Describing the launch of IIMB’s Professional Certificate Program in Hospital Management as historic, the Health Minister emphasizes the need for good managers in the delivery of healthcare
01 JULY, Bengaluru: In a fitting tribute on Doctors’ Day, IIM Bangalore’s digital learning initiative IIMBx launched a new program – the Professional Certificate in Hospital Management, today. This is a 12-month online-synchronous program which is a blend of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) by IIMB faculty, and live online sessions by industry experts and professionals. The program aims to benefit healthcare professionals, mid-level managers, healthcare consultants, entrepreneurs, business leaders, and more.
In his address, as Chief Guest at the launch, Dr K Sudhakar, Minister for Health & Medical Education, Government of Karnataka, said he was proud that IIMB – an institution based out of Karnataka – had taken the lead in conceptualizing a program that would benefit the healthcare sector in the entire country. “We need good management to ensure the delivery of healthcare services to the satisfaction of patients. I am delighted that the transformation of healthcare delivery in the country will start from here – at IIMB,” he said.
In his opening remarks, Professor Rishikesha T Krishnan, Director, IIM Bangalore, spoke of the efforts of IIM Bangalore in pioneering digital learning in the management education space, through MOOCs on platforms such as Swayam, edX and IIMBx. IIMB now offers 63 courses on these platforms. “The Professional Certificate Programme in Hospital Management is part of IIMB’s strong involvement in public systems and public policy. It builds on our expertise in delivering quality management education and it is a culmination of Dr Devi Shetty’s efforts, as Chairperson of our Board, to make healthcare and now, healthcare education, accessible and affordable,” he said.
Describing Dr Sudhakar as a dynamic leader, Professor Rishikesha Krishnan said in all his interactions with the youngest cabinet minister in Karnataka, he was struck by his efforts to ensure that medical professionals in the state are put through regular and relevant training programmes.
“Public healthcare needs better managers”
To emphasize the need to train healthcare professionals in areas from operations management to strategy to finance, Dr Sudhakar said he understood and appreciated the role of learning and training as he had worked in a Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) early in his career and seen, first hand, lacunae in the system. “I know that corporate hospitals are run professionally because they have better managers. Investment-wise, government spends a lot on infrastructure and maintenance, but the private sector performs better. That’s why I want all doctors in government hospitals to be trained in administration,” he said, promising that he would be nominating many government doctors to the programme in hospital management.
“Dissociate healthcare from affluence”
In his keynote address, Dr Devi Shetty, Chairperson, Board of Governors, IIM Bangalore, and Founder-Chairman, Narayana Group of Hospitals, described the launch of the Professional Certificate Programme in Hospital Management as a “dream come true”. Remarking that he, as a doctor who was committed to dissociating healthcare from affluence by making it accessible and affordable, he said: “This course, delivered by world class faculty at IIMB, is especially relevant and important for a country like India where 80 per cent of healthcare is delivered, not by corporate chains in metro cities, but by 30-bed and 50-bed nursing homes in Tier II and Tier III cities. Doctors running such nursing homes need serious help in management and administration. They think they are successful because they have money to pay salaries at the end of every month but, in truth, such businesses are always on the brink. A couple of medico-legal cases and they can be pushed into bankruptcy! Those running such hospitals need to understand the nuances of management to be efficient.”
Programme structure
The IIMBx programme offers the opportunity to early- and mid-career individuals in the healthcare sector to upskill themselves in different areas of management, such as Public Health, Operations, Finance, Economics, Marketing, Organizational Behavior & Human Resources Management, Strategy, Legal and Regulatory Framework, Statistics and Innovation. The program, with a combination of case studies, faculty expertise and industry insights, will help learners enhance their core management skills, which in turn will help them design and deliver high impact hospital services.
It includes 10 courses comprising five to six modules. There will be a series of online courses, lectures, workshops, hands-on projects, talks by industry experts, webinars, and more. At the end of the program, learners need to present a capstone project which would combine learnings from all the individual courses.
In her closing remarks, Professor Vasanthi Srinivasan, Chairperson, IIMBx and Director of the Hospital Management program, acknowledged and thanked the 35-member IIMBx team, led by Usha Ganeshan, and the faculty who will deliver different modules of the program. She also said that it was a huge responsibility to live up to the faith expressed by Dr Sudhakar that good managers, trained by schools like IIMB, would transform healthcare delivery in the country. Addressing the program participants, Prof. Vasanthi Srinivasan pointed out that the first batch is always special because of the unique takeaways for both the teacher and the taught.
The event was compered by Shwetha Govindan, Pedagogical Research Associate, IIMBx. Professors PD Jose, Padmini Srinivasan, Allen Ugargol, Debolina Dutta and Vinay Dabholkar were present at the launch along with research associates and staff members of IIMB.
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