SYMHEALTH, an annual mega event with an academically rich legacy attracts over 1200 delegates from all verticals of healthcare such as doctors, medico-legal experts, insurance & IT professionals, NGOs, hospital administrators & clinical research professionals from all over India and abroad.

SYMHEALTH 2019 is a two days’ event organized by the Faculty of Health and Biological Sciences (FoHBS), Symbiosis International (Deemed University), SIU which is being hosted at the university campus, Lavale, Pune on 19th & 20th April 2019. It is an event that marks the significance of integrating ideas and information from across many disciplines. This is in consonance with our mission of contributing towards knowledge generation & dissemination. The conference provides a platform through which various stakeholder groups can discuss and proffer practical and workable solutions to the challenges of healthcare.

The Conference will provide an opportunity for stakeholders beyond academia and industry, to exchange insights, present emerging opportunities, make networking connections, and to share resources. The two thought-provoking days of the conference results in deciphering knowledge both in the sessions and during the many planned opportunities to build rapport and alliances, share advice, stories, case reports and socialize throughout the conference.

The highlight of this year’s conference is the incorporation of ‘Connexions’ – a unique event on the first day of the conference. Connexions presents an opportunity for students to attend grooming and skills transfer sessions which prepares them to face interviews. A placement assistance drive is conducted after Connexions which facilitates interested enrolled candidates to interact and get interviewed with prospective recruiters and employers in the healthcare sector.

Dr. Balram Bhargava, Secretary, Department of Health Research, (Ministry of Health & Family Welfare) has kindly consented to be the Guest of Honor on 19th April 2019.

Dr. Sanjay Zodpey, Vice President Academics, Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi will enlighten upon the Public Health Agenda for India wherein the Indian government has adopted the National Health Policy to “attain the highest possible level of health and well-being for all at all ages through a preventive and promotive health care orientation in all developmental policies, and universal access to good quality health care services without anyone having to face financial hardship as a consequence”.

A panel discussion will be conducted on the perspective of varied stakeholders like Insurance companies, Hospitals & Govt. of Maharashtra on “Ayushyaman Bharat”.

The chairperson for this panel discussion will be Mr. Dinesh Arora, Dy. CEO National Health Agency, (NHA), representative of Insurance companies will be Mr. Bhaskar Nerurkar, Head, Health Bajaj Allianz ltd, Pune, representative of hospital will be Dr. Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, Vice Chairman, Managing Director & Group CEO, Narayana Health & spokesperson from Govt. of Maharashtra will be Mr. Jayant Kumar Banthia, Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra.

Dr. Simmardeep Singh Gill, Group COO CK Birla Group, Kolkata will shed the light upon the importance of leadership skills for healthcare professionals. He will explain how individual development, including communication skills, coaching, mentoring, negotiation, and motivation theory, works within a leadership role.

Mr. Sanjay Singh Nirwan, Healthcare Communication & Digital Strategist, Media Medic Communications, Mumbai will speak on the Digital Healthcare Advocacy. Digital technology has greatly contributed to improvements in patient care and monitoring, as well as patient communication with primary caregivers, general practitioners, and specialists. The digital world has revolutionized the accessibility of health information for people across the globe. Patients no longer must wait for doctors’ appointments to begin their diagnosis process.

Some of the other eminent national speakers include – Mr. Abhishek Agarwal, MD Strategy, MERCK, Mumbai. Mr. Badri Iyenger, MD, South Asia, Smith & Nephew HC Pvt Ltd. Mr. Vidhi Prasad K V, Head, Image Guided System, Wipro GE South Asia. Dr. Anirudha Malpani, Director & Founder, Malpani Ventures, Mumbai. Dr. Raman Gangakhedkar, Scientist G & Director-in-Charge, National AIDS Research Institute, Pune. Mr. Lalit Mistry, Director of Healthcare, KPMG. Mr. Kumar Krishnaswamy, Group Head- HR, Medwell Ventures. Dr. Col. Ajay Gangoli, Group Medical Director, Apollo Health & Lifestyle Ltd. Mr. HSD Srinivas, Head Health Portfolio Tata Trust, Mumbai. Prof. (Dr). Sudhir Kumar Satpathy, Director, School of Public Health, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology Deemed to be University, Bhubaneshwar. Ms. Nishi Saini, Head- North, Clove Dental Clinics, New Delhi. Dr. Avinash Phadke, President, Technical & Mentor, SRL, Diagnostics, Mumbai. Dr. Clive Fernandes, Group Clinical Director, Wockhardt Group of Hospitals, Mumbai. Dr. Sanjay Gupte, Medico-Legal Expert, Pune. The valedictory ceremony will be held on April 20, 2019. Dr. Deelip Mhaisekar, Vice-chancellor, Maharashtra University of Health Sciences will grace the occasion as Guest of Honor. The session will be presided by Dr. S. B. Mujumdar, Chancellor, Symbiosis International (Deemed University).

