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Nov 22, 2012

Summer Project on Kidney/Dialysis Disease Centre

DIALYSIS CENTRE PATIENT CENTRIC ISSUES

(As Contributed voluantrily by a follower of my blog, )Thanks Buddy

MAJOR RESEARCH PROJECT


ON

“Study on Problems faced by Dialysis Patients and Caretakers”



STUDY CONDUCTED AT:

ABC HOSPITAL

U.P.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Undertaking a project is never a one-person job. It always involves help from other people, who are either reviewing your work or teaching you things. It would have never been completed without the co-operation and sincere efforts of all the staff members of hospital who guided me throughout this project.

My sincere “Thanks” goes to:

 ABC.



DECLARATION

I student of M.B.A. (Hospital Administration), hereby declare that this project has been completed by me is a part of our major research project. This report has not been submitted anywhere else to the best of my knowledge.

Date-

Student

MBA (HA) 4th Sem


CONTENTS

1. HOSPITAL PROFILE

2. PREFACE

3. INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC

4. LITERATURE REVIEW

5. AIM

6. OBJECTIVES

7. METHODOLOGY

8. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

9. FINIDINGS

10. RECOMMENDATIONS

11. CONCLUSION

12. REFERANCES



HOSPITAL PROFILE

Introduction

Hospital is the only multicrore, Super speciality Tertiary Care corporate hospital in Utter Pradesh, which has been established in 1993 with a view to fill the wide gap between demands of high class medical services and actually available services thereof. The hospital was established with technical consultancy with Indian Hospital Corporation Ltd it is a listed Public Ltd. Company at BSE and UP Stock Exchange Ltd.


The hospital has OPD, 24 hours emergency service and in-patient admission facilities for 175 patients. The hospital has General Wards, Paediatric Ward, Semi- Private and Deluxe Rooms, bedsides ICU, ICCU and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, PICU. The hospital is centrally Air-Conditioned including all rooms and General Wards. Round the clock diet and meals are provided to all patients free of cost under the supervision of Dietician.


Hospital is having fully equipped 4 OT’s with laminar flow, zero bacteria air conditioning facilities with C-Arm, Laproscope Microscope and OT Tables of BLANCO GMBH made etc.

A new state of Art OPD wing has been started in , wherein Covering of all specialties are available under one roof.

Locational Advantage

ABC Hospital Ltd. is strategically located in the city of UP, which is one of the 10 largest metropolitan cities in India, and being the industrial and commercial capital of the state of Uttar Pradesh is a major service centre for surrounding districts.

There existed a wide gap between the demand of high quality medical services and supply available thereof, with a result that most of the patients are forced to go to other cities like Delhi and Bombay to get Medicare in corporate hospitals.

The company thereof has an assured clientele from the inhabitations of UP and surroundings districts.


Vision

Reaching beyond excellence in high-end tertiary healthcare, while doing business with a soul.


Mission

To become a leading professional healthcare company in super - specialty and tertiary care in the Region, leading in cardiac care with a range of products, services and quality consistent with the highest customer expectations. To maintain the pioneering leadership in health care in this region.



HOSPITAL QUALITY POLICY

ABC Hospital Ltd. aims

 Commitment to provide high standard of healthcare with the best of technology

 Working environment and a team of highly qualified doctors, nurses and other skilled paramedics of the country.

 To meet the need and expectation, by providing healthy environment, safety, security, for the patients, staff and visitors.



RENAL SCIENCES CENTRE


INTRODUCTION

ABC Hospital Ltd. is all set to bring yet another health care facility at UP, meeting all international standards. We are coming up with an exclusive dedicated 70 bedded renal hospital for dedicated Nephrology and Urology patients. It is an ultra modern hospital with facilities for all kinds of Dialysis and Kidney Transplant.

The new centre will be backed by a dedicated team of highly qualified and experienced doctors, nursing staff and technicians. Along with Renal disease management, the centre will focus on preventive health management through its various community interaction programmes and scientifically designed preventive renal health care checkup."

The Aim of the Hospital is to give the best quality of treatment for all types of Kidney diseases. The hospital is fully computerized and well equipped seventeen dialysis machines were patients can get the most comfortable dialysis. Even many outsider patients are regularly coming to our hospital for dialysis. They feel no difference rather, some claim, they felt better.


We have advanced operation theatre including high definition image intensifier (C-Arm) for various operation of kidney. The Operation theatre is ultra modern OT of its kind.

We have computerized uroflowmetry for diagnosis of various lower urinary treat diseases including prostate & urethral diseases. The Laboratory is also computerized where result is obtained within an hour. The intensives care unit care unit (ICU) of the hospital is well managed by experience doctors and nursing staff round the clock.


NEPHROLOGY

The Department of Nephrology at ABC Hospital is the oldest and first of its kind in Northern India. The Department is headed by a senior nephrologists consisting of a dedicated team of nephrologists and Para-medical staff. The Nephrology wing of renal sciences deals with all sorts of diagnostic and therapeutical modalities of Kidney diseases.

For the diagnosis of complex renal diseases the department provides a combination of conventional and most sophisticated investigations like - 3 D US with Doppler study for Renal vessels, CT scan, IVP, Renal Angiography and Kidney Biopsy - to name a few. Kidney Biopsy is done by modern US guided automated gun. Biopsy needle & tissue thus obtained is studied by light & IF Microscope.

All possible modes of therapeutic interventions like maintenance hemodialysis on ultramodern Japanese hemodialysis machines with superb volumetric control ( Acetate as well as Bicarbonate), Emergency hemodialysis round the clock, continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal dialysis, Acute Peritoneal dialysis, Automated Peritoneal dialysis (APD), Hemofiltration, continuous Renal replacement therapy (CRRT) and Kidney transplantation.

A strictly related Renal Transplant programme is being conducted in the hospital for the last 5 years. The Department has a separate kidney transplant ICU with ventilator, C-PAP, CVP monitoring & Cardiac monitoring equipments. Isolated nursing care is provided to the patients by well trained & experienced Nursing Staff with special attention to asepsis, nutritional support & minimal handling to these immuno-compromised patients these immuno-compromised patients.

A post transplant OPD is run for all follow up patients on every Thursday of the week, where all these patients are seen by a team of nephrologists and Transplant surgeons. Apart from the above mentioned facilities, the department has taken special interest to promote preventive nephrology i.e. the prevention of Kidney diseases in susceptible individuals. For this a preventive nephrology OPD is run once a week and the department runs Kidney disease detection camps, public education programmes and CME programmes for Family Physicians throughout the year.



UROLOGY

Urology is that discipline of medical science, which deals with both medical and surgical diseases of urinary and genital systems of men, women and children.


The common ailments/subdivisions are:

Stone Disease

Stone formed in urinary system is a common ailment of human race from time immemorial. They are made of calcium, oxalate, uric acid, phosphate etc. in various combinations. There has been a remarkable advancement in treatment of stone disease. The common concept that every stone needs operation is not true. Majority of stone patients (up to 80%) do not need any intervention or operation. With modern techniques of ESWL (Lithotripsy) PCNL &URS, the need of open operation has gone down to about 5%. For details of these, please contact our Urologist.

Prostate Enlargement

Prostate is a gland present around the upper part of the urinary passage of men. It enlarges in size in all men after the age of 45 years. It is the commonest cause of urinary problems in aged men. If a man is troubled by urinary symptoms, the prostate needs to be removed. The technique of TURP is the best in today's date. In this technique, the enlarged prostate is removed by a telescopic instrument passed through the urinary passage. But before the decision of treatment is taken, it is important to prove that the urinary symptoms are due to prostate enlargement and not some other problem. This is a vital question and it requires the tests or UROFLOMETRY & CYSTOMETROGRAM.

Urinary Infections (UTI)

These are very common particularly in women. Frequent discharge of urine, burning, pain and difficult urination are present symptoms. For proper treatment, an Urologist should be consulted who carry out the urine would culture, uroflowmetry and ultrasound examination to find out the cause and nature of infection. The proper and effective treatment is based on these test reports.

