Smart Staffing - Healthcare HR Planning

Human resources management is the vital department in any organization. Every organization is dependent on manpower and recruiting skilled manpower should be the main accomplishments of any human resources management in a corporate which certainly has great positive impact on the growth and profit of any business.

Human resources management for healthcare services industry is unlike the typical human resources management in other industry sectors. Health care service domain falls under the noble service category similar to the education industry as doctors and teachers are attributed as noble professionals in society. Hence, government has taken initiatives to ensure quality standards in staffing for health care service industries.

How does the Indian government impose quality guidelines on hospitals in India?

Quality Council of India (QCI) an integral body of the Indian government through its conjoint operations with NABH (National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Health Care Providers) devised certain high priority standards and regulations to be met by the hospitals and healthcare providers to seek accreditation to offer reliable and efficient service to patients. This accreditation also impacts the hospital and health care industries’ goodwill among patients which is directly proportional to the success of health care business. Though health care business are service industries, some percentage of profit would definitely be expected as part of their ROI (Return on Investment).

Few quick bytes on NABH (National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers):

• 1. NABH was established in the year 2006.
• 2. First edition for quality standards was released in the year of establishment 2006.
• 3. As per the NABH policy, the regulations for quality standards are subject for revision every three years.
• 4. The latest edition of standards was released in December 2015.
• 5. Interesting fact – Malabar Institute of Medical Sciences (MIMS), in the state of Kerala was the first recipient of NABH accreditation under the private category in the year 2007 and Gandhinagar General Hospital was first accredited by NABH under the public category in 2009.
• 6. NABH regulated the standards for certain vital functionalities of a hospital and health care providers which includes patient care, medication offered to patients, educating patients, patients right to information and access, controlling infections, overall responsibilities of management, safety guidelines, information management and most importantly human resources management.

NABH standards for Human Resources Management:

• 1. Every hospital should have the HR planning properly documented.
• 2. Staff recruitment should be based on the education, skills and experience for the position advertised especially for doctors and nurses. Nevertheless, adequate orientation should be conducted within 15 days of recruitment.
• 3. Periodical training and development sessions needs to conducted to train the staff on the latest knowledge and technologies to render efficient service.
• 4. Prime focus should be on the safety guidelines for the employees. Every hospital should ensure proper safety measures for their staff on duty.
• 5. With increased crime rates today, background checks should be done before employing an individual in any department. Surprisingly, crimes in hospitals are increasing depressing patients and their attenders thus putting patient safety in jeopardy.
• 6. Last but not least, the employees should be put under medical screening before joining and periodic medical checks should be practiced. Precautionary medications and addressing their medical conditions is also the responsibility of the hospital as per the NABH standards. Also, disciplinary committees and grievance cell should be set up to penalize the employees for any crime and violations. The grievance cell should work diligently addressing the grievance of employees and patients in a hospital.

So, it is vivid that if every hospital whether private or public is set up adhering to the NABH standards, then bliss on every patients’ face is guaranteed for receiving efficient service and treatment. Likewise, the employees also enjoy job satisfaction as the NABH standards are in par with world medical quality standards.