ASSIGNMENT ON

“HEALTH SERVICES”

What are health services?

Health services include all services dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of
disease, or the promotion, maintenance and restoration of health. They include
personal and non-personal health services.

Health services are the most visible functions of any health system, both to users and
the general public. Service provision refers to the way inputs such as money, staff,
equipment and drugs are combined to allow the delivery of health interventions.

Improving access, coverage and quality of services depends on these key resources
being available; on the ways services are organized and managed, and on incentives
influencing providers and users

In any health system, good health services are those which deliver effective, safe,
good quality, personal and non-personal care to those that need it, when needed, and
with minimal waste.

The INDIAN health care sector constitutes:

1. Medical care providers: physicians, specialist clinics, private corporate hospital,

non govt. charity trust hospitals and govt. hospital.
2. Diagnostic service centres and pathology laboratories,
3. Medical equipment manufacturers, ambulances.
4. Contract research organisation, pharmaceutical manufacturers,
5. Third party support service providers (catering, laundry)

Before independence the health care sector was in dismal condition with high
morbidity and mortality rates and prevalence of infectious diseases. Since
independence emphasis has been put on primary Health Care and India has worked
continuously to improve its health care system in last several decades. But the
government funded facilities are not enough to meet the increasing demand that is
why government invited private sectors to this segment. Corporate Hospital can be
segmented into polyclinics, which provide services in relation to a wide range of
health problems; ‘ multi specialty hospital s’ which provides special services apart
from regular services and ‘super specialty hospital’ which specialize in a particular
category of health issues. Example: APOLLO is an example of multi specialty
hospital where L.V Prasad eye institute is an example of super specialty category
hospital which only well known for eye hospital.

HOSPITAL SYSTEM AND FUNTIONS: Hospitals provide complete medical care,

ranging from diagnostic services to surgery, to continuous nursing care. Some
hospitals specialize in treatment of the mentally ill, cancer patients, or children.
Hospital-based care may be an impatient or outpatient basis. The mix of workers
needed varies, depending on the size, geographic location, goals, philosophy, funding,
organization and management style of the institution. When a patient enters a hospital,
many groups are involved inside and outside the hospital. Inside, the patient is
concerned with admission, doctors, nurses, dietetics, the business office and
housekeepers. Externally the patient is involved with relatives, friends and third party-
the payer, and is influenced by govt. regulations, accreditation and community.

Some of the main functions of hospitals are given below:

1. PATIENT CARE FUNCTION: It is important to remember that besides

treatment the attitude and behavioural pattern of health professionals are known to
have an importance influences on patient care as they are directly related to quality of
care.

i. Environmental system: Schulz and Johnson quote a number of studies to say that
the physical environment of the hospital also effects patient’s response to treatment.
ii. Social system: The effect of attitude of staff towards patients due to change in their
structure is obvious.

iii. Cultural Relationships: The lower income group people have a problem in
communicating with higher socio-economic status physicians which is obvious. The
The barrier exists not only because of different languages spoken by them, but also
because of class difference. Some of the doctors make a conscious effort to overcome
this.

2. PROVIDING A WORKSHOP FOR PHYSICIANS: It has to be understood that

the physician is not so much a part of hospital, as the hospital is part of physician’s
practice.

3. WORKING AS COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER: Hospitals have

increasingly taken up a proactive role to improve the health of the population they
serve, rather than sticking to the reactive role of crisis care.

4. Serving the institution itself by achieving perpetuation, growth and prestige for
institution, its staff and community

5. NURSING AND RESIDENTIAL CARE FACILITIES: Nursing care facilities

provide inpatient nursing, rehabilitation, and health related personal care to those who
need continuous nursing care, but do not require hospital services. Nursing aides
provide the vast majority of direct care. Other facilities, such as convalescent homes,
help patients who need less assistance. Residential care facilities provide around- the-
clock social and personal care to children, the elderly, and others who have limited
ability to care for themselves.

6. AMBULATORY HEALTH CARE SERVICES: About 42% of all health care

services fall into this category. This category consists of different sectors like- office
of physicians, home health care services, offices of dentists, offices of other health
practitioners, outpatient care centres. All these parts are playing an equal important
role in health care sector.

7. MEDICAL AND DIAGNOSTIC LABORATORIES: Medical and diagnostic

laboratories provide analytic or diagnostic services to the medical profession or
directly to patients following a physician’s prescription.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS:

In the rapidly changing health care industry, technological advances have made many
new procedures and method of diagnosis and treatment possible. Clinical
developments, such as infection control, less invasive surgical techniques, advances in
reproductive technology and gene therapy for cancer treatment, continue to increase
the longevity and improve the quality of life of many people.
In addition, advances in information technology continue to improve patient care and
worker efficiency with devices such as hand held computers that record note on each
patient.
Cost containment is also shaping the health care industry, as shown by the growing
emphasis on providing services on an outpatient, ambulatory basis; limiting
unnecessary or low priority services, and stressing preventive care, which reduces the
potential cost of undiagnosed, untreated medical conditions.
These changes will continue to reshape not only the nature of the health care
workforce, but also the manner in which health care is provided.
Having the right marketing mix to market the services of the health care industry is
very important. The fact that healthcare services where the customer will not be
satisfied with anything but the best makes it essential for service providers to take
extra care in planning their marketing mix. Using the right balance of marketing
elements, marketers can ensure that their marketing efforts fetch them expected result.
If we want to set up a new hospital in the city to provide health services to people.
The 7P’s of services that are to be kept in mind are:

1. PRODUCT:
The product elements of healthcare consist of the actual medical treatment provided
in the hospitals, education and training provided by medical colleges and nursing
schools and R&D activities carried on by research centres. These are the physical
good features of health care sectors. The product lines of hospital sectors contains
three broad areas, viz. diagnosis, treatment which maybe pill oriented or surgery
oriented, and post-operational care. The product also includes supplementary services
like maintenance of the case history of patients, registration, billing and support
operation like laundry, diet, pharmacy, stores, security etc. These all service comes
under packaging of any hospital.