Blood in Urine

Passage of blood with urine is known as hematuria. The commonest cause is urinary infection. The presence of blood in urine should not be neglected. It should always be investigated by tests such as urine culture, ultrasound, IVP and CT scan. The cause may be a stone, tumour of bladder or Kidney, vascular malformation, prostate enlargement etc. The treatment is according to the cause.

Stricture

Stricture is a term applied to narrowing of a tubular structure. When it occurs in urinary passage, it causes decrease in the flow of urine. This later causes effects on urinary bladder and kidneys. In majority of patients, its treatment is by a telescopic instrument (nonoperative) but in some it requires reconstruction of the urinary passage (urethroplasty).

Kidney Disease

Surgical diseases of kidney such as STONE, TUMOURS, CYST, and VASCULAR MALFORMATIONS require appropriate and timely treatment. The treatment is operative or minimally invasive or conservative depending upon the type and nature of the disease.

Kidney Failure

When both kidneys have failed working due to any disease, they need replacement. The best mode of kidney replacement is KIDNEY TRANSPLANTATION and a very economical package for this is available at ABC hospital.


PREFACE


Dialysis patients represent the overwhelming majority of patients cared for by all nephrologists. This patient group represents complex medical problems, is increasing in number at an annual rate of 8%, and suffers from very high morbidity and mortality. This would seem to represent the ideal situation for an academic research faculty. i.e. a major and increasingly problematic health issue and a patient population of sufficient number and motivation about which to pose investigative issues. Curiously, a significant fraction of the nephrology world views dialysis purely as a technology necessary to insure survival but requiring little in the way of intellectual contribution.

The record shows a failure of much of the academic community to become interested in the problems of the end-stage renal failure patient. In many academic circles, the tasks attendant to this procedure are often delegated to the most junior faculty members and research questions rarely present themselves at any higher level. That this attitude permeates the entire nephrology research establishment is shown by the very low level of research support for dialysis-related research by either the National Institutes of Health or Veterans Administration. Bear in mind that more than $5.4 billion is spent annually in the direct care of end stage renal disease patients. There had been support for research relevant to morbidity and mortality of the dialysis population in the early 1970s.

Many of the technological treatment advances of today in hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis, followed this period of activity. Unfortunately this program was discontinued and no replacement was developed to fill the void.



INTRODUCTION TO TOPIC

In recent years the principal areas of research have been in the development of products which improve the safety and efficiency of dialysis including synthetic dialysis membranes and new delivery systems. Computerization of such machines with accompanying ability to produce and manipulate data is in its early stages. Similarly, work to develop machines which will provide on-line Information useful in altering pressures flows, and dialysate concentration in response to patient needs is in its infancy. Essentially all of these advances have been supported by Industry.

Research relevant to the health of the dialysis patient has been largely neglected. The reasons for this are complex, but a small group of Investigators, believed that part of the problem was the complexity of the problems and the lack of data.

ABC Hospital Ltd. is all set to bring yet another health care facility at UP, meeting all international standards. ABC hospital coming up with an exclusive dedicated 70 bedded Renal hospital for dedicated Nephrology and Urology patients. It is an ultra modern hospital with facilities for all kinds of Dialysis and Kidney Transplant.

Dialysis is a treatment for people in the later stage of chronic kidney disease (kidney failure). This treatment cleans the blood and removes wastes and excess water from the body. Normally, this work is done by healthy kidneys.



THE EMOTIONAL EFFECT OF RENAL FAILURE

Stress

One of the main causes of stress is change. All human beings find change stressful - even change that we are looking forward to, like moving house, raises our stress levels.

As a person with renal failure you will have to deal with more change than most people do. Not just the initial change of lifestyle that comes with the diagnosis, but ongoing changes as you deal with alterations to your diet, medication and forms of treatment.

All these changes will mean you have to take in a great deal of new information, make decisions, and learn new practical skills. You also have to adjust to new ways of doing things, to doing less than you would like to, and to asking for help... This is all extremely stressful - and it comes in addition to coping with the physical effects of kidney failure.

Different people react differently to stress - some get anxious or feel overwhelmed, others may get irritable or hostile, others may deny there is a problem and keep pushing themselves to "cope."

The best way of coping with stress is to recognize that it can be a problem in its own right and that if you are suffering from it, it is with good reason. Accept that you need to actively take time to "de-stress". There are many ways of doing so and they can all contribute to helping you cope with kidney failure.

Anxiety

This can be a specific "worry" related to something in particular, or a more general sense of "being on edge" or "not feeling safe."

Specific anxieties that renal patients may have include:

• Worries about how the illness will affect your relationships,

• Your ability to work,

• Your finances

• Your quality of life

• You may also be anxious about understanding your condition or managing your treatment.

Ways of reducing anxiety are:

To see if there is something practical you could do to help you feel better. Make that appointment to see the doctor/dietitian/social worker/counselor about what is worrying you. Ask a nurse about that part of the procedure you don't understand.

There will of course be things that worry you that you can do nothing practical about. Most patients will say, however, that they find it helpful simply to talk about their worries to people who understand. Whether it's another patient, a nurse, a family member or a counselor, don't keep yourself alone with your anxiety.

Generalized anxiety is just as difficult to live with as anxiety that has an obvious cause.

Feeling generally "unsafe" may have something to do with a sense of "having no control" over your own body and life.

Many patients find that they can regain a sense of control by learning as much as they can about kidney failure and its treatment. Becoming an "expert" enables them to participate more actively in making decisions and to feel that they are working with the medical staff to control the condition rather than being passive.

Other people find that setting reasonable goals for themselves, such as going out, exercising, or keeping up certain activities - and achieving them - gives them a feeling of control.

Depression

Like anyone else, you will have times when you feel a bit down and less able to cope with life in general. You may also feel sad and "need a good cry" sometimes. If, however, the sadness turns into a real sense of despair that goes on for some time, this is depression.

You may feel depressed because you are having difficulty coming to terms with some of the changes their condition is imposing on you.

These might include:

• The loss of your previous lifestyle

• The loss of independence and self-confidence

• The changes to your body and appearance

• Difficulties with sex or with having children

• Awareness of your own mortality

If you are feeling depressed it may help you feel less isolated if you talk to others who understand. This may be one of the renal unit nurses, the renal social worker, a counselor or even a good friend. Sometimes a short course of anti-depressant medication may be useful to get over these acute problems.

Anger

It seems quite appropriate for people who are going through these experiences to feel angry at times. It can even be energizing, sometimes, to feel angry.

Where problems arise, however, is if you get "locked into" your anger in a way which makes you unhappy and you can't seem to move through it into some degree of acceptance.

Anger is also a problem when it is expressed in destructive or self-destructive ways - when the feelings of anger and frustration lead to rebellion against diet and fluid restrictions, for example, or to aggressive behaviour towards friends, relatives and staff. When people are angry, they may tend to "push away" the people who want to support them.

Anger expressed in these ways is self-destructive because it puts your health at risk, and - on an emotional level - leaves you feeling even more isolated.

It can feel like the hardest thing in the world to reach out for support when you are feeling angry. Paradoxically, it may be the one thing you can do to regain a real sense of power and control in your life.



Sexual problems

Some kidney patients never have sexual problems, but many do.

The reasons for these problems may include:

Hormonal problems: The hormones that control sexual urges may be either higher or lower in people who have kidney failure.

Medication: Some of the medication prescribed to renal patients may have the effect of inhibiting sexual desire.

Tiredness: This can be caused by anaemia or by not having dialyzed sufficiently.

Emotional factors: When people feel stressed, depressed or anxious, they often do not feel like having sex.

Relationship difficulties: The stress that kidney failure can bring to a relationship may affect the couple's sex life.

Sexual problems in men

Impotence (the inability to get or maintain an erection) may be a problem in male kidney patients.

