undergoing a period of transformation, marked by increased competition, a high level of customer awareness of the quality of hospital deliverables, a heightened focus on quality and performance improvement, and the rapid growth of the private health care sector. Wockhardt is emblematic of the new wave of high-tech corporate health care networks that have strived to use international benchmarks of quality to achieve regional market share while attracting increasing numbers of international patients.


In 2003, Wockhardt and PHMI began an initiative aimed at instituting a sustainable quality improvement model for the new Wockhardt Heart Hospital in Mulund (Mumbai). PHMI helped Wockhardt’s executive leadership with strategy development and made frequent site visits to oversee the progress of improvement and provide training for Wockhardt clinicians and staff. Teams from PHMI and Wockhardt worked together to:

  • Develop a Performance Improvement Plan with clear benchmarks and measures to guide continuous improvement across all facets of the hospital
  • Create a multidisciplinary Care and Quality Improvement Council made up of representatives from around the hospital to oversee aspects of the plan’s implementation
  • Align Wockhardt’s efforts with the defined international standards related to different aspects of quality and patient care, such as infection control, health information management, patient safety, and clinical quality performance indicators
  • Collect input from all facets of the medical and administrative staff to encourage the development of a quality culture
  • Provide professional development and training for medical and administrative staff
  • Establish the processes and specific outcome measures for patient care and self-assessment


In August 2005, just two years after opening, the hospital was evaluated and accredited by the Joint Commission International (JCI), only the second health care provider in India to earn this distinction. The efforts leading to this achievement have served as the model for performance improvements at Wockhardt’s other hospitals, including the Bangalore hospital, which was accredited by JCI in 2008. Today Wockhardt continues to work with PHMI to maintain the momentum of its quality improvement journey, and develop innovative clinical and training programs.