Why India needs a hospital rating system…

 

When was the last time you visited a hospital? Maybe it was to visit a relative or get some tests done. maybe you required medical attention?

But during your visit, did you rate the hospital ? I mean did you give feedback to the management or an independent body on the services offered by the hospital?

In 2003 I had a very interesting experience with a large hospital in New Delhi, India. My mother was undergoing an angiography and she had been admitted to the hospital in the morning. I was visiting her in the hospital and was not aware that not more than 2 visitors were allowed at the same time. The guards at the lift did not allow me to get into the life and not explanation was given to me. When I went to see the Hospital Administrator about it, he shrugged it off and said that was the rule. I lodged a formal complaint on the treatment but this the hospital never responded to me.

Later in the evening i saw an Indian politician accompanied by more than 50 people come in for a check up at the same hospital. Needless to say all 50 were allowed to accompany the gentleman.

The incident left a very bad impression on me and from then I started my own system of evaluating hospitals. I pulled in attributes cleanliness, Attitude of the staff, convenience and other factors in my evaluation. I believe it is not only the capabilities of the doctors that makes a hospital successful. There are many other factors and they have to be rated as well.

 A few days ago I came across a site dedicated to rating hospitals in the US. The site is called Rate my Hospital .com. What is unique about the site is that the rating is done by patients and their relatives and it is intended to educate other patients about the features of hospitals that the patients found very engaging. Some interesting criteria include Environment friendliness, Billing process, Wait times, Communication and amenities. There are almost 17 criteria and its ends with a choice for the patient to write a recommendation for the hospital.

I think we in India need a similar system. Often corporate hospitals hide their incompetency in serving the customers behind their rows of structured glass.

Please let me know your views and experiences on dealing with Hospitals. Do you think a rating system would help counter some of the challenges that patients in India ?

 

 

Dr. Vikram Venkateswaran

Management Thinker, Marketer, Healthcare Professional Communicator and Ideation exponent

This Post Has 10 Comments

  1. Om Prakash Ranjan

    Hospital Rating system will give extra Credibility to hospital along with NABH or NABL Accreditation. Rating system also helps foreign patient analyses the quality of care they will get in chosen Hospital. Question is who is going to rate the hospital Patient itself or some other governing body like QCI or any private rating company. What i think in india patients are still not fully aware about these system, They do exactly what there referral doctor tell them to do. But yes, once the rating system get started then we can see changes in selecting the hospitals or clinics for treatment. Way back in 2010 i have heard that http://www.kemphealth.com/ going to start rating system in India on the basis of 5 stars standered.

    1. admin

      Hi Om

      Yes that is the a very good logical progression. I know the quality standards exist to rate hospitals. But this rating is more
      patient to patient that will help prospective patients pick the hospitals.

      Thank you for pointing me to kemphealth.com I will check the site out as well.

      Thanks

      Doc

  2. Apothecurry

    Most definitely. It is also absolutely important to rate hospitals based on clinical outcomes. Currently, few hospitals evaluate this regularly let alone share it with the world

    1. admin

      Hi Gauri

      Yes clinical outcomes is a great way to rate a hospital. I actually know this statistical technique called hot spot profiling that can help hospitals focus on departments that can be beneficial to the hospitals as well as the patients.

      Thanks

      Dr Vikram

  3. Stefan

    Your post, Why India needs a hospital rating system… | Healthcare In India, is really well written and insightful. Glad I found your website, warm regards from Stefan!

  4. admin

    Hi Stefan

    Thank you for your kind words.

    Thanks

    Dr Vikram

    1. admin

      Thank you Laverne

  5. K VENKATARAYAN

    It is definitely a worthwhile effort. We should start such a scheme immediately and also link it to NABH accreditation. As a corollary, we should make it mandatory for all pathological laboratories to get NABL accreditation.

    1. admin

      I agree, there is a urgent need to tie ratings to NABH. Also in order to be eligible for govt schemes hospitals may need to maintain good ratings.

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