BD India has been on a rapid expansion plan. Varun Khanna, MD, BD India reveals the company’s plans for India and the strategies to achive their goals, to Raelene Kambli
Since you joined BD India, the company has been on a constant expansion and development spree. What is your role in these developments?
Over the last one year, I have been engaging with industry captains to deliberate on solutions to strengthen the healthcare practices in India. India is geared up for the next phase of growth in healthcare and BD will play a pivotal role in this journey.
We understand that in a fast shifting environment, we must initiate a dialogue from one-on-one meetings to conversations that will help us provide innovative, compelling and relevant solutions to India’s healthcare needs. There is a patient at the centre of everything we do and we must create opportunities for greater relevance so that it becomes simpler to identify customer needs and customer experience becomes essential to every business.
Keeping in line with this commitment and redefining customer-centricity, we have launched programmes on joint strategy sessions with the leadership teams of healthcare industry contributors in India and uncover unique insights to drive growth.
BD is moving into smaller towns. What triggered this move? What are the benefits of this strategy?
BD India’s focus on solutions-based approach and customer-centricity is writing a new charter for territories where we were not present earlier. Market trends require us to be present everywhere and it is therefore imperative for us to be present in all markets and grow with them. The BD Emerald syringe product line has been developed to address both accessibility and affordability in markets where we have traditionally not been well represented. Our access to reach untapped markets will drive growth for our businesses in infusion therapy, injections systems, preanalytical systems and diabetes care.
What’s the strategy to venture into smaller markets?
Today, with increasing healthcare costs, it is prudent for us to operate in tier-II and tier-III cities to ensure and improve medication management, assurance and safety in various areas across the continuum of care. Our successful pilot across 35 territories in India has enabled us to script our strategy for the smaller markets. We are well poised to scale up our presence in more than 700 towns which is almost 80 per cent of the urban population.
- We want to be known as a solutions provider in various therapy areas and want to bring in more synergies for our comprehensive portfolio of products.
- We will launch technology-enabled training solutions to enhance the skills of healthcare professionals in these markets.
- We want to ride on our distribution channel partner support to gain optimum coverage in the retail outlets.
In the last few months we have conducted several clinical initiatives for hospitals which are less than 100-beds. Its success has propelled us to engage more robustly with clinicians and healthcare professionals in these markets.
Our customer focus is helping us transition from a provider of high-quality products to a provider of innovative, compelling and relevant healthcare solutions.
BD has also tied-up with various state governments and government bodies such as NCDC to provide guidelines for safe injections. How will this help BD in improving its business in India?
In an effort to standardise safe injection practices and create awareness around the reuse of syringes, BD has been working closely with Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) to draft ‘Safe Injection Guidelines’ since 2004. With an aim to minimise the risk arising due to unsafe injection practices to patients, health-care workers, community and environment, National Center of Disease Control (NCDC), an apex technical institute of MoHFW, Government of India has now accepted these guidelines and released Safe Injection Guidelines (SI Guidelines) that is now being disseminated to various states.
Efforts to strengthen health systems are essential as we move towards disease prevention, treatment and care efforts, and broader public health initiatives. We are privileged to be a part of this initiative under the National Program for Prevention and Control of Viral Hepatitis in India in the 12th five year plan.
BD recently renewed its agreement with NABH for Safe-I certification programme across India.
Which new states would be included in this partnership?
Currently 16 hospitals are certified with NABH-Safe I certification in the country, with majority being in Kerala, Punjab, Maharashtra and Karnataka and around 66 are in various phases of certification. Ten government hospitals in Kerala have initiated this journey. Bihar and Andhra Pradesh are the other states that have shown interest for NABH Safe-I certification.
Which are the new areas of research for BD?
We are investing in R&D for market-appropriate product solutions. We have an engineering and R&D services (ERS) engagement with HCL Technologies, a leading global IT services provider. Our facility in Chennai is a significant milestone for us in our efforts to expand R&D in Asia, and demonstrates our strong relationship with HCL, which began in 2007. The facility is helping us accelerate R&D innovation to develop new products and markets, achieve time-to-market advantage for its products and enhance operational efficiencies. As we move forward, healthcare systems will be structured differently and we will have to continue to invest in products and very different models.
Over the last three years, BD has invested substantial resources on R&D for new products instead of mere line extensions. It is collaborating with the WHO to develop an innovative new obstetrical instrument – the Odon Device – for assisting the delivery of newborns during circumstances of troublesome labour. Obstructed or prolonged labours are common causes of maternal and child mortality in developing countries such as India.
Approximately three million newborn babies die each year, and an additional 2.6 million are stillborn, in part due to complications from obstructed labour during childbirth. The Odon Device will prove to be a game changer in saving these lives by offering a low-cost simplified way to deliver babies, and protect mothers, when labour is prolonged. Rural health posts will especially benefit which don’t have the capability to perform a C-section.
BD will utilise its core competencies in medical device design, quality systems, process design and manufacturing to develop the Odon Device and establish high-scale, low-cost production. These development activities will be accomplished at the company’s technology centre in Singapore. BD will deploy the Odon Device through its global organisation and offer affordable access pricing in developing countries. The device will initially be introduced in priority countries with a large burden of maternal mortality as determined by the WHO.
What are the other developments in the offing?
Our commitment to assured medication safety is the acquisition of Cato Software Solutions, which has developed a suite of comprehensive medication safety software for pharmacy intravenous medication preparation. The software helps healthcare providers prevent medication errors and associated costs, automates documentation and reduces dosage waste. The BD Kiestra product platform automates manual and time-consuming tasks within the microbiology laboratory to increase productivity by as much as 60 per cent, while improving result time for improved clinical responsiveness.
We are very keen on engaging with the government and work closely to create an equitable public health impact. With 75 per cent of health services in India being currently provided by the private sector, there is an urgent need to engage the private sector to help realise the ‘healthcare for all’ goal of the government. I believe that a strong and committed collaboration between the private and public sectors will significantly improve access to healthcare in our country.
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