|
30 Minute Interview
'Today's Corporate Hospitals Compete on the Basis of Technology'
MphasiS Limited was formed in June 2000 as the result of
a merger between US-based IT consulting company MphasiS Corporation and Indian
IT services company BFL software Limited. Today, the company's head office in
Bangalore is supported by offices throughout India. MphasiS also has an international
presence with offices in Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Canada, China, Germany,
Japan, Mexico, The Netherlands, Ireland, Singapore, the UK and the US.
This preferred service provider for many of the leading companies in the healthcare
& life sciences industry has introduced its first hospital management information
system for India and is all set to expand its operations in the country.
Gopinathan Padmanabhan, President- Applications $ President- EMEA Sales,
spoke to Sonal Shukla about company's new HMIS product-MphasiS MHygea,
newer IT trends in healthcare and MphasiS vision for India. Excerpts:
Gopinathan Padmanabhan
President- Applications $ President- EMEA Sales, MphasiS Limited |
With the Indian healthcare industry getting more competitive
and complex, how do you see the role of IT changing?
There is an emerging consciousness about the need for better healthcare in India.
The demand for healthcare is growing with the increasing affordability of Indian
middle class, and one of their major expectations is better quality healthcare.
The Government as a part of its developmental programmes
is also trying to improve the basic necessities of people, and healthcare is
one of them, apart from education and infrastructure. From whichever way you
look at it, the need for better quality healthcare is increasing, however at
the same time; we are also witnessing a situation of severe resource crunch.
The conflicting pressures are witnessed in the industry, where on one side;
there is a requirement for improved and better quality services, security and
safety, similarly, there are pressures to keep the costs lower and make healthcare
services affordable.
The major component which will solve this problem is IT. Technology in healthcare
has brought better diagnostics, delivery of services, and integration of various
components of the large healthcare providing entity, very similar to that of
manufacturing and banking sectors who are already IT savvy.
Compared to telecom sector, which is a major investor in
IT, so far in India, the investments in IT by the healthcare sector have been
insufficient. However, this is about to change now. Today's corporate hospitals
compete on the basis of the technology with investment in it being the major
benchmark.
IT solutions for healthcare are generally associated with
HIS, EMR, and PACS. What are the newer technological trends do you witness for
IT in healthcare?
One of the major requirements for Indian healthcare provider industries is to
align with the globally accepted standards, as there is an increasing need for
data information interchange.
There is a move from provider centric model to a patient centric model where
the patient is the critical link. So the technology trends which would become
important would be increased automation and EMR's. Patients are looking for
flexibility where they would have the ability to access their health records
when they last went to hospital A, when today they are sitting in hospital B,
and continuing the treatment in a different city or hospital. Making this situation
a reality is going to be an emerging requirement. Unless all the hospitals are
automated, this cannot become a reality in India.
In the West, today companies offer electronic documents to save medical information,
which has enabled the patients to save and view their personal medical records
online from anywhere in the world. This type of technology is currently not
available in India as many emerging standards need to be met for the same.
However, the situation is changing, with many Indian hospitals taking the first
step to get automated. Therefore, we as an IT service provider have to keep
in mind, the requirements of hospitals which are new, on the path to digitisation,
as well as the hospitals which are well along the way.
What kind of innovative IT solutions do you have in the
offing?
MphasiS has the ability to offer our customers an end to end full package deal
which includes network, hardware, infrastructure and software services. We have
three businesses namely applications, infrastructure services, and business
process outsourcing. We have the ability to offer fully integrated services
across these businesses.
MphasiS MHygea, the Hospital Management Information System from MphasiS, can
be configured to meet the requirements of all types of hospitals. It offers
a 360 degree view of complete hospital operations and work flow to help manage
the hospital as an enterprise. It is a web based integrated HIMS solution, offering
robust technology support in hospital, clinical and financial management processes.
MphasiS MHygea product is available in few editions such as:
- MHygea Lite which meets the requirements of front
office, billing, collection & refund and patient centric clinical information
to manage the automation needs of small hospitals.
- MHygea Professional which includes Lite Edition plus
enhanced features of billing, collection, refund, pharmacy and store management
to meet the needs of small and medium hospitals.
- MHygea Enterprise Edition which includes MHygea Professional
Edition and provides a complete suite of revenue cycle management, material
and financial management, tax modules to meet enterprise level needs for medium
to large hospitals.
- In addition, we offer BPO services which include
BPO support for all business processes of running a hospital. We also provide
claims processing services and contact center services in the healthcare insurance
space.
It is believed that maintenance of IT systems is more costly
than implementing. How far is this belief true when it comes to hospitals?
That is not always true. MphasiS is transparent and upfront with the customers
regarding the details of costs for implementation and ongoing support and maintenance.
Customers are well informed on all cost aspects upfront.
What are your expansion plans for India?
India is a major focus market for us. In the last one and a half years, we have
intensified our India focus by bringing onboard a new Sales Director for India
as well as a sales team exclusively focused on the Indian market. This focus
has borne results as we have seen significant growth in India market.
sonal.shukla@expressindia.com
|