SYMHEALTH 2019 will continue to bet on increasing the presence of organizations, exhibitors and visitors from around the nation to keep on generating synergies, sharing knowledge, provoking discussion, reflection and inspiring new actions. It will encourage all the stakeholders to expand their knowledge horizon as well as to forge collaborative networks across disciplines and professions. The attendees will benefit enormously from the event.

We hope that you will join us in, what promises to be, a ‘must attend’ event!
For Registration and further queries please contact: (+91) 88888-92258
Email: symhealthregistration@siu.edu.in,
For more details visit: www.symhealth.edu.in

Dr. Rajiv Yeravdekar
Dean, Faculty of Health & Biomedical Sciences, SIU

Read Press Release: SYMHEALTH 2019

The author talks about on how an innovation in communication training started a revolutionary healthcare communication movement across the country

The Bangalore Baptist Hospital (BBH) is a 300-bedded mission hospital in Bangalore, India. After many years of holding soft-skills training to help its employees communicate better, both with each other and with patients, it became obvious that the skills imparted in these expensive sessions were forgotten in a few weeks. Many inter-departmental and patient-related incidents took place due to lack of proper communication, greatly impacting the quality of care being delivered by the institution.

It was realized that the situation begged the adoption of a sustainable, cost-effective model based on building expertise and experience in hospital staff. In a healthcare context, no communication training is provided as a part of the curriculum in most medical, nursing or allied healthcare education programs. Therefore, it was decided that it was time for an innovation to fill this niche. A team was deputed from the hospital to work with communication experts to develop a training program specifically for the healthcare context.

The Workshop

A team from the Mudra Institute of Communication, Ahmedabad (MICA) with Professor Nagesh Rao, worked with a team from BBH to research on the impact that communication could have on the quality of care provided by a hospital. First, a one-day needs’ assessment was conducted by speaking with BBH doctors, nurses, pharmacists, chaplains, security guards and many other staff members. Second, a train-the-trainer communications training program was designed for BBH – an intensive, two-day seminar for 20 participants from BBH – administrators, senior physicians and nurses, pharmacists, chaplains, customer care personnel et al. At the end of the seminar, each participant was given the task of creating a specific training program for their respective groups – doctors training doctors, nurses training nurses and so on. After a few weeks, this training design was reviewed before being implemented. As with any new initiative, implementation was not easy. However, eventually, all the hospital employees were trained, and the impact was eye opening! The staff felt empowered; there was much less interpersonal conflict; and, most importantly, patient satisfaction had improved (graphs below*).

* “Attitude” refers to the general demeanour of the healthcare professional while interacting with the patient. “Explanation” refers to the way they imparted medical advice regarding the patient’s diagnosis and treatment.

These results were very encouraging. It was apparent that this model could be replicated in other hospitals, so the next step was to disseminate the information for other healthcare institutions to use.

The Book

The modules of the training workshop were collected and synthesized into a volume titled Communicate. Care. Cure. A Guide to Healthcare Communication. Before 2012, there was no single publication in India on the role of effective communication for patients, healthcare providers and healthcare administrators. This book aimed to be that publication, capturing the experiences of the different stakeholders involved. It was an immediate success, leading to the publication of a second edition in 2014. The second edition has 14 chapters dealing with all aspects of healthcare communication. Copies have been distributed widely, both in India and internationally.

National Communication Workshops

This has mushroomed into a dynamic healthcare communication movement in the country in the form of national training workshops. Building on the success of the book, BBH partnered with the Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organisations (CAHO) to train hundreds of master trainers from all over the country, who, in turn, trained professionals within their institutions in effective healthcare communication. More workshops have been facilitated abroad through CAHO.

E-learning Course

After the success of the national workshops, an e-learning course titled Communication for Better Healing was developed in partnership with CAHO and Wolters Kluwer India, leading publishing and health information services company. This e-learning course, based on the book, is the next step in meeting the urgent need for increased awareness of healthcare communication. Offering practical solutions to communication issues in healthcare environments, it addresses the challenges faced by the patient, the patient’s family, the healthcare providers, the healthcare administrators and the support staff. Each module or chapter is replete with examples from the healthcare setting, brought to life through videos and animations. There are assessments at the end of each module to test the user’s understanding of the course concepts and to demonstrate their application.

Endorsements

Endorsed by the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Organizations (NABH) and the National Board of Examinations, the book and training workshops are also recommended by the Nursing Council of India, the Association of Healthcare Providers of India, and the Government of Karnataka, among others. This communication movement has been recognized nationally and has received the prestigious Quality Council of India-DL Shah Awards for Excellence in Healthcare for two consecutive years (2013 and 2014).

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