Hospitals: the best in India

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2009

Most caring hospitals in India

From the archives of India Today , June 10, 2009

Damayanti Datta

India's most caring hospitals

How many of our hospitals would fulfil that very human need to feel cared for when we are at our most vulnerable? Check out the writing on the wall. And that, too, from those who are usually at the receiving end—patients. A survey commissioned by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Government of India brought out what patients value the most when living under neon lights and in the shadow of disease.

Conducted by the consumer body, VOICE (Voluntary Organisation in the Interest of Consumer Education) on 4,000 patients in six metros, it is reportedly one of the first-ever surveys to tally patient satisfaction with quality of hospital service in India—a country not known for bestowing power to the patient.

“The view of the patient as a consumer is the need of the hour,” says Bijon Mishra of VOICE, who mentored the project. “Although the healthcare market is booming— from Rs 927 billion in 2001 it’s slated to touch Rs 2,088 billion by 2012—the number of complaints against hospitals has zoomed up.” The world of hospital caring is changing fast for the consumer. A maddening tooth-ache on a Sunday morning had forced Sandhya Negi of Patparganj in Delhi to step into the snazzy neighbourhood hospital. She wasn’t destined to burn a hole in her pocket. The doctor couldn’t be traced. The hospital apologised, but it was the phone call later in the day that took her breath away. “I’m doctor X,” crooned a voice, “Sorry for not being there. Hope you won’t hold it against us.”

A far cry from her trip to a wellknown government hospital some years back. She still remembers the agonisingly long wait and patients swarming around a harassed doctor. Would she go back to that hospital now that she has more choice? That line of patient-thinking is reflected in the survey in hand: the top reason for choosing a superspeciality or tertiary hospital is good reputation and image, followed by referral from a doctor and recommendation by close friends and family. “The new-age consumer—more sensitive about matters concerning health, more willing to spend on the best possible service and more keen to get value for money, is asserting his choice,” says Dr Naresh Trehan, the man who had set up the Escorts Heart Institute & Research Centre in Delhi on his return to India from the US two decades back. Not surprisingly, “referred by doctor” is the top reason in districts, among the less educated and economically weaker. “There is persuasive evidence that quality of care influences hospital demand,” write two US economists, Dana Goldman and John Radley, in their December 2008 study, ‘Hospitals as hotels: the role of patient amenities in hospital demand’. While a one-standard-deviation increase in amenities (“such as good food, attentive staff, and pleasant surroundings”) raised a hospital’s demand by 38.4 per cent on average, the demand was substantially less responsive to clinical quality. In the survey in hand, too, hospitals that topped in “overall satisfaction” were those that offered more amenities. From cleanliness to parking, clear signage to wheelchairs— Apollo, Chennai, and Wockhardt, Bangalore, met most of the standards. At Manipal Hospital, Bangalore, a greater proportion of respondents had used the emergency; Wockhardt, Bangalore won top ratings for easy accessibility, round the clock service, equipment, and helpful nurses. Escorts Hospital, Delhi, and Apollo, Chennai, scored on registration—counter and form, efficient staff, sitting arrangement to time taken. Manipal, Apollo, Chennai, and Care Banjara, Hyderabad, fared best in nursing staff—courtesy, flexibility and attitude. Going by the same logic, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi (AIIMS), despite its reputation, did not fare well. Staggering under patient overload, the average time taken to get registered here works out to 74 minutes, while the average in superspeciality and tertiary hospitals is 22.4 minutes. Ask Dr K.S. Reddy, who has been with AIIMS since 1974, first as a student and finally as the head of cardiology. The experience of people “queuing up from 6 a.m. for an OPD at 2 p.m.” has been routine for him. “The idea of ‘medical care’ is benchmarked partly by peers in the profession and partly by the patient,” he says. “Treatment quality forms a key component. At AIIMS, you may have to wait long to access a doctor, but you end up getting the best possible treatment.” But the human interface with a hospital in India often lacks sensitivity and compassion, he adds. “A study like this sends out a crucial signal that a hospital must not only be care-giving, but a caring facility which is hospitable.” The lounge in front of Trehan’s chamber fills up with patients recovering from surgery at a certain point during the day. And it’s always a poignant moment. As the doctor moves about, asking a question here and checking a dressing there, the fragile men and women on wheel chairs reach out—touching, stroking, kissing his hands—looking wonderingly up at his face. In medicine, the patient’s trust in a doctor’s “superior power” is an important part of the therapeutic effectiveness. And more than pristine degrees, the doctor’s attention span and willingness to listen to patients matter. In the VOICE study, patients expressed satisfaction with doctors not so much in clinical terms but more for their “courtesy” and for “listening, explaining and visiting when required”. Surprisingly, the same doctors that patients approved of scored lowest when “communicating the expected charges” to patients (for instance, Apollo, Chennai and Manipal, Bangalore). Wockhardt Superspeciality on Cunningham Road in Bangalore, surpassed on several counts: it’s most referred by other doctors, top in overall trust in diagnostics, second in “trust on doctors”, one of the top five in overall patient satisfaction, to name a few. What’s their secret of success?

