Dr. Guru N Reddy
Founder, Promoter & Director, Continental Hospitals Pvt Ltd
WCRINT+Super Fest – 17-5-18 -London
What are the breakthrough ideas that you suggest to India in your industry?
Healthcare Industry in India is seeing a transformational change; however a paradigm shift is needed in the framework of policies to embrace this change. With more than thirty years of experience in the United States and India, I suggest the following:
- a) Digitization of Health Records at every Point of Entry (POE) of healthcare of citizens.
- b) Universal Child and Adult Immunization (the later grossly neglected at the present time).
- c) Current burden of the Industry being primarily borne by the private sector. Hence an aggressive Public – Private Partnership will revolutionise access to healthcare, improve and sustain quality of care to our citizens.
- d) India needs implementation of “Evidence based medicine and care” to control costs and enhance quality and hold Health Care Providers accountable.
- e) Independent and autonomous “State Medical Boards” in every state as in developed nations for effective policy making, peer review, medical negligence, workforce distribution and liasioning with National Medical Council.
What innovations are you getting in your industry for a better Indian economy?
1) India is emerging as a destination for Medical Tourism and an incredible opportunity to earn foreign exchange thus contributing to our economy.
2) Healthcare infrastructure and Patient Safety Standards has to drastically improve to create an economic impact.
3) Opportunity in Diagnostics including advanced diagnostics, Genetic testing and Counseling will positively impact the health, economy and our GDP.
4) India can become a leader in basic medical instrument manufacturing not only to serve the country but exporting to developing nations.
5) Facilitating “Telemedicine” of our physician clinical expertise to underserved nations with a good regulatory framework from the Government, will positively impact our global stature and economy.
Define your leadership style and role.
1) I believe in transformational, delegatory and participative leadership.
2) Creating opportunities with a strategic vision and enabling robust learning and training skill sets has been my life’s passion.
3) As a healthcare leader, I have led several hospitals in the US as Chief of Staff, President, Executive Board Member and had the honour to be elected as President of the Largest Medical Society (County wise) in the US and for many years contributing to policy framework and strategic planning.
4) My Leadership experiences from childhood in India and abroad inspired me to give back to my country by founding and establishing one of the largest tertiary care hospitals, Continental Hospitals in India with many innovative features created for the first time.
5) I am an out of the box thinker, reach beyond convention and strategize brilliantly taking stock of a given ecological system.
6) Motivating, inspiring and educating and training for tomorrow’s leaders has been yet another dimension of my leadership.
7) Strategic execution to enhance corporate performance by implementation of strong performance measurement and management control systems with periodic realigning of structures and systems within the organization has always been my key driver for success as a leader.
Breakthrough ideas from you.
1) Digital transformation with logical embrace of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will radically change and address the umpteen pitfalls of India’s healthcare Industry.
2) Developing urgently “Physician extender” program in the country with a focus on “Physician Assistants” and “Nurse Practitioners” will not only bridge the gap of rural, urban divide but will improve many aspects of healthcare industry and address shortage of physicians and nurses.
3) Third Party payer system including Governmental insurance coverage should penetrate into our society at a rapid pace with reasonable costs and reduce the economic burden through wage loss and personal bankruptcy of patients across the country.
Suggestions for a Better India.
1) We are a great nation and have created an indelible impression on the international platform on many fronts including societal peace, religious harmony, spiritual magnitude and family values.
2) It is time we focus on our economic agenda in an attempt to grow per capita income of Indians and the benefit of growth in our GDP percolates to every Indian.
3) Emerging as a strong nation by capturing the opportunities of demographic dividend, educational outreach and intellectual bank of technology of our people, start-ups, women empowerment and smart cities is the call of the hour.
4) By transitioning back to India and engaging with various organizations has been incredible. Buoyed with an incredible spirit to contribute to the future of our nation understanding the epithet that “Don’t undervalue what you have and don’t overvalue what others have”.
