State of the art technology need not make healthcare prohibitive. There are strategies that can ensure that healthcare is affordable and accessible. Suresh Soni, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Nova Medical Centers shares his vision with Shahid Akhter, ENN
To begin with, please share your inspiration behind Nova Medical Centers.
In Oct 2009, Kaya Skin Clinic, based out of Mumbai was raising capital and reached out to GTI, where I was the Managing Partner. During the discussion on Kaya in GTI, I wondered why a company would be engaged in just undertaking cosmetic dermatology procedures, when real estate in India was so expensive. That was when I thought of Short-stay Surgery as a potential business. Although I did not have a background in healthcare, I thought that Short-stay Surgery would inherently make surgery more affordable and efficient as it could lead to optimal use of the Operation Theaters. I immediately reached out to an anesthetist friend and spent 2 days with him to understand the surgical centers in the USA. That was the first time I saw a surgery center. Inspired by the concept, I returned to Bangalore to understand the Indian Healthcare scenario and then worked on conceptualizing the idea along with Dr Mahesh Reddy to found Nova Medical Centers.
How many hospitals are there in the Nova Group and the services that you offer?
Nova Specialty Surgery and Nova IVI Fertility (in collaboration with IVI in Spain) are the two verticals of Nova Medical Centers. Currently we have twelve specialty surgery centers and six in-vitro fertilization (IVF) clinics. Nova Specialty Surgery centers perform over 800 types of surgical procedures across multiple specialties, like Orthopaedics, Spine, General Surgery, Bariatric Surgery, Urology, ENT, Ophthalmology, Surgical Oncology amongst others. The Nova Orthopaedic Hospital in Delhi is dedicated to Orthopaedic and Spine specialties and offers the full range of surgeries including joint replacements, Spinal surgery, Arthroplasty, rheumatology and sports injuries. Nova IVI Fertility (NIF) centers offer the full range of assisted reproductive services.
What are the technological advancements your hospitals have introduced lately in different verticals?
At Nova, the focus is on advance technology & experienced doctors. To achieve our mission of delivering the best patient experience and medical outcomes, We have invested in the latest and most advanced spine medical equipment including robots with advanced navigation systems. There are only around 26 installations of such equipment in the world and we are proud to be the first in India. These equipments help increase precision, accuracy and safety. Novas doctors and facilities also adopt the latest techniques and advances in minimally invasive surgery.
We have obtained Indias first
BrainLab & DePuys navigation machine, used for knee and hip surgeries resulting in perfect and precise alignment
In-house Jackson spinal surgery positioning, which facilitates a 360 degree view of the spine.
Mazor Robotics Renaissance, a specially designed surgical guidance system that ensures greater accuracy in spinal surgeries. We use the advanced 3 D planning software to create a surgical blueprint that is ideal for each patients procedure.
Indias first 4 Embryoscopes
Every Nova facility has the most advanced Minimally invasive equipment for Arthroscopy & Laparoscopy
Nova has ten 120 Watt Lasers for Urology (Prostate and Kidney Stones)
| Nova Orthopaedic & Spine Hospital is a world class facility covering the entire gamut of orthopaedics – from surgery to rehabilitation. We combine wisdom and formidable experience with advanced technology and evidence driven therapies to deliver the highest level of patient care and satisfaction. |
What is the USP of Nova ?
At Nova our vision is to provide world class surgical care that is affordable and accessible to everyone. Short stay surgery at Nova reduces unnecessary hospitalization and also hospital induced infections. All this leads to highest level of customer (patient) satisfaction.
Another module unique to Nova is the concept of doctor-owned and doctor managed centers. This enables the doctors to have a sense of ownership and a long term association with the company. This has attracted a good many renowned surgeons from multiple specialties to focus on patient care. Fixed Package Prices , at 20-25 % less than comparable Corporate hospitals
The Most experienced doctors
The best available technology
The focus of the Nova Specialty Surgery rebranding has been to communicate the uniqueness of this care model, best exemplified in the proverb life is not merely to be alive, but to be well.
Who is your target group and how affordable is Nova ?
Absolutely Affordable to the masses..lower middle class to the rich Despite having high end equipment and the best of doctors, we are 15 to 25 % lower than corporate hospitals. Add to this that there are no hidden costs. At the very outset we hand over a precise estimate. Further, we do our best to ensure that no patient is disappointed and our doctors personally ensure that the outcome is a happy patient.
What are your future plans ?
We currently have 18 centers (surgical and IVF) and shall expand to 25 centers in this financial year.By 2017 we expect to expand to 25 Surgery Centers and 25 IVF Centres. Nova shall be one of the largest healthcare providers in Asia Pacific performing in excess of 100,000 surgeries per annum and 25,000 IVF Cycles
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