Methodology

The survey was conducted at 45 primary and secondary hospitals, 17 tertiary and superspecialities, covering 4,000 consumers from six metros and nine districts over 2007-08 and submitted to the Government in November 2008.

Quality of health has different meaning for providers and recipients of healthcare. For the former, it’s clinical (affiliation, technology, mortality, discharge, treatment, surgical procedures etc). For patients, it’s more subjective. This study was done purely from their perspective.

A Key Performance Indicators model was adopted. A Situation Appraisal Analysis was then conducted to identify factors that impact quality of service. Secondary studies and interaction with stake-holders suggested 110 factors and an Importance-Influence Matrix was drawn up to identify those—safety, security, services, food, cleanliness, availability of medicine, quietness, staff behaviour, communication, speed of service, waiting facilities, location, signage, fees, etc. The choice of hospitals was based on a tele-pilot survey of VOICE subscribers about facilities they frequented most in the last six months. Field workers had faced problems of accessibility in some (e.g. Jaslok, Asian Heart and Hinduja hospitals in Mumbai).

Honour roll: Top 5

Overall satisfaction

1. Escorts Heart Institute & Research Centre, Delhi

2. Care Banjara, Hyderabad

3. Apollo Hospital, Chennai

4. Manipal Hospital, Bangalore

5. Wockhardt Superspeciality, Cunningham Road, Bangalore

Word of mouth leaders

1. Manipal Hospital, Bangalore

2. Indraprastha Apollo, Delhi

3. Escorts Heart Institute , Delhi

4. All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi

5. Peerless Hospital and BK Roy Research Centre, Kolkata

Most chosen for good image

1. Escorts Heart Institute, Delhi

2. Batra Hospital, Delhi

3. Sir Gangaram Hospital, Delhi

4. Max Superspeciality, Delhi

5. Indraprastha Apollo, Delhi

—Report on Study of Client Satisfaction with Quality of Hospital Services, 2008

2024

Newsweek's India rankings

Newsweek

 

 

 

 