There are various approaches to treating impotence. Initially, doctors will look at possible causes such as anaemia, under-dialysis and medication, and consider the treatments for them. There are physical treatments for impotence that can be considered including physical techniques and drugs. Two recent studies have shown that Viagra is effective in haemodialysis patients like it is in patients with normal kidney function. Remember though, it is not a guaranteed success and some patients do not show any response. UK patients can receive Viagra on the NHS scheme as kidney disease is on the list of conditions allowing prescription

Sexual problems in women

When women patients experience a lack of sexual desire or inability to have orgasms, causes related to anaemia, under-dialysis and medication can be investigated.

There may be changes in the menstrual cycle and there is no doubt that the chances of getting pregnant if the kidneys have failed are much reduced. If kidney function is only mildly impaired and the blood pressure is under control before and during pregnancy, it is likely that pregnancy will progress as normal, but there will be a close liaison between the kidney doctor and the obstetrician. Some drugs particularly ACE inhibitors will need to stop before pregnancy and the blood pressure will be checked very carefully.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

The department of Nephrology and urology are important part of any hospital. It functions with a full complement of infrastructure needed both for diagnosis and treatment of renal disorders such as Acute & chronic nephritis Connective tissue disorders and other renal problems like Acute & chronic renal failure Nephritic syndrome Secondary hypertension Diabetic nephropathy etc.

WHAT IS KIDNEY?

In humans, the kidneys are two small organs located near the vertebral column at the small of the back. The left kidney lies a little higher than the right kidney. They are bean shaped, about 4 in. (10 cm) long and about 21/2 in. (6.4 cm) wide.


WHAT DOES KIDNEY DO ?

Your kidneys are bean-shaped organs, each about the size of your fist. They are located near the middle of your back, just below the rib cage. The kidneys are sophisticated reprocessing machines. Every day, your kidneys process about 200 quarts of blood to sift out about 2 quarts of waste products and extra water. The waste and extra water become urine, which flows to your bladder through tubes called ureters. Your bladder stores urine until you go to the bathroom.

The wastes in your blood come from the normal breakdown of active tissues and from the food you eat. Your body uses the food for energy and self-repair. After your body has taken what it needs from the food, waste is sent to the blood. If your kidneys did not remove these wastes, the wastes would build up in the blood and damage your body.

The actual filtering occurs in tiny units inside your kidneys called nephrons. Every kidney has about a million nephrons. In the nephron, a glomerulus-which is a tiny blood vessel, or capillary-intertwines with a tiny urine-collecting tube called a tubule. A complicated chemical exchange takes place, as waste materials and water leave your blood and enter your urinary system.

At first, the tubules receive a combination of waste materials and chemicals that your body can still use. Your kidneys measure out chemicals like sodium, phosphorus, and potassium and release them back to the blood to return to the body. In this way, your kidneys regulate the body's level of these substances. The right balance is necessary for life, but excess levels can be harmful.



In addition to removing wastes, your kidneys release three important hormones:

• erythropoietin, or EPO, which stimulates the bone marrow to make red blood cells

• renin, which regulates blood pressure

• calcitriol, the active form of vitamin D, which helps maintain calcium for bones and for normal chemical balance in the body

The Kidneys filter the blood and remove waste products and fluid which is called urine. The kidneys balance the potassium and sodium levels and also produce several hormones. When patients are diagnosed to have renal failure, it means these kidneys are not filtering properly and harmful waste products are accumulating in the blood. Some of the most common causes are diabetes, high blood pressure (hypertension), infections, drugs and polycystic kidney disease.

The treatment option available is dialysis and transplantation.

What is dialysis?

It is a technique of removing fluid and waste products from body with a In medicine, dialysis is primarily used to provide an artificial replacement for lost kidney function in people with renal failure. Dialysis may be used for those with an acute disturbance in kidney function (acute kidney injury, previously acute renal failure) or for those with progressive but chronically worsening kidney function–a state known as chronic kidney disease stage 5 (previously chronic renal failure or end-stage kidney disease).

Dialysis works on the principles of the diffusion of solutes and ultra filtration of fluid across a semi-permeable membrane. Diffusion describes a property of substances in water. Substances in water tend to move from an area where they are in a high concentration to an area of low concentration. Blood flows by one side of a semi-permeable membrane, and a dialysate, or special dialysis fluid, flows by the opposite side. A semi permeable membrane is a thin layer of material that contains various sized holes, or pores. Smaller solutes and fluid pass through the membrane, but the membrane blocks the passage of larger substances.

Sometimes dialysis is a temporary treatment. However, when the loss of kidney function is permanent (as in end-stage kidney failure), you must continue to have dialysis on a regular basis. The only other treatment for kidney failure is a kidney transplant.



TYPES OF DIALYSIS

Hemodialysis

In hemodialysis, the patient's blood is then pumped through the blood compartment of a dialyzer, exposing it to a partially permeable membrane. The dialyzer is composed of thousands of tiny synthetic hollow fibers. The fiber wall acts as the semipermeable membrane. Blood flows through the fibers, dialysis solution flows around the outside the fibers, and water and wastes move between these two solutions. The cleansed blood is then returned via the circuit back to the body. Ultrafiltration occurs by increasing the hydrostatic pressure across the dialyzer membrane. This usually is done by applying a negative pressure to the dialysate compartment of the dialyzer. This pressure gradient causes water and dissolved solutes to move from blood to dialysate, and allows the removal of several liters of excess fluid during a typical 3 to 5 hour treatment.



Peritoneal dialysis

In peritoneal dialysis, a sterile solution containing glucose is run through a tube into the peritoneal cavity, the abdominal body cavity around the intestine, where the peritoneal membrane acts as a semipermeable membrane. The peritoneal membrane or peritoneum is a layer of tissue containing blood vessels that lines and surrounds the peritoneal, or abdominal, cavity and the internal abdominal organs. The dialysate is left there for a period of time to absorb waste products, and then it is drained out through the tube and discarded. This cycle or "exchange" is normally repeated 4-5 times during the day, sometimes more often overnight with an automated system. Ultrafiltration occurs via osmosis; the dialysis solution used contains a high concentration of glucose, and the resulting osmotic pressure causes fluid to move from the blood into the dialysate. As a result, more fluid is drained than was instilled. Peritoneal dialysis is less efficient than hemodialysis, but because it is carried out for a longer period of time the net effect in terms of removal of waste products and of salt and water are similar to hemodialysis.

Hemofiltration

Hemofiltration is a similar treatment to hemodialysis, but it makes use of a different principle. The blood is pumped through a dialyzer or "hemofilter" as in dialysis, but no dialysate is used. A pressure gradient is applied; as a result, water moves across the very permeable membrane rapidly, "dragging" along with it many dissolved substances, importantly ones with large molecular weights, which are cleared less well by hemodialysis. Salts and water lost from the blood during this process are replaced with a "substitution fluid" that is infused into the extracorporeal circuit during the treatment.

Intestinal dialysis



In intestinal dialysis, the diet is supplemented with soluble fibres such as acacia fibre, which is digested by bacteria in the colon. This bacterial growth increases the amount of nitrogen that is eliminated in fecal waste.

Does hemodialysis hurt?

Insertion of the needles causes pain, but only for a brief time. This can be difficult for some people. Occasionally nausea, muscle cramps or dizziness can occur due to the fast removal of extra water from your body, which may cause your blood pressure to drop.

How long does hemodialysis take?

Each hemodialysis treatment normally takes four to five hours, and usually three treatments a week are needed. More frequent, shorter treatments or longer treatments may be indicated for certain patients. Only a small amount of your blood is out of the body at one time. Therefore your blood must circulate through the machine many times before it is cleaned.

What is home hemodialysis?

Many dialysis centres in India offer the option of training patients or their partners to carry out hemodialysis at home. The dialysis machine and necessary modifications to your home are provided by the hospital. While some home hemodialysis patients follow a standard schedule of four to five hours three days a week, some Canadian centres are also offering nocturnal home hemodialysis in which patients go on dialysis four to six nights a week for six to eight hours while they sleep. Nocturnal home hemodialysis greatly improves the removal of waste products from the body and has been found to improve well-being, allow for a more liberal diet and reduce the need for medications.



