Making his/her own hospital is a dream of every doctor. Some doctors start working on it to realize their dream without proper guidance and land up in trouble. So hospital planning should be done in an organized manner from day one, irrespective of the size of Hospital ( 10 Beds or 1000 Beds) Common Mistakes of Hospital planning
Hospital planning starts with site identification. The hospital site should be well connected by transportation facilities like Road and Rail (If possible). Proper market research should be done in that area regarding paying capacity, TPA and Government panel patients, specific requirements in that area, nearby hospitals and their services, the major concerns of people in that area. Areas densely populated are more useful for hospital business. Common Mistakes of Hospital planning
After site identification select and/or work with the architecture firm, all stakeholders (Doctors, Nursing In-charge and Administrator, etc) and Hospital Planning Consultant. A hospital planning consultant will guide you at every stage from site identification of successful business operations. Common Mistakes of Hospital planning
Hospital planning & development (Common Mistakes) of Common Mistakes of Hospital planning
Improper Budgeting– Some people do not make a proper budget and could not arrange required finance before starting work on a hospital development, which will increase your time and expenditure both. You have to make proper budget head wise like land, construction, equipment and manpower cost. Common Mistakes of Hospital planning
One Size fits all approach Some persons start developing their own hospital on the basis of the hospital in which he is visiting as a consultant. You should design your hospital as per your requirement. Do not adopt one size fit for all approach. Common Mistakes of Hospital planning
Not involving all stakeholders in hospital planning like Administrator, Clinicians, Nurses & Technicians. You should take inputs from all stakeholders during hospital development. Common Mistakes of Hospital planning
Not hiring hospital planning consultant or hiring the cheapest Consultant to save a few thousand, which leads to the weaker base of hospital quality for future,
Not gearing up for technology changes You should adopt technology and automation as much as possible. It will decrease your operating cost in the long run and improve the quality of services. Common Mistakes of Hospital planning
Not setting a proper target date for hospital opening You should make a timeline for each work from site identification to full hospital operation in writing. It will speed up your work and the hospital will be started on time. Common Mistakes of Hospital planning
Avoiding Accreditation- Some hospital owners avoid accreditation to reduce expenditure but it is a revenue-generating process by TPA and Government panels empanelment and increasing trust in cash patients. Your breakeven point will come soon. Common Mistakes of Hospital planning
Avoiding Social Responsibility-like grand hospital opening, health checkups, awareness campaign. It will increase awareness of your hospital and services in the general public. It is an indirect revenue-generating process in starting a hospital. Common Mistakes of Hospital planning
Inadequate Marketing Success of any business will depend on marketing. Hospital business is not the exception. You should adopt online and offline marketing.
Recruiting Wrong People-Staff recruitment is also a crucial step, which will determine the quality of services. Common Mistakes of Hospital planning
Ignoring the local market– Do a proper survey and consider the requirements of the local market for hospital planning.
Not focusing on patient experience-Patient feedback is very important in the initial time and you should take corrective actions of all complaints and suggestions. Common Mistakes of Hospital planning
Recent trends in hospital planning of Common Mistakes of Hospital planning
Design-You should build a cost-effective, time-saving delivery method(All departments should be within 3 minutes reach)
Hospital infection control should be the top priority in-hospital planning after COVID-19 Pandemic to attract more patients.
The emergency room will become a focus area for hospitals.
Information technology is becoming increasingly important in the Medical Record Department
Environmental concerns Like STP/ETP, Solar System, Rainwater Harvesting becoming more important.
DR D K RAI – MBBS.MD.PGDHM