Rank	Name of hospital	City
1	All India Institute of Medical Sciences - Delhi	New Delhi
2	Medanta The Medicity	Gurugram
3	PGIMER - Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research	Chandigarh
4	The Christian Medical College - Town Campus	Vellore
5	Breach Candy Hospital	Mumbai
6	Apollo Hospitals - Chennai	Chennai
7	Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital & Medical Research Institute	Mumbai
8	P. D. Hinduja National Hospital & Medical Research Centre	Mumbai
9	Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket	New Delhi
10	Sir Ganga Ram Hospital	New Delhi
11	King Edward Memorial Hospital	Mumbai
12	Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre	Mumbai
13	Manipal Hospital Old Airport Road	Bengaluru
14	Fortis Memorial Research Institute	Gurugram
15	Indraprastha Apollo Hospital	New Delhi
16	Apollo Hospitals - Secunderabad	Secunderabad
17	Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research	Nagar
18	Fortis Flt. Lt. Rajan Dhall Hospital	New Delhi
19	Apollo Hospitals - Belapur	Navi Mumbai
20	Aster CMI Hospital	Bengaluru
21	Lilavati Hospital And Research Centre	Mumbai
22	Nanavati Max Super Speciality Hospital	Mumbai
23	Apollo Hospitals - Bannerghatta Road	Bengaluru
24	Care Institute Of Medical Science	Ahmedabad
25	Kauvery Hospital	Chennai
26	Bombay Hospital & Medical Research Centre	Mumbai
27	Safdarjung Hospital	New Delhi
28	Fortis Hospital Mulund	Mumbai
29	Fortis Hiranandani Hospital	Navi Mumbai
30	Saifee Hospital	Mumbai
31	AMRI Hospital - Salt Lake	Kolkata
32	Yashoda Hospitals - Somajiguda	Hyderabad
33	All India Institute of Medical Sciences - Raipur	Raipur
34	Aster Medcity	Kochi
35	BGS Gleneagles Global Hospitals	Bengaluru
36	Apollo Hospitals - Jubilee Hills	Hyderabad
37	Madras Medical Mission Hospital	Chennai
38	Lok Nayak Hospital	New Delhi
39	Apollo Hospitals - Ahmedabad	Ahmedabad
40	Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital	New Delhi
41	Gleneagles Global Hospitals	Hyderabad
42	Dr. L H Hiranandani Hospital	Mumbai
43	Global Hospitals	Mumbai
44	Fortis Hospital Nagarbhavi	Bengaluru
45	Apollo Specialty Hospitals - Vanagaram	Chennai
46	Ruby Hall Clinic, Sassoon Road	Pune
47	Ruby General Hospital	Kolkata
48	Sir H. N. Reliance Foundation Hospital and Research Centre	Mumbai
49	Gleneagles Global Health City	Chennai
50	CARE Hospitals - Banjara Hills	Hyderabad
51	Fortis Malar Chennai	Chennai
52	SMS Hospital	Jaipur
53	Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research	Kolkata
54	Yashoda Hospitals - Secunderabad	Secunderabad
55	Ramaiah Memorial Hospital	Bengaluru
56	BLK - Max Super Specialty Hospital	New Delhi
57	MGM Healthcare	Chennai
58	Artemis Hospital Gurgaon	Gurugram
59	All India Institute of Medical Sciences - Rishikesh	Rishikesh
60	KIMS Hospitals, Secunderabad	Secunderabad
61	Manipal Hospital Whitefield	Bengaluru
62	All India Institute of Medical Sciences - Patna	Patna
63	Sri Ramachandra Medical Centre	Chennai
64	Sterling Hospital Ahmedabad	Ahmedabad
65	Amrita Hospital, Kochi	Kochi
66	Yashoda Hospitals - Malakpet	Hyderabad
67	MGM New Bombay Hospital	Navi Mumbai
68	Ahmedabad Institute of Medical Services	Ahmedabad
69	SIMS Hospital	Chennai
70	All India Institute of Medical Sciences - Bhubaneswar	Bhubaneswar
71	Aakash Hospital	Chennai
72	Manipal Hospital Vijayawada	Vijayawada
73	Dr. Mehta's Hospitals	Chennai
74	Meitra Hospital, Calicut	Kozhikode
75	Aster RV Hospital	Bengaluru
76	Mazumdar Shaw Medical Center	Bengaluru
77	Continental Hospitals	Hyderabad
78	Aster MIMS Hospital	Kozhikode
79	MIOT International	Chennai
80	CritiCare Asia Hospitals & Research Center	Mumbai
81	Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences	Lucknow
82	Apollo BGS Hospitals - Mysore	Mysore
83	Max Super Speciality Hospital, Patparganj	Delhi
84	Santokba Durlabhji Memorial Hospital (SDMH)	Jaipur
85	KMC Hospital	Mangalore
86	Narayana Multispeciality Hospital, HSR Layout	Bengaluru
87	Medanta Super Specialty Hospital	Indore
88	Apollo Adlux Hospital	Angamaly
89	Sri Ramakrishna Hospital	Coimbatore
90	Manipal Hospital Gurugram	Gurugram
91	Bangalore Baptist Hospital	Bengaluru
92	Apollo Hospitals - DRDO	Hyderabad
93	Aster Prime Hospital	Hyderabad
94	St. John's Medical College Hospital	Bengaluru
special	Action Cancer Hospital - Oncology	New Delhi
special	American Oncology Institute - Oncology	Hyderabad
special	Apollo Children's Hospital - Pediatrics	Chennai
special	Fortis Escorts Heart Institute - Cardiology	New Delhi
special	Narayana Institute of Cardiac Sciences - Cardiology	Bengaluru
special	Tata Memorial Hospital - Oncology	Mumbai

 

Newsweek's world rankings and India

Newsweek

NOTES:

No other South Asian country has a hospital ranked in the top 250 of the world

China does not seem to have been assessed for these rankings

The top four hospitals in Asia are listed below. The other good Asian hospitals figuring above India’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, are all from these four countries.

11 Singapore General Hospital (SGH) Singapore Singapore

18 The University of Tokyo Hospital Japan Bunkyo

22 Asan Medical Center South Korea Seoul

24 St. Luke's International Hospital Japan Chuo

Indian hospitals in the world's top 250, along with their world ranks

 

 

World Rank	Name of hospital	City
113	All India Institute of Medical Sciences - Delhi	New Delhi
166	Medanta The Medicity	Gurugram
246	PGIMER - Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research	Chandigarh

 

See also

Hospitals: India

Hospitals: the best in India