What other changes are needed with hemodialysis?

You will need to plan your week around your hemodialysis schedule. You may have to take time off work or school before you start hemodialysis and when the treatments begin. However, once your health is more stable, you should be able to return to your normal activities. Depending on your energy level, you may have to make some adjustments in your work situation or limit your activities.

Is travel possible on hemodialysis?

There are dialysis units across India and in many parts of the world. They have suitable facilities for visitors who need hemodialysis treatment. However, it is necessary to plan several months in advance due to limited space and staff. Your dialysis unit and local Kidney Foundation office can provide more information and advise you about travel costs and arrangements.


AIM


To study the Problems faced by Dialysis Patients and Caretakers

OBJECTIVES

1. To get in-depth knowledge about the Dialysis unit of hospital.

2. To find out importance of artificial kidney unit for hospital.

3. To find out problems of the dialysis patient & their caretakers and provide recommendations.

4. To reduce the problems in the new set up of hospital with the help of research results.


METHODOLOGY



STUDY DESIGN: -

Survey questionnaire.



STUDY SETTING : –

ABC hospital, Madhuraj hospital, Rajaram hospital, KMC UP.



SAMPLE SIZE: -

100 Patients of Dialysis and care takers.



SAMPLING METHOD: -

Simple random sampling



INCLUSION CRITERIA: -

Acute and chronic dialysis patients.



METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION: -

Primary data is collected through questionnaire filled by dialysis patient and care takers.



STUDY PERIOD: -

15 May- 05 Jun: - Data collection

06 Jun- 11 Jun: - Data analysis and report preparation.



STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: -

Mean and percentage was calculated.

Pie and bar diagram is used for representation.



PATIENT SURVEY

To understand the patient expectations and their preference of hospitals and to know the factors which affect their choice of the hospital for dialysis a questionnaire is prepared. This questionnaire is filled by the 100 dialysis patients of various hospitals which are chosen for the study. The questionnaire contains following questions:-



SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE



SAMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE

1. On an average, how often do you undergo dialysis treatment?

a. Once a week

b. Twice a week

c. Three times a week

d. Four times a week



2. On an average, after how many treatments do you replace your dialyzer?

a. After 8 treatments or less

b. Between 9 and 10 treatments

c. Between 11 and 12 treatments

d. Between 13 and 14 treatments

e. After 15 or more treatments



3. Approximately how much does it cost per week to buy Erythroprotein and other medicines?

a. 200 or less

b. Above 200 and up to, and including 250

c. Above 250 and up to, and including 300

d. Above 300 and up to, and including 350

e. Above 350 and up to, and including 400

f. Above 400



4. What brand of Erythroprotein do you currently purchase?

________________________________________________



5. Approximately how often do you have your tests done?

a. Once a month

b. Twice a month

c. Three times a month

d. Four times a month

e. Five times a month

f. More than five times a month

g. Every 12 months or less often



6. Approximately how much do you spend on diagnostics and tests a month?

a. 1200 or less

b. 1201-1300

c. 1301-1400

d. Above 1400and up to, and including 1500

e. Above 1500and up to, and including 1600

f. Above 1600



7. Approximately how often do you visit your Nephrologists?

a. Twice a month or more often

b. Once a month

c. Once every two months

d. Once every three to five months

e. Every six months or less often



8. When you for dialysis, how do you usually get to the hospital?

a. Walking

b. Shared Tempo

c. Rickshaw

d. Auto

e. Own Scooter

f. Own Car

g. Other, If so, how? ___________________________________



9. Approximately, how much do you spend on transportation per visit?

a. 5 or less

b. Above 5 and up to, and including 10

c. Above 10 and up to, and including 20

d. Above 20 and up to, and including 30

e. Above 30 and up to, and including 40

f. Above 40 and up to, and including 50

g. Above 50

10. Please rank the following services that you would like a dialysis center to offer from 1 to 7 according to your personal preferences; 1 being the most important and 7 the least important.

 Pick-Up and Drop-Off Services

 Personalized TV Screen

 Wi-Fi

 Package Pricing (One combined price for medicines, dialyzer and dialysis)

 Counseling (How to better take care of yourself; dialysis friendly recipes, etc.

 Flexible scheduling

 Nice facilities for attendants



11. Which of the following best describes your dialysis treatment routine?

a. I go to my attendants by myself

b. I go to my treatments by myself and someone visits me while I receive dialysis

c. Someone takes me to and/or picks me up from the hospital, but he/she doesn’t stay

d. Someone takes me to the hospital and stays with me while I receive dialysis



12. Please mark the three schedules that are most convenient for you:

M Tu W Th F S

Morning(7:00-11:30)

Afternoon(11:30-17:00)

Evening (17:00-21:30)

Night (00:00-6:00)



13. If your current hospital began offering a Pick-Up & Drop-Off service for an additional charge, how much would you be willing to pay?

_______Rs per visit



14. If your current hospital began offering comfortable chairs with a personal TV screen for an additional charge, how much would you be willing to pay?

_______Rs per visit



To better understand how opinions vary among people with different characteristics, we need some additional information. Again, this information is confidential, and will be analyzed anonymously.



15. Age………..



16. Sex

a. Male

b. Female



17. What is your home address?





18. What is your work address?





19. How many people currently reside within your household?





20. What is the total income in your household?

a. Under and up to, 10,000

b. Above 10,000and up to, and including 25,000

c. Above 25,000and up to, and including 50,000

d. Above 50,000and up to, and including 75,000

e. Above 75,000and up to, and including 100,000

f. Above 100,000and up to, and including 125,000

g. Above 125,000



End of Questionnaire



Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey. If you have any questions related to this research, please contact:



***********



DATA ANALYSIS

AND

INTERPRETATION


Survey Results



The survey was conduct in various hospitals of UP, with a total number of 100 Patients as the sampling population. The Sample includes Acute and chronic dialysis patients.



Q. 01. On an average, how often do you undergo dialysis treatment?











Q.02. On an average, after how many treatments do you replace your dialyzer?

















Q. 03. Approximately how much does it cost per week to buy Erythroprotein and other medicines?















Q.04. What brand of Erythroprotein do you currently purchase?

















Q.05. Approximately how often do you have your tests done?

















Q. 06. Approximately how much do you spend on diagnostics and tests a month?















Q.07. Approximately how often do you visit your Nephrologists?















Q.08 When you for dialysis, how do you usually get to the hospital?















Q.09. Approximately, how much do you spend on transportation per visit?











Q.10. Please rank the following services that you would like a dialysis center to offer from 1 to 7 according to your personal preferences; 1 being the most important and 7 the least important.

 Pick-Up and Drop-Off Services

 Personalized TV Screen

 Wi-Fi

 Package Pricing (One combined price for medicines, dialyzer and dialysis)

 Counseling (How to better take care of yourself; dialysis friendly recipes, etc.

 Flexible scheduling

 Nice facilities for attendants





Q.11. which of the following best describes your dialysis treatment routine?

















Q.12. Please mark the three schedules that are most convenient for you:

M Tu W Th F S

Morning(7:00-11:30) 74 2 60 24

Afternoon(11:30-17:00) 10 2 2 2

Evening (17:00-21:30) 2 2 4

Night (00:00-6:00) 4 6







Q.13. If your current hospital began offering a Pick-Up & Drop-Off service for an additional charge, how much would you be willing to pay?

_______Rs per visit















Q. 14. If your current hospital began offering comfortable chairs with a personal TV screen for an additional charge, how much would you be willing to pay?

_______Rs per visit











FINDINGS

1. The principal areas of research have been in the development of products which improve the safety and efficiency of dialysis, Including synthetic dialysis membranes and new delivery systems.

2. Research relevant to the health of the dialysis patient has been largely neglected. The reasons for this are complex, but, it is believed that part of the problem was the complexity of the problems and the lack of data.

3. Dialysis patient group represents complex medical problems, is increasing in number at an annual rate of 8%, and suffers from very high morbidity and mortality.

