Mr. Sandeep Rath delivers a passionate and inspiring talk to students of KSOM, Bhubaneswar on the significance of Operations Management in Healthcare

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Mr. Sandeep Rath delivers a passionate and inspiring talk to students of KSOM, Bhubaneswar on the significance of Operations Management in Healthcare

Topic: Significance of Operations Management in Healthcare

Date: January 16, 2015

Details:

Students of KIIT School of Management (KSOM), Bhubaneswar recently had the privilege of listening to a man who is extremely passionate about the science behind Operations Management. Mr. Sandeep Rath, a current researcher at UCLA Anderson School of Management and a renowned name in the industry delivered a talk on “Operations Management for Better Healthcare” on the 16th of January to a packed venue.

His passion for the subject was evident throughout his talk that had the audience in rapt attention. His presentation on “Planning for HIV screening, testing and Care at Veterans Health Administration, Los Angeles” was not only an eye opener on the important issue of healthcare but also drilled in the significance of Operations Management in the domain of Healthcare amongst students. It was Mr. Rath’s keen interest in the subject that pushed him towards research and crucial findings, which he was only happy to share with his audience.

The 45 minutes’ talk by the speaker was filled with personal experiences that not only made the proceedings interesting but offered students peek into the world of professionals. Mr. Rath began the talk by disclosing some of his findings as he said, “Health care costs are ballooning in the USA, comprising as much as 18% of GDP whereas it is only 4% in India.” He then talked about his experience with Systems Engineering, which he used in his paper to analyse, design and manage the resources.

According to Mr. Rath 1.1 million people in USA have AIDS but one out of 6 people are actually not aware of AIDS. He then went on to explain what HIV was all about and how it affects the immunity in our body. “The condition of HIV patients gets worse at a slower rate. We can only try and make the pace still slower. Unfortunately, HIV Screening is difficult only because of cash and budget constraints that are faced by the health care system on a regular basis,” he added.

However Mr. Rath has a plan and has developed a mathematical model that lays stress on optimal screening and staffing policies. This cost-effective screening policy spread sheet gives a detailed view of resource allocation and is in use at the Veterans Health Administration. But for him clearly there’s a lot more to be done. “In the US while quality health care is the issue, in India it’s the accessibility as around 70% people in the country don’t have access to health care,” he lamented.

Mr. Rath then shared the World Bank prediction that India would be the second most lucrative place to invest in health care by 2016. He had thus highlighted the importance of health care and presented the opportunities that lay ahead in front of the students. He was also on hand to answer students’ queries, which left them sated. Like Antareep, one of the students said, “Mr. Rath is really inspiring and the lecture provided a new perspective on the way we look at operational plans.” That then as mission accomplished for the session.