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20
Aug 14
Healthcare Market Survey
Any project or business concept needs to be understood from its foundational fabric before getting into the project. The initial study should focus on understanding how the end users feel about the particular idea and their opinion which adds value to the sustainability of the project. A Hospital, unlike other organizations is a multi-disciplinary and human resource intense project with huge expenses towards the salaries. Hence it is mandatory in the present day to understand the sustainability before facing surprises while the hospital is functional. At the same time, most of the doctors / promoters will be looking for investments / loan from financial institutions and such companies seek a market survey at the very outset and the feasibility report of maintaining the structure running smoothly to understand the fund-flow and to look into other financial indicators. Patients & doctors are the main stakeholders of the Hospital and since it is community based, one needs to understand the available healthcare services in the locality. It is important to interact with the local people, doctors and also service providers to understand the real necessity of the proposed hospital. It may so happen that the concept was something different and after the survey, one may be forced to change the way promoters think in freezing the required facility. The main components of the market survey include Interacting with the community to understand their problems and requirements Interacting with the local GPs to understand how the community behaves in terms of seeking healthcare service Investigating the local healthcare providers to understand their facilities & services Investigating the prevailing tariff in the local hospitals This methodology is a basic one for multi-specialty hospitals and poly clinics. This may vary if the hospital is a single specialty or with 2-3 specialties, wherein the research includes understanding the case load and hence incidence and prevalence of the disease condition. At the end of the survey, the information which one has gathered will help the consultants to advice on freezing the facility and services. The consultants work on the financials keeping the prevailing tariff in mind to derive the profitability based on the market survey. The consultants guide promoters in phasing the project looking into the market behaviour and hence minimize the loss otherwise. FAQs Hospital Market Survey How does market survey help in conceptualizing the facilities in hospital or healthcare initiatives? Does the bankers look into market survey to sanction the loan amount for Hospital projects? Is it mandatory to do Hospital Market Survey to work on the feasibility study of a Hospital project? I want to come up with a Hospital, whom to consult for end to end assistance? We are group of doctors wanting to establish a hospital but we want service to work on a project plan for bank loan. Whom to consult for such services?
20
Aug 14
Financial Feasibility for Hospital project
Financial feasibility is the analysis of any given project to understand its viability. It even sets the target to keep the project alive. The financial indicators derived during the process will help the financial institution to compare it against similar projects and hence take decision towards funding. Healthcare industry, specifically a hospital is a multi-disciplinary organization and human resource rich institution. The duration of break-even is much longer in hospitals and so is the payback. Understanding these indicators, financial institutions are cautious to fund such projects and hence are stringent in scrutinizing the project feasibility. Not understanding the complexity of the hospital, financial institutions now take the help of hospital consultants to understand the business of healthcare and sometimes even have in-house doctors with finance and facility background to understand the domain associated with the DPR of the hospital. Since the project breaks-even late, the organization has to plan for working capital towards smooth functioning of the hospital. With more and more privatization in Indian healthcare system and with high competition, it is very much necessary to understand the viability of the project considering the competition and the services that are offered. A cost accountant working on the feasibility while playing around with the price of the services can take a calculated risk in making such projects financially viable. The preparedness level in such a strategy will help in surviving in the fiercely competitive healthcare market. Hospital consultants, especially doctors with hospital financial knowledge are the best feeders of information for the financial consultants. They understand where the services or the prices can be tweaked to make the project viable. It is the cumulative effort of the hospital consultant and the healthcare financial consultant to make an effective and viable financial feasibility. FAQs Financial Feasibility for Hospital Project Is it necessary to do a financial feasibility study before coming up with a hospital project? What is the role of doctor (hospital consultant) in preparing a financial feasibility report for Hospital? Can a doctor with passion towards finance has good future in Indian healthcare industry? Has the hospitals in India got Infrastructure lending status? Is it the reality or only on papers?