FINDING IN RESPECT OF ABC HOSPITAL

1. Charges for the dialysis are varies from hospital to hospital according to policy of hospital. In some hospitals charges for dialysis varies according to the fee of the doctor or nephrologists.

2. 90% of the patient undergo dialysis treatment twice a week.

3. In 94% cases the dialyzer is replaced after 8 treatments or less.

4. About 95% patient spent more than Rs. 400 to buy erythropoietin and other medicines.

5. About 96% of the patient have their test done once a month and 4% twice a month.

6. 86% of the patient spend approximately Rs. 1200 or less for the diagnostics and tests in a month.

7. The visit to the nephrologists are in 72% cases once a month, 14% twice a month, 6% cases once every two months and in 8% cases once every three to five months.

8. Patient get to the hospital for dialysis in 26% cases by own scooter, 22% cases by auto, in 20% cases by rickshaw, 14% cases by shared tempo, 10% cases by own car, 4% cases walking and other transport.

9. 78% of the patient spent more than Rs. 50 on transportation per visit.

10. Pickup & drop-off services and nice facilities for attendants is the top priorities of patient and Wi-Fi is the least priority.

11. In 92% cases patient come with the attendant who stay in the hospital during dialysis.

12. The most convenient time for the patent to receive dialysis are Monday and Friday morning.

RECOMENDATIONS



1. Pickup and Drop-off services can be started by the hospital for the dialysis patient according to survey results.

2. There should be nice facilities for attendants in waiting area.

3. The scheduling for the dialysis should be flexible and comfortable to the patient and relatives.

4. Counseling should be done by an expert or nursing staff about various issues of dialysis like how to better take care of yourself; dialysis friendly recipes, etc.

5. The hospital can increase number of patient coming for dialysis by reducing the charges for the dialysis to that level which patient find easy to pay.

6. As dialysis is a costly treatment so it is not possible for dialysis patients to afford the treatment for a longer time especially those who belong to the middle class or lower class families. such type of patient need some help in monetary terms so that hospital should increase their contacts with the trusts such as Sai baba dialysis help centre, Bharat vikas parishad etc. Such type of organizations not only provides help to the patient but helps hospital in attracting new patients and retaining them for a longer time.

7. The hospital should conduct aggressive promotional campaigns in remote areas or in villages so that a large number of populations come to know about the hospital and the facilities it providing for the dialysis.

CONCLUSION


Over the coming years, more and more people will have a renal condition in India. However, both the amount and choice of dialysis services in India is limited. For instance, at present, no Service providers appear to offer home haemodialysis, despite national guidance that says it should be offered.

We are pleased that many of these problems are being addressed and that renal services are now a priority in India. It is clear that the effect of dialysis on a person’s whole life and that of their family is not widely understood. We hope this review will bring about changes in provision and support which will help them.

This document makes recommendations to the ABC Hospital about renal services for people. It is based on local research conducted and led by me in cooperation with the ABC hospital and Institute of Management Studies.

REFERANCES
• “Research methodology” C.R. Kothari











Sep 21, 2012

Reducing the Operating cost

Reducing Challenges

Reducing Operative Costs for hospitals



In todays economic times, when inflation is opening its mouth bigger than “Surasa” the financial viability of hospitals, healthcare providers are struggling to reduce the cost axis of graph.

There is urgent need to reduce operating cost in order to make projects financially viable and at the same time enabling to give quality healthcare.

How do hospitals strike a balance between their operating cost and re venue generation?


This is the one of the most frequently asked questions to healthcare financial experts, especially during times when hospitals find it hard to maintian their revenue flows. Reasons to this are numerous, some due to economic pressures like rising inflation rates as well as changing government policies and others being misallocation of funds, and technical and managerial inefficiency. All of these factors often make this balancing act a complicated affair. Virtually, all hospitals work towards obtaining a good profit margin without compromising on quality healthcare delivery. The challenge here is to reduce operating cost in order to increase revenue saving but at the same time maintain high quality and efficiency.

Another misconception that hospitals these days assume is that, improvement of quality calls for an increase in operational cost. In fact, these two factors do not directly comprehend with each other. While operational cost is a amalgam of medical consumables, manpower, regular repairs and maintenance expenses as well as hospital services like housekeeping expenses, F&B, laundry, medical gases etc., that hospitals have to incur for their day to day affairs; quality is a result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction, and skillful execution of work. In the wake of such circumstances, striking the balance between operating cost and revenue is quiet smart thing.

Cutting back on operations cost is a challenge for hospitals as they are mainly driven by manpower. Reducing benefits and wages might have an impact on the brand value as well as loyalty of employees to the organisation.In an effort to reduce operational costs through optimum staffing, or reduction in overtime etc., it may lead to higher staff turnover which in turn leads to increase in operational cost in another department like HR for recruitment and also declines patient clinical outcomes thereby affecting quality of care.” On similar lines, Deepak Samant, Director Finance, PD Hinduja Hospital admits that shortage of skilled manpower and rising competition is the major factor that makes cutting operating cost a tall task. Among others are ever-rising inflationary pressures on all other cost components, Government policies related to the sector and taxation etc. The hospital management can do little to influence these external factors.

High operating cost and its side effects.


Factors that are responsible for the increase in operational cost are mainly high attrition rates within the hospital, constant up-gradation of technology, forex associated materials cost raise and high costing of fixed expenses. “It is very critical to keep an eye on the operating costs and understand their impact on the overall profitability of the hospital. For instance, the cost may be high because of high resource utilisation or it may be high because of under-utilisation.” These high cost components act as a barrier for healthcare providers to strike a balance between its operating costs and revenue.

So what happens if a hospital's operating cost remains high for a long time? Experts analyse this situation as critical for a hospital's sustainability; high operating cost within a hospital tends to hampers the financial viability of that hospital. “If operational costs remain high, the hospital will incur losses for a long time. In order to run the hospital, the management might have to rely on banks loans, which means they have to pay interest for the money borrowed.” “All operating cost ingredients need to be kept under tight control. Any increase in any of these ingredients would reduce the operating profits/ increase operating losses and would put the organisation into a financial turmoil. This impairs the capacity of the organisation to sustain operations or to grow.

Moreover, high operating cost often compels hospitals to focus on increasing patients' stay at the hospital and increasing overall tariffs or resource addition. According to Dr Agarwal, though rising healthcare cost can be attributed to several other factors like inflation, lack of skilled manpower etc., increase in operating costs has a direct co-relation with increasing prices. In such circumstances, the hospital's focus turns towards increasing the revenue to offset the cost. Instead, the focus should be on analysing the high cost items and arriving at ways and means to address it.

“While there is a surge in demand for quality healthcare, yet it comes with a cost. The cost here means cost associated with smooth functioning of the hospital, which is primarily very patient centric. Increasing cost of consumables, cost associated with quality manpower considering the demand for skilled manpower in this industry, substantial hike in the fuel cost in last few years combined with increase in power tariff and maintenance of hospitals as per the desired standards has been diminishing the profit margins. Owing to increasing operating cost in the last few years, people have witnessed rise in healthcare cost.” Given the fact operational cost reduction effort a daunting task, it is critical to prepare an effective cost reduction plan and execute it.

