Vikram Hospital plans to set up chain, starting with two units in Bengaluru

Looks at investing Rs 200 crore to set up 150-200 bedded facilities in the city; hopes to achieve operating profit margin of 20% this year

Bengaluru-based Vikram Hospital is looking to set up a chain of hospitals, starting with two more 150-200 bedded facilities in the city with an investment of Rs 200 crore.

The hospital, which was in deep debt and was taken over by private equity player Multiples in 2015, is also open to rope in new investors to fund these projects. “The PE (Multiples) could also be divesting stake in the hospital to set up these new facilities,” said Somesh Mittal, CEO, Vikram Hospital.

The hospital management has started several initiatives to get the hospital out of the financial mess and turn around the business of the 225-bedded facility. This has significantly improved its operating profit which stood at 2 per cent in FY15 and is expected to touch 20 per cent in FY20, he added. “There are places in healthcare P&L books which are not tapped properly. Hospitals just tap on pricing of bills of drugs and consumables. We do not focus on cost items, which has around 15-20 per cent of leeway,” said Mittal.

He claims several such innovative steps has helped Vikram Hospital break even and post a revenue growth of 16-17 per cent now.

The hospital started a single number system for patients and if a patient needs anything, he/she could to dial that one number. It is based on a software console. For example if a patient calls the number and orders a cup of tea, the person on the other side opens the F&B menu on the console, clicks on tea and inserts the room number. The automated system sends the signal to the canteen where the tea is to be prepared. If the person who has to deliver, doesn’t do it in the pre-desired turnaround time, the issue escalates and reaches the management to take necessary steps to fix the issue.

The top management gets three reports everyday including floor wise, shift wise and person wise. If a person is repeatedly being indicated as a defaulter, then the employee can pulled up. This initiative, Mittal says, has increased the service standard level. “This has increased satisfaction level of patients and number of complaints at the time of discharge have drastically reduced,” he adds.

Parallelly, the hospital has also stationed a floor manager on each nurse station for all the F&B requirement, discharge processes, and admission processes. “This has taken away a lot of non-productive job that the nurses were doing and now they are able to spend the right amount of time with the patients,” says Mittal.

The hospital has also set up sub specialties under specialty wings and added paediatrics, obstetrics, and rheumatology departments for a wider range of services. Vikram Hospital has undertaken several corporate tie-ups with organisations such as BHEL and HAL for more visibility. It has also hired 2-3 more doctors in each specialty to fill the demand gap. These steps have increased the number of OPD patients from 10,000 per month in 2017 to 17,000 now, claims the hospital.

The hospital has moved all its geysers and boilers on solar power and now buys around 90 per cent of the electricity consumed by the facility from solar power players which has reduced the power and fuel bill from Rs 3.2 crore to Rs 2.2 crore annually.