Drawing Inspiration

How healthcare is adopting concepts from various other industries.

- Rita Dutta

With patient-centricity being an emerging trend in healthcare, leading hospitals are seen embracing disruptive concepts from other industries to stay ahead of the competition. According to Daljit Singh, president, strategy & organisational development, Fortis Healthcare Limited, “The purpose of a business is to survive in perpetuity. Therefore, organisations have to continue to re-invent their strategies to stay relevant to their customers.”

Below are a few industries that have impacted the healthcare industry in the last few years to adopt their best practices:

Manufacturing industry

To improve quality and safety and enhance-efficiency to achieve better patient outcomes, healthcare has borrowed a slew of concepts from the manufacturing industry. Some of them are:

1a. Lean Management and Six Sigma: Though originating in the manufacturing industry, Six Sigma helps to achieve greater quality control. Various healthcare organisations have successfully adopted Six Sigma to improve quality. On the other hand, lean management helps to reduce waste, optimise resources and decrease cost but is often misunderstood as a management principle to reduce manpower. "In the automobile industry, the cost of manufacturing comes down by 50% every seven years. Processes become obsolete with the passage of time. So, the industry needs to re-think strategies to continue to give value to customers,” says Singh.