Tackling the tall task


Striking this balance isn’t rocket science; it is just a matter of preparing a clever plan and executing it effectively. For this, senior finance managers within hospitals need to change their perspective. The first step towards reducing operational cost is to analyse the cost components that have remained high over a period of time. “For instance, assigning a certain cost head as a percentage of the overall revenue or Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) margins is not an analysis; instead it should be driven by a more thorough understanding. For example, the order cycle for consumables or the ideal electricity load, light intensity requirements for a particular type of OT. There are numerous such items which when added together can make a cumulative difference in the overall cost. This should be followed by implementation of some initiatives and close monitoring to arrive at the overall cost savings. Today, hospitals across different specialties and capacity will have the EBIDTA margins ranging from 12-13 per cent to almost 25 per cent. A lot depends on how the hospital has ensured maximum resource utilisation by driving volumes, keeping Average Length Of Stay (ALOS) down and monitoring manpower and material costs. For some of the well-known hospitals, consumables and personnel cost together accounts for almost 50-60 per cent of the overall revenue. Recent analysis of the finances at a few major brands in India showed personnel costs anywhere between 18-46 per cent with the rates of spending on consumables in the range of 23-33 per cent. Hence, a critical evaluation of these costs coupled with higher resource utilisation could lead to much better EBIDTA margins. In fact, some of the more focused facilities, which tend to limit to one or two specialities and are relatively smaller in size, have managed to achieve much better financial performance and that too, in a quicker time frame due to better planning and hence high resource utilisation. The EBIDTA margins over time could be as high as 40-45 per cent,” informs experts.
The second and the most critical step to prepare a proper cost reduction plan that includes proper budgeting. “A hospital which has well planned OPEX budget with clear focus on cost efficiency and productivity can run the hospital efficiently,Executing a proper budget will enable hospitals to better cost control and containment. Standard deviation and deviations from budget helps in identifying the areas for improvement. Thereby concentrated efforts can be intensified in those areas. Hospital being a 24/7-service industry is necessarily labour intensive hence it is imperative to keep manpower numbers at optimum level corresponding with the capacity utilisation. Most of the costs are related to capacity hence hospitals must invest in capacity build-up only when they are reasonably sure about the utilisation. Unduly large capacity build-ups would put strain of scarce financial resources.” Citing an example of cleverly managing cost incurred for pharmacy, Jalan, opines, “If spending on consumables or the pharmacy is high, aggressive renegotiations with vendors can bring down some costs. In certain cases, outsourcing these services to external companies that enjoy greater efficiency can increase margins and take advantage economies of scale. Some hospitals in recent past have started taking this approach as well.”

Sharing some tips for operating cost reducing ,Hospitals should aim at centralise procurement, which could be aggregated at a company or regional level. An overall transition towards a more variable operating structure by having similar back-ended contracts with suppliers, where payments are linked to the volume of goods consumed or the quantum of services dispensed at a hospital is a good way of reducing cost.” “Operational costs can be reduced by several measures. Few of them may include

1.Appropriate staffing through an accurate method of predicting volume utilisation and staff productivity to arrive at the required staff number and staff mix.

2. Providing accurate job descriptions to staff etc also adds to staff productivity.

3. Use of part time staff, contract staff, overtime are some efficient ways.

4.Energy consumption evaluation and reduction in energy consumption also contributes significantly to cost reduction. Investing in technology also reduces operational costs.

5. Inventory control is yet another way of reducing operational cost.

Those Who did IT


Even as most hospitals struggle to overcome the challenges of reducing operating cost, there are few successful examples that have efficiently achieved the target. For e.g. Larger hospitals chains derive significant cost advantage on account of economies of scale and have considerably lower material expenses. In terms of the personnel cost, hospitals, which work primarily on the ‘fee for service’ model for their physicians, do not gain when the volumes go up. This is one reason, why some hospitals (like Fortis or Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai) are moving more towards a ‘salary’ model for their physicians. Such hospitals are keen to build the institutional brand and improve margins when the volumes go up. It does not, however, mean that they do not have variable or performance-linked components at all. Some of the hospitals have also managed to reduce expenses on energy (through smart design) and repairs and maintenance (again, through smart negotiation on warranty period and terms of maintenance with the vendors at the time of equipment procurement).”

“However, institutions such as Narayana Hrudalaya or Aaravind Eye Hospital have managed to keep such costs quite low by managing productivity of their physicians. They have also ensured that nursing and paramedical teams get to play a more active role in care delivery, thus reducing the need for physicians, especially in routine interventions. At Aaravind Eye, a single surgeon can perform 15 surgeries per hour, thanks to the highly automated ‘assembly line’ approach taken. On similar lines, hospitals abroad are exploring ways to make attendants a part of the overall patient treatment cycle. This would lead to a pleasant experience for the patients and their families as well, indirectly increasing operational efficiency,” he further adds.

 

Striking the balance


Every hospital requires to maintain a balance between liquidity and profitability while conducting its day to day operations. And operating cost being the key component in the daily activities, effective management of this cost will allow hospitals to run a lucrative business. However, hospitals often in the wake of being precautious about wastage of funds tend to block their funds. “Organisations block funds in inventory as well as giving credits to corporate clients. Lack of funds can wreak havoc for the organisation. So, hospitals need to ensure that the money flow is not blocked.



Jul 21, 2012

Organising a Free Medical Camp/CME




 

HOW TO ORGANISE A FREE MEDICAL CAMP ?


Organising a free medical camp is no easy task as it requires ofcourse fund and lots of planning. However, if done correctly, it will be very helpful and an effective tool in increasing brand awareness and business for any hospital.

There has been a lot of debate on role of free camps and continuing medical education programmes (CMEs) as effective marketing tools for hospitals/ Nursing Homes. Its proven that a camp or a CME is a useful marketing tool only if its potential is tapped properly which again needs a statageically planned followup .

Though most hospitals organise free camps, in which sizeable number of patients turn up, but the tragic part is, that these patients do not make it to the hospital in the end. In other words they fail to get translated into business.

This leaves the hospital promoters wondering whether the whole exercise was worth it or not. Similarly, there may be a good number of people who attend a CME and then forget about the hospital which organised it within a week. The flight of fancy of the organising hospital ends up in despair as hardly any referrals get generated in spite of spending so much time and money.

Over the last few years while I have had the opportunity to organise a few camps and CMEs for my hospital , I have learned few facts which may help a hospital to gain maximum advantage from a camp or a CME.

I would, however, assert that these two are not the only ways of generating patient flow. Also, the hospitals in my opinion should use these as a long term brand building tool rather than a formula for instant patient generation. It would be useful to add that the guidelines being mentioned here are useful in many ways but they do not guarantee anything.

First of all, the hospital must always organise the CME and the camp together for a long lasting effect.

 

Few tips to make your camp a hit :



1. Organise the camp on a holiday or a weekend. This will allow more patient flow .



2. If you are organising a speciality camp for a particular disease, consider keeping a token fee because it will help to filter ?genuine patients? from the free camp buffs who grace all the camps in town with their presence



3. Take help of a local authority, or the local Club or some other NGO to impart some credibility to the camp. Use their facility for the camp. It is also a good idea to use the facility of a smaller nursing home or a clinic for the event

Just make sure that the clinic you are using enjoys a good reputation among the locals. In such a case, the clinic or the nursing home which is co-organising with you may also share the publicity expenditure with you. They would do so because you are boosting their image in the local market and they will also earn from the investigations or the medicines you might prescribe to the patients



4. Make sure you carry a lot of medicine samples to be distributed free to the patients



5. Always market a camp as a screening camp for the procedures which would be carried out at the hospital at a later date. Announce a discount for the ?selected? patients. The ideal thing would be to rope in the NGO or some local government body or politicians or businessmen or all of these to bear some percentage of expenses for the procedures you would carry out on ?selected? patients if they are poor.

This will help in making your camp a great hit. People will not get offended if you call them over to your place for the procedure since you have already admitted that the purpose of the camp is to screen eligible candidates for surgery or other procedures. Plus pitching in credible sponsors will instill confidence in people apart from reducing their monetary burden



6. Build a hype for the camp at least four days before the event.

Make your camp unique. Don?t make it sound as just another camp by some hospital. This can be done using myriad marketing tools. The most effective in my opinion are :





a. Pamphlets [if designed professionally], give it a catchy headline, use short sentences, mention free medicines, include a picture in the pamphlet to catch attention. These pamphlets can be used as inserts in the paper



b. A loud speaker mounted on the top of a vehicle and a person announcing the event date and other particulars. You could be innovative to have these announcements be made in an interesting way, like in form of a poem or a song. This helps to gain attention of people



c. Banners put at a decent height so as to be visible. Put these at places like bus stand or a busy crossing



d. Run an ad on the local cable TV channel. Highlight whatever is free and also tell them that the procedures will be performed at a discount rate on patients selected from the camp.



e. Give a pre-camp press note to all the leading newspapers of the area. Tell them you are arriving with something very relevant and unique



f. Always have a small opening ceremony for the camp. If a prominent figure from your locality / NGO/ CORPORATOR comes it will give you free press reviews/ publicity .Do not forget to have a cameraman be present there for clicking the photographs







7. During the camp manage the crowd in a systematic way. Make sure that people do not have to wait long hours and are taken care of. Always have a ?marketing guy? seated alongside you when examining people. This person will do the job of telling eligible patients how much discount they would get if they reach within 10 days for surgery. Who all are paying a part of their hospital bill, what is the best way to reach the hospital and what advantages they would get if they come to you in the next ten days.