20
Aug 14
Business Plan Conceptualization - Healthcare
Business Plan is a living document to an idea that you are working on. The document would be a baseline work towards conceptualizing the idea and the business associated with it. In the healthcare domain, it is very much important to do it professionally by seeking the assistance of healthcare consultants who have experience in conceptualizing the business. But the domain remains with you as the project would be your brainchild. Healthcare consultants help in only the project conceptualization as per the set methodology and the rest of the onus still rests with you. The methodologies include identifying the kind of service/product designed, its requirement for the end users, affordability, competition, SWOT analysis, pricing and strategies to take it to market. Since the healthcare service is a human resource intense model with low margins, it is very important to work on the viability of the project and that is where the healthcare consultants add more value. The entrepreneur has to understand the revenue projection at least for the next 5 years and also the projected profitability statement. This should help him in understanding the potentials of the business and hence gives them a confidence to prove the concept. This is very much important in healthcare as it all depends on the end-users and their awareness towards the healthcare service that you are planning. Hospital is a proven model and bankers look into some financial indicators and the collateral to fund the project, but if the service you have designed is an innovative and new one, the best approach would be to work on the business plan, and then do a detailed market survey followed by proof of concept. The Business plan has to include the detailed understanding on the strengths of the promoters, the service/product that you are offering, the market requirements, total capital investment required, operational expenses, profitability and sensitivity analysis. Additionally, a detailed understanding on the competitors and SWOT analysis is also required. Once you are convinced with the plan and the business involved in it, you need to understand the opinion of the end-users. Based on the type of service, one needs to define a methodology to do the market survey. A profile with medical knowledge ideally a doctor with business acumen is the best person to seek assistance for in these matters. Understanding the domain and connecting to healthcare people is the most challenging thing, if the consultant is not a doctor. FAQs Business Plan Conceptualization - Healthcare What is Business Plan conceptualization? Is it worth to take the consultation of a Healthcare consultant or sit with my CA to work on my innovative healthcare project? Why taking the help of only the CA is not advisable in preparing a business plan in healthcare domain? Which is better – A business Plan or a Detail Project Report for my upcoming Hospital? Which is the best innovative healthcare model among many which I have shortlisted? How to prioritize?
20
Aug 14
Organization Assessment - Hospital
Evidence based practice is the buzz word in today’s scientific age and every industry has now set standards towards the way things are practiced. Healthcare specifically patient care has been practiced for ages and has proved several practices to be efficient, especially highest level of standards and patient safety. Apart from this human resource optimization, functional efficiency & facility optimization are the integral part for organizational efficiency. It is a common notion that bringing in standards into the organization will increase the operational expenses. It is definitely true and one faces difficulty in implementing this during the initial days, but over the long run the standards keep the organization efficient and economical. The activity will have a good return on investment by bringing standards in the mode of operations. In India more than 75% of the healthcare providers are private and lack of standards brings in organizational inefficiencies. Only corporate hospitals and institutes have some level of standards, whereas in small scale hospitals and hospitals run by independent doctors, emphasis is much on patient care but they tend to ignore the standards. It is very important for such doctors and hospitals to understand the importance of setting standards in the operations including patient care. The self-assessment of the organization has to be mainly towards the following. Hospital management & its policies Standard Operating Procedures Patient care and ethics in rendering the services Continual improvement of the quality Patient safety & emergency management Functional efficiency Since it is pretty new for the Indian healthcare industry, hospital consultants who have specialized in hospital administration & operations have sound knowledge of doing such organizational assessment to identify areas of improvements. We call it Hospital Reengineering, which may be supported by technology to bring in standards in hospital operations. FAQs Organization Assessment - Hospital What is an organizational assessment of a hospital? When is it done? How do I address my hospital’s operational inefficiencies? Does designs plays a role in operational efficiency in Hospital? SOPs in Hospital & Operational expenses – What kind of relation does these two share How do we sustain our hospital service in the midst of competition?