2. PRICE:
Pricing healthcare services will be done keeping in view the cost of running the
hospital, the overheads, salaries and wages of the doctors , nurses and admin stuffs,
cost of equipment and infrastructure, bed occupancy, quality of service and the
income level of the patients. Differential pricing policies will be followed depending
on the diagnosis and services selected by the patient. Differential pricing can be done
i.e. different prices Patient opting for general wards and private wards. we can also
make different packages which includes room rent, consultation fees of the doctor,
cost of the treatment, charges of meals of the patient, cost of medicines etc. Also
payments through various modes should be accepted like cash, cheques, credit cards
etc.

3. PLACE:
It is one of the key elements, in the sense that the service should be easily accessible
to the patient. Hospital should be located somewhere which is easily accessible by
patients and transport services are also available for them easily. Like hospital located
inside a city where transport facility always available is definitely preferable by
patients. Hospital can also use ambulance to offer immediate care to patients in
emergency conditions. These are intermediaries for any hospital to take patient.

4. PROMOTION:
Promotional activities should be able to communicate the right message to patients’
as well general public. The communication can be regarding the treatment and
auxiliary arrangements like transport, communication, diet, facilities for the patient,
prices etc.
We will issue ‘GOLD CARDS’ to patients, who entitle them to free monthly
checkups and treatment at concessional prices. Media based advertisements and
promotional messages will be displayed on hoardings at public places.
We will also run special campaigns to promote heart check-up, dental check, eye
check up at concessional rates.
Providing authentic treatment to the patients along with maintaining quality standards
will also help to improve the image of the hospital and attract more patients.

5. PEOPLE:
Without people, healthcare as an industry cannot exist or survive. People include
patients, doctors and the staff who treat and take care of those patients. Health care is
also a knowledge based industry.
Doctors and technicians, who take care of the diagnosis and treatment of patients,
form core of this knowledge base. Therefore our hospital will retain doctors with
excellent knowledge of modern western treatments and skill, and also the right
attitude. Patient will be provided utmost care as their recovery depends not just on the
medical treatment but also the human touch provided by the support staff.
So, apart from being technically qualified, support staff like nurses and housekeeping
personnel should be well-mannered, gentle, hygienic and meticulous. Patients also
play a role in service delivery. It is impossible to have an efficient delivery if the
patient is not either confident or supportive.

6. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE:
Some kind of document or O.P.D. card given to the patient acts as physical evidence
in hospitals. Apart from the location, the ambience of a hospital is also very important
for making a positive impression on patients and their attendants. Therefore our
hospital will be very careful about presenting the right kind of atmosphere which is
both hygienic and relaxing. Apart from interior decoration, lighting and ventilation,
attention will be paid to necessary infrastructure like- electricity, water, sewerage,
communication and transportation, security etc. The certification and awards won by
Doctors and Hospitals can all be displayed at the reception to install confidence in the
customers. All kinds of rooms’ i.e. deluxe rooms, non deluxe rooms, general wards
etc should be there to cater the needs of people with different income levels. A good
cafeteria, proper parking facilities, medical shops, proper waiting rooms for
attendants, ATM facilities, gardens etc should also be the part of the hospital.

7. PROCESS:
Services are provided under two broad categories, services for inpatient and those for
outpatients. The processes for these two services are a little different.
Services for inpatients are spread over operation theatres, intensive care units,
emergency units, regular wards etc. In this case the responsibility of the hospital starts
from the admission of the patient to the discharge of the patient. After admission the
next step is proper diagnosis of the disease. Once the diagnosis is done then proper
treatment is to be given to cure the disease. When the patient gets discharged the
responsibility of the hospital is not over, the regular checkups of the patient for some
period is also required.
Apart from the in house treatment, there are mobile clinics to provide patients easy
access to their services. Providing online consultation is also fast gaining popularity.
However, in India technical awareness is comparatively low, it may take some time
for the masses to welcome such innovative concepts.

CONCLUSION: Earlier, healthcare in India was considered the responsibility of the

government and no private players ventured into this industry. Doctors had their small
clinics and private practices, but the idea of corporate hospitals was almost
nonexistent. However the Indian health care industry has came of age and has become
quite competitive in recent times. Corporate hospitals are trying to attract customer by
offering value added services.
To retain the patients it’s necessary that the hospitals provide good services to all the
patients and that too at affordable prices. The success of the hospital will mainly be
dependent on the people offering the services. So it’s very necessary for the hospitals
that they retain the good doctors and support staff to serve the patients better and be
successful.