Operation Smile

Strategies to ensure that the doctors get their due, so that the patients get the best treatment.

- Rita Dutta

Clinicians are the most important stakeholders of a healthcare organisation, and thus they must be made to feel an integral part of the hospital operations. Like other employees, doctors appreciate organisations which are sensitive to their needs. As healthcare industry is undergoing a paradigm shift, many leading hospitals are fleshing out a structured approach to clinician engagement.

Much like continuous employee engagement programme, clinician engagement programme is a continuous effort to reach out, connect with doctors and ensure that the doctors are given their due while they work to ensure that their patients are given the best possible treatment. It ensures clinicians are aligned with strategic vision of the hospital or group as well as encourages a seamless work environment.

Says Vishal Bali, senior advisor, healthcare, Asia, TPG Growth, “Clinician engagement is a science. It is much broader than aligning doctors to drive numbers.” According to Bali, who was credited with chalking out a well-structured clinician engagement programme in Wockhardt Hospitals when he was the group CEO, “No doubt there is a symbiotic relationship between doctors and the organisations they work for, but the programme should not perceived as a short-term transactional relationship.” One needs to look at it from a time frame of at least 10 years, says Bali, adding that he has been using similar strategies for engaging clinicians for American Oncology Institute (AOI) and Motherhood Hospitals, entities that TPG Growth has invested in.