Take care that all this is done in a subtle way. People are likely to get upset if they experience any hardshell. This guy must take the addresses and phone numbers of all the potential patients so that they are informed whenever you have another camp in the area.



8. Ensure that you are running audio visual clips in the OPD area while the camp is on. These clips may highlight your hospital services and may also contain testimonials from your previous patients. Also give brochures and other reading material to the patients generously.



9. Invariably follow a camp with a press conference. Have the local press and cable TV people be present at a nearby caf?. Give them photographs of the camp to be printed. Tell them something which is sensational enough to make headlines the next day. For instance tell them why Indians are more prone to heart disease or how women get gall stones so frequently these days or how the new technique available at your hospital has revolutionised the medical field, etc.



10. At the end of the day if you get the names and addresses of a few legitimate patients and if the press people send in a detailed report on your camp, you have done your job. Not to forget the ?sponsors? who chip in to help poor patients requiring surgery. As it turns out, organising a camp is not a joke. It requires a team of three-four people out of which at least one is a marketing professional with some exposure in this area.Iif done correctly, a camp will give you a good reason to have cheers at your face it always helps in increasing footfalls and business.


My next camp on Renal Diseases including dialysis and kidney transplant is due next will I will surely share my experinces by next to next week. More for next time


Jul 9, 2012

Ensuring safe Injectible






There is a need to facilitate a safe injection environment to improve the healthcare delivery system and elucidates on the means to enable it

Today injections are among the most common of all clinical procedures. Billions and Billions of injections are administered every year to facilitate preventive and curative care. Yet, in a majority of developing countries almost half of these injections are unsafe due to reuse of single-use syringes and/ or needles, faulty technique, and poor disposal methods.

These faulty handling issues expose patients, healthcare practitioners and the public, at large, to the risk of transmission of infections, which cause a significant drain on the health of individuals, the healthcare system and the community. Unsafe injection practices exert a very significant impact on the health of patients, caregivers (healthcare practitioners) as well as the entire healthcare system.

World Health Organisation says that a safe injection does not harm the recipient, expose the provider to any avoidable risks, or result in waste that is dangerous for the community. A safe injection environment must therefore take into account the patient, the caregiver, the community and the environment. Patient safety is seriously compromised by inappropriate use of injection devices. A 2005 study to assess injection practices in India showed that nationwide 62 per cent of all injections were unsafe due to improper sterilisation, reuse or faulty administration,1 making them a leading cause of healthcare associated infections (HAIs) – infections that a patient gets from the very healthcare facility and procedure that he visited to get well.

Hence, collaborative efforts of key stakeholders are imperative to promote a safe environment for parenteral medication delivery that reduces or eliminates unwanted disease outbreaks (e.g. Hepatitis B, C) by:

a ) Raising awareness to the issues

(b) Standardising clinical best practices and

(c) Embedding comprehensive solutions that protect patients, caregivers and community across the continuum of care delivery.

Historical perspective: Eliminating re-use of needles and syringes for immunisation

WHO, PATH and UNICEF worked with the industry through the 1990s and with pioneering auto disable (AD) syringe technologies developed by Becton Dickinson (BD), UNICEF and WHO promoted their adoption throughout the world to prevent reuse of syringes during immunisation campaigns.

India was using glass syringes for vaccinating children till as late as 2005. Indian Association of Paediatricians (IAP) and BD played a key role in advocating for safe injections. Evidence of unsafe injections was generated through a massive, nationwide Government of India (GOI) study by INCLEN, led by Dr NK Arora, across various healthcare settings from private to government curative to immunisation. Highlights of the INCLEN report on the magnitude of reuse are in Table 1.

In 2005, GOI mandated the use of AD syringes in its flagship Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP), covering a cohort of approximately 26 million children per year, who have since been safe from risk of infections through re-use of syringes.

However, vaccination related injections account for only 10-15 per cent of total injections. Approximately 85-90 per cent of injections are curative injections. Although it has been over seven years since the INCLEN study was disseminated, and there have been numerous deaths attributed to syringe reuse across the country, there is no comprehensive mandate for syringes with reuse prevention features.

Characteristics of unsafe injections (% of all injections) in India



The impact of unsafe injections

Compromising Patient Safety: In the past few years, deadly outbreaks of diseases have been caused due to unsafe injection practices in this country. One of India’s deadliest outbreaks of Hepatitis B occurred in February 2009 at Modasa in Gujarat’s Sabarkantha district. Within months, 94 people had died from 593 confirmed cases in the talukas of Modasa, Idar and Meghraj. Hepatitis B had broken out simply because some private practitioners kept reusing infected syringes.1 Other incidents have also been reported. As recent as February 2012, news regarding a Hepatitis C outbreak in Fatehabad area of Haryana was reported in the local papers. A comprehensive investigation by the Department of Community Medicine, Post Graduate Institute of Medical College, Rohtak, revealed that of 8000 suspected individuals investigated clinically, biochemically and microbiologically in and around Ratia town, 1605 have been confirmed to have Hepatitis C. 70 per cent of these cases are linked to the reuse of syringes. Further investigation by National Center for Disease Control has been recommended.

Reuse of syringes happens both ‘intentionally’ i.e. due to either a profit motive of practitioners who charge a fixed consultation fee including cost of drug and syringe, and/ or due to ignorance of risks of reusing a syringe which may not have visible blood, but only ‘invisible’ body fluids or due to ‘downstream’ re-use, through repacking and resale of syringes collected by the unorganised waste collection.

In the last 20 years, emerging diseases like Hepatitis B and C and HIV have made the risks from unsafe injections and unsafe waste disposal unacceptable. WHO estimates that globally about 1.3 million2 people die of infections caused by reuse of syringes, of which estimated 300,000 are in India. National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) estimates that reuse of syringes and needles is one of the causes of new HIV cases, after unsafe sex.3

Compromising community safety: Unsafe waste disposal is especially common in India’s highly fragmented healthcare delivery system, where used syringes are often not disposed through specialised bio-medical waste agencies, but are disposed along with kitchen waste from residence-cum-clinics, or as part of municipal waste. This leads not only to the risk of diversion of the syringes for repacking and resale by unscrupulous elements, but also to the risk of infection from needle-stick injuries to the people handling such waste – often rag pickers.

India’s Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has issued guidelines for injection waste management, but reports indicate the rules are not always followed. Of the 3,842 healthcare providers/ facilities participating in the 2005 study of Indian injection practices, it was pointed out that satisfactory disposal of plastic syringes and disposable needles was observed only at 61.3 per cent of the facilities. It was the lowest at immunisation clinics (50.9 per cent). Nationally, only 6.2 per cent of health facilities undertook waste segregation. Less than half the health facilities (44.8 per cent) ensured satisfactory terminal disposal of injection waste, which was lowest at private health facilities (41.5 per cent). Unlike urban health facilities, rural areas were more prone to unsatisfactory waste disposal. Direct observation also showed that used plastic syringes/needles were sold to scrap dealers more often from private health facilities (15.2 per cent) than government health facilities (3.2 per cent). With widespread use of plastic syringes in India, the study stressed the significance of properly disposing such waste.4

In India, device manufacturers, healthcare facilities and waste handlers can contribute to the reduction of overall sharps waste through programmes that collect sharps waste, treat it to remove potential biohazards, recycle and recover raw materials, and incorporate them into new products. A ‘safe injection environment’ approach requires continued innovation and commitment from stakeholders—from manufacture and use, to disposal and recovery—while maintaining a high standard of care at a reasonable cost4.

