Deepika T Grandhi, Business Development Head, India, Cleveland Clinic gives Viveka Roychowdhury a glimpse of the philosophy of the clinic and their plans for a deeper engagement with healthcare organisations in India
What were the outcomes of the visit to India?
The Cleveland Clinic team recently spent time in India with the healthcare community to better understand the gaps within the Indian healthcare system and ways in which Cleveland Clinic can help serve patients, physicians and hospitals. The Cleveland Clinic team participated in lectures, workshops and presentations with themes centered around healthy aging, patient experience, and improving lung heath.
What is Cleveland Clinic’s current engagement with the healthcare community in India?
The goal of Cleveland Clinic is to further our mission of medical education, research and clinical excellence. We believe that by sharing best practices, innovative techniques and patient centered care, we can improve healthcare around the world. A large number of physicians at Cleveland Clinic are originally from India. This has allowed for a natural progression to continue relationship building with the healthcare community in India and for those who travel abroad for care.
What percentage of patients at Cleveland Clinic, US come from India?
In 2017, patients came to Cleveland Clinic for treatment from all the 50 states in the United States and 185 countries. The percentage of patients from India has been increasing over the past few years, in 2017, seven per cent of the total Cleveland Clinic patients came from the Asian sub-continent.
What is the value that Cleveland Clinic’s clinical team of doctors and healthcare professionals can bring to hospitals and patients in India?
In a world that is increasingly more connected, Cleveland Clinic will continue to focus on sustainable, long-term growth that supports our mission and improves the health of individuals no matter where they live. Cleveland Clinic is recognised as a national leader and model of healthcare for the future. Cleveland Clinic puts patients first. We believe that healthcare is all about patients and caregivers, with the patient at the centre of the experience. Our culture encourages excellence, whether in quality, clinical outcomes, comprehensive research and medical education, innovation, or patient experience. We are a physician-led group practice that runs hospitals, not a hospital that employs doctors. Our salaried physicians work as a team, take on the most complex cases, and put patients’ needs first. Physicians are incentivised not by the number of tests and procedures performed, but by what is best for the patient.
What are the long-term plans for India?
Cleveland Clinic continues to build relationships with the healthcare community in India, including patients, physicians and hospitals, and other members of the healthcare ecosystem. Cleveland Clinic has an in-country representative who lives in India and is able to assist patients and physicians with their inquiries about Cleveland Clinic. In addition, our in country representative designs customised healthcare solutions for various healthcare organisations and members of the healthcare industry in India.
Could you share some information on the tie ups being considered as part of the telemedicine/ consultation venture to increase the clinic’s outreach and international footprint in India?
Advances in telemedicine and health information technology are allowing us to provide patients with greater access to quality care, as well as better collaboration with the global medical community like never before.