Who do you remember when we talk about hospitals?
Obviously, the doctors, nurses, patients were followed by the other clinical staff. But there’s also an important person to the list, who’s working as a hospital administrator/manager- who ensures the smooth functioning of the organisation. It’s a never-ending discussion about who is better at hospital administration!? a medical or a non-medical person ?. In our opinion, it’s completely based on an individual’s skills and knowledge. Well, it’s a two-sided coin. A doctor can also be a good administrator, at the same time a non-clinical person can also be smart enough to understand the clinical needs. That’s exactly why the general managers are most often someone who has been working with the primary doctor for a long time. Clinicians are more concerned about patient care and treatment whereas the non-medicos would/should focus on establishing goals and frame strategies that eventually help in the overall business development of a hospital. Some of the major roles of an administrator would be planning, budgeting, branding and staff management. Hence, it’s important that they have some knowledge of all these aspects.
In addition, healthcare is a booming industry in a developing country like India. It is very important to evolve every day to sustain. There are lots of mid-scale hospitals, which have emerged in the past two decades. Most of the mid-scale hospitals would face a break-even point at the end of the fiscal year when they do not have a dedicated administrator to do strategic/budget planning. Hospitals can sustain in this competitive environment only by framing full-fledged strategies in terms of quality of service and affordability of service.
An administrator develops strategies by analysing the past, present and competitor data. Though forecasting may not be always right in any industry, as nobody predicted COVID-19 which bought everything to a standstill including hospitals and allied healthcare activities, it helps to quickly re-strategic if things don’t go in the planned direction. The administrators also play an important role in the smooth functioning of the hospital and shrewd in managing hospital crisis while doctors and clinical staff focus on patient care and treatment.
“The manager does not try to predict the future; he rather uncovers things in the present to ensure that the organisation does have a future” – G D Kunders
Ultimately, doctors and clinical staff alone cannot satisfy the patients by the treatment offered, as the expectations from patients are on the rise. Managing an organisation is a combination of art and science. One can achieve miles when the medicos and non-medicos jointly work synergistically for sustainable business development.
Why hospitals should boycott GIPSA?
