Corporate Hospital

My Experience as an Inpatient and Outpatient

in a Corporate Hospital

K S Kanakasabapathi

It so happened that I had to seek treatment in a corporate hospital. We were interested in a very good surgeon and an equally good oncologist who could coordinate well available in the same hospital.

Once we found the doctors, the choice of hospital was reduced to one. The hospital's reputation as being expensive did not deter my son.

Here are my observations both positive and negative:

Positive observations:

1. The doctors were good and generally punctual.

2. The nursing staff did their duty efficiently with a smile.
3. The staff in the HDU (High Dependency Unit) were particularly efficient and handled emergencies well without disturbing other patients.
4. The catering was very good. Complaints if any were handled immediately. The catering supervisor met me personally on day one and gave his contact details.
5. Food for attendant was priced moderately.
6. Sanitary staff attended to their work efficiently. Linen was changed every morning and room was disinfected every day.
7. All medicines were only obtained through their pharmacy and I was not to take any medicine taken from home. Medicine prices as per MRP.
8. Physiotherapist attended every day to give me exercise and did his job well.
9. The costs may appear high but the quality of service seemed to justify the cost.
10. Nobody expected any tips.

Negative observations:

1. There were no checklists for patients seeking admission.
2. We were not informed that I should get clearance from anesthetist before admission.
3. Similarly we did not know that we had to make advance payment for surgery and otherwise surgery will not be done. I came to know about these two from a doctor friend.
4. No information was available about approximate total charges but were asked to pay an advance of Rs.2 lakhs at the time of admission. Luckily the credit card came to my rescue.
5. The return to ward from HDU was long delayed with attendants waiting outside.
6. Cashless facility was not available in spite of the hospital being listed as one with cashless facility. We had to pay all bills and make insurance claims later. Of course the claim allowed was just about 30% of the total expenditure!
7. While I was being given a sponge bath every day after surgery, it was always at an unearthly hour of 4:30 am!
8. The discharge procedure was delayed badly (even though it had been decided the previous day) as the papers like discharge summary were not ready. My son had to run from pillar to post to get the papers.
9. The nursing staff had a lot of paperwork to do. At least one person was continuously engaged on paperwork in HDU and the ward with the result their availability for nursing duty was hampered.
10. The security staff prevented any visitor outside the visiting hours. But there were alternate routes available to enter without passing through security.

My overall experience as a day care patient in their Specialty Hospital:

1. We had to fix appointments at least three weeks in advance to avoid delays as the consultancy room was always crowded.
2. The doctor was thorough and was approachable on phone and email any time of the day.
3. The day care centre was always over crowded with patients waiting for hours.
4. There were no chairs for attendants. The attendants had to look for empty chairs outside and bring them in. Sometimes the attendant had to sit on the footrest.
5. The staff were efficient and courteous.
6. Some medicines were very expensive in the pharmacy attached. A tablet ( I had to take 4 per day) was costing Rs.175 each. The doctor himself gave an address where it was available for Rs.80.

It was a harrowing experience to see small children aged less than one year being given intravenous injections. Their non-stop cries reverberated through the entire hall which had about 20 beds.