The solution: a collaborative approach by key stakeholders towards comprehensive safety

In order to improve injection safety in India, the 2005 INCLEN study made several recommendations, including the following:

• Encourage universal use of (single use) pre-sterilised syringe/ needles with a mechanism for prevention of reuse

• Ensure adequate quantities of syringes/needles according to requirement

• Adhere to guidelines for injection waste management

• Institutionalise the process of training of injection prescribers and administrators

• Increase communication and awareness among health professionals and the community

• Establish follow-up studies to assess and monitor economic and clinical aspects of injection safety interventions.

It is clear that improving injection safety in a comprehensive manner cannot be addressed by any one stakeholder — it would require a sustained and coordinated effort amongst various stakeholders — government, NGOs, doctor bodies, community outreach workers, manufacturers of injectable drugs and syringes. Opportunities for improvement exist across the spectrum of the lifecycle of the syringe – from source materials and manufacture, through use and disposal.

The Central and State governments can play a key role by mandating the use of devices with reuse prevention features and improving enforcement of biomedical waste handling norms. The fact that over 75 per cent of injections are delivered by the private sector, mostly in outpatient clinics of estimated one million practitioners spread across all towns and villages, makes the task of training and regulating even more difficult in the absence of enforceable policy around this issue.

Professional medical associations and NGOs can also be instrumental by increasing awareness of the risks of unsafe injection and disposal practices. Through their support, appropriate training and education modules can be developed for all healthcare workers. By adopting and promoting best clinical practices related to comprehensive injection safety, caregivers can embrace their responsibility to do no harm to those they serve.

Manufacturers must develop product solutions and services which address patient, caregiver and community safety, while also reducing their impact on the environment. New product and process technologies are enabling the reduction of source materials and elimination of materials of concern, such as plasticisers and halogenated plastics, in the design and manufacture of medical devices. Product designs for minimal consumption of raw materials may consume fewer non-renewable resources and require less fuel to ship. Such products can spare raw materials, and have a lower impact on disposal, while meeting the highest standards for performance, safety and local regulations.

Opportunities exist for new stakeholders as well. As in the US, collaborations between manufacturers, healthcare providers and waste handlers could enable the appropriate recovery and recycling of materials that would otherwise be part of the waste stream. US hospitals generate 5.9 million tonne of waste annually, and sharps (injections, needles, blades, broken glassware) comprise about one per cent of all hospital waste (59,000 tonne). To reduce the amount of waste that ends up in a landfill, the 442-bed Rady Children’s Hospital, San Diego, recycles 19 tonne of sharps per year through an innovative programme that safely turns injection-related waste into new products.

Indeed, cultivating a truly safe injection environment calls for collaboration by manufacturers, providers, waste handlers and other stakeholders to implement comprehensive solutions across the healthcare spectrum. When it comes to the safety and welfare of patients, caregivers, the community and the environment, there are truly no shortcut



Mar 11, 2012

Curing with Care


!Health Care System needs a good Doc!

Curing with Care _ Our Health Care System Challenges

India's healthcare system faces the important and often too hard challenges of expanding access, ensuring affordability and guaranteeing quality Health Care to all. Almost all Governmets since independence whether its state of Centre promised to improve it but very little or none progress is made. As matters stand, small private hospitals, clinics, pharmacists and quacks are the mainstays of healthcare provision in both urban and rural centers. The renewed focus and increased spending by the government to revamp the public sector health delivery system may tilt the balance back towards public sector healthcare, but a large structural shift in healthcare-seeking behaviour is usually very slow and cumbersome. Even at places where infrastructe is available the skill is not there and efficient hospital administratiors are missing altogether. The doctors are doing both administrative and clinical work which is irony for a sector which already have a huge issue of shortage of  qualified and experienced doctors and paramedics .

In theory, the
private sector responds in more sensitive way (at least they pretend to be ) to patients' needs because it provides greater autonomy and flexibility to the healthcare provider. Multiple healthcare providers competing on quality and price allow the patient to choose the best quality of healthcare they can afford and the invisible hand of the market achieves system-wide efficiency.

In practice, however, greater flexibility without any regulatory oversight results in the quality of care provided falling short of even a basic minimum standard of quality. The scale of this quality problem is enormous even in high-end urban medical centers, leave alone rural health clinics. Inappropriate treatment, malpractice, excessive use of certain procedures and negligence are rampant.

The root cause of the problem is that the quality of healthcare (of course cost) is extremely difficult to measure and the consumer is unable to verify the quality. Attempts to objectively measure it always result in esoteric, multi-attribute healthcare quality metrics which are difficult to create and even more difficult for the patient or the caregiver to understand.

In choosing their hospital, clinic or quack, patients and their caregivers typically rely on 'perceived' quality which is often far removed from actual quality. In a market where unscrupulous low quality providers have a competitive advantage in both price and perceived quality, high quality providers find it extremely hard to recover the costs required to provide high quality healthcare.
Most developed countries, therefore, regulate the provision of healthcare and pharmaceutical products through central government-run agencies. In some ways, the clinical establishments registration and regulation Bill is attempting such a regulatory structure. However, the risks of well-designed but poorly executed healthcare regulation are extremely high in India.
The national and state regulatory councils would lack trained and motivated personnel to enforce the regulations, especially in remote areas. And a slow and needlessly complex regulatory agency can choke the private sector and deny any kind of healthcare to some segments of the population. The risks of decentralised corruption within the regulatory agencies are even higher.

A voluntary accreditation programme for health providers is another way to improve quality. The National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH) is a powerful attempt at this. But while NABH's accreditation efforts can help improve quality in larger private hospitals and clinics, they are unlikely to have a significant impact on the quality of care in small private
clinics or rural healthcare establishments.

Accreditation results in high quality of care only if the patient cares about the accreditation, or accreditation becomes a precondition for healthcare providers to receive payments from insurance or third party payers.
NABH has attempted this through preconditions for empanelment by the Central Government Health Scheme and other insurance companies, but with limited success. Healthcare in India is still largely paid out-of-pocket and the leverage of the insurance companies or payers is still relatively small.

A prime cause of our inability to ensure higher quality in healthcare provision is the excessive fragmentation of our healthcare provisioning system. This makes monitoring, regulating, or improving quality very costly. The infrastructure investment required for collecting quality performance data from small owner operated clinics is extremely high at present.

This does not, however, mean that quality can be achieved only when a few large hospital chains own all the clinics, or when there is a plethora of franchise clinics. It requires a few coordinating agencies, or orchestrators, who can guarantee higher compliance to quality standards and better reporting of clinical performance metrics.

One way to achieve this would be to couple the desired quality improvements with access to critical inputs - which the coordinating body can provide to hospitals, clinics and rural health establishments at a much cheaper cost than what they can otherwise obtain. Examples of such inputs would be very cheap sources of capital; heavily discounted medicines or hospital equipment; well-trained paramedical staff at subsidised rates.

The poor quality providers will not have access to these inputs at the same prices as their high quality counterparts and will not be able to compete unless they improve quality and can get access to these subsidised inputs. The coordinating agency needs to be organised as a public-private partnership; a for-profit or a government-run model will not be effective and sustainable for this role.
One can never predict how complex systems such as healthcare will react to a new regulation, new information flows, or new incentive structures. Perhaps the regulatory Bill will work, or NABH programmes will achieve national scale, or doctors and the Medical Council of India will ensure better peer-review and thus self-regulation will emerge. What is critical, though, is that we end the gridlock on healthcare quality regulation and make some difficult choices - else we face an inevitable decline in our nation's health and Health care System will be a far cry for common people and in rural areas only Neem Hakeem will be available to milk money .