School Of Health Systems Studies

Reflections- E-newsletter for Clairvoyance 2011

2011-12-21T20:58:00.000-08:00

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Platinum Jubilee Alumni Meet, 2011

2011-12-17T10:46:00.000-08:00

Schedule for18^th December 2011

Hosted by:School of Health Systems Studies

Time	Event	Venue
10:15 AM to 10:30AM	Registration and Tea	Kumarappa Hall, Academic Building II, New Campus
10:30 AM to 11:15AM	Welcome note by Dr.Mariappan Address by Dr.C.A.K. Yesudian, Dean, SHSS	Kumarappa Hall, Academic Building II, New Campus
11:15 AM to 12:15 AM	Debate Session 1: Mandatory Accreditation is the mode to address Patient Safety Session 2: Facebook: Why this Kolaveri Di? Moderator: Dr. Atul Adaniya	Kumarappa Hall, Academic Building II, New Campus
12:15 AM to 01:00 PM	Experience sharing and feedback by Alumni	Kumarappa Hall, Academic Building II, New Campus
01:00 PM to 02.30 PM	Lunch hosted by TISS	Volley Ball Court & Basket Ball Ground, Old Campus
02: 30 PM to 03:30PM	Discussion on Alumni Constitution	Room No.5, Old Campus
03:30 PM to 04:30 PM	Cultural fest: *Performance by an Alumnus* Singing by Dr. Ravi Bhatnagar *Performances by students* Mimicry by Mr.Kuldeep Pawar Classical dance by Dr.Trupti Ben Patel Rock and Sufi performance by Dr.Shailesh Sharma	Kumarappa Hall, Academic Building II, New Campus
04:30 PM onwards	Interaction between Alumni and students over tea	Kumarappa Hall, Academic Building II, New Campus

CLAIRVOYANCE2011: Clairvoyance 2011 "Invitation"

2011-12-01T12:05:00.000-08:00

CLAIRVOYANCE2011: Clairvoyance 2011 "Invitation"

CLAIRVOYANCE2011: Clairvoyance 2011 "Poster"

2011-12-01T12:04:00.000-08:00

CLAIRVOYANCE2011: Clairvoyance 2011 "Poster"

Equitable Healthcare: Reality Or Rhetoric?

2011-12-01T10:55:00.001-08:00

By: Dr Arti Thapliyal,

MHA-Health (2010-12)

The hard push symbolic lines – “Go health “ , “ Health for all” , “Healthy India” are good enough to give people a push to work hard towardsimproving health conditions at every level. But this fire-blowing assertivesound tends to mask the milder one’s saying “rampant malnutrition” , “ stillhigh IMR”, “ Healthcare is unaffordable” and we realize that we systematically tend to unhear this very crucial andcritical sound which is no one’s but one of ours , our own country men, our brothers and sisters.

In India, despiteimprovements in access to health care, inequalities are related tosocioeconomic status, geography, and gender, and are compounded by highout-of-pocket expenditures, with more than three-quarters of the increasingfinancial burden of health care being met by households. Health-careexpenditures exacerbate poverty, with about 39 million additional peoplefalling into poverty every year as a result of such expenditures.

Voicing for healthcare isnot the mere agenda here but the underlying purpose is to sensitize public andprofessionals for a longer term, get them thinking, touch their hearts andcreate realizations that there are many more “our people” whose healthcareneeds have to be addressed.

Though with the advent oftechnology in healthcare, e-health, quality health, faster service, informedconsumer etc, things have changed to certain extent, but only for a certainsect..! There have not been enough interventions for the major chuck ofpopulation which gets marginalized in every scheme, plan and policy.

Thinks are happening,happening for good and but not good enough…I would say not substantiallyenough. The soul and needs of the common man are not represented most of thetime.

This discourse is verycritical, especially on the lines of healthcare financing methods and makinghealth affordable. Imbalance in resource allocation, inadequate physical accessto high-quality health services and human resources for health, highout-of-pocket health expenditures, inflation in health spending, and behavioralfactors that affect the demand for appropriate health care are some of the newage challenges.

I am happy that Clairvoyance2011 has decided to give voice to all these issues. This platform will be anopportunity for us to bring together distinguished healthcare professionals ona common stage and discuss these issues. As we expect, this might lead to newsolutions / suggestions coming in and guiding our way forward.

With a note on anticipated success, I would just like to say – “everythingis possible, we just need a dig with a Heart”.

Please visit http://clairvoyance2011.blogspot.com/ for more details on Clairvoyance 2011.

Telemedicine: Future of Universal Healthcare

2011-11-23T11:02:00.001-08:00

By: Shobhit Rastogi,

MHA-Health, (2011-13)

According to a recent data, 71% of Indianpopulation resides in rural areas whereas only 2-3% of specialists are presentin those areas to take care of their health. The condition of ambulancetransportation of patients, connectivity of roads and referral coordinationbetween hospitals is still very bad. Ultimately, it’s the poor patient who isstill suffering the brunt of inefficiency of governance and planning.

Telemedicine:

Telemedicine mainly focuses on two aspects ofconnectivity: physician to physician (primary care to speciality care) andphysician to patient (homecare). Other than the real time patient care, anotheraspect is pre-recorded data collection and data transfer. Electronic HealthRecord (EHR) and Cloud Computing along with Telepathology and Teleradiology canprove to be revolutionary concepts for fulfilling the indigenous requirementsof our healthcare system. Cloud Computing is used to put EHR and other relevantdatabase on a common platform so as to be accessed as and when requiredanywhere in the world. Telepathology and Teleradiology virtually bringsPathology lab to the patient’s doorstep, thereby reducing the burden ofvisiting the lab again and again for submission and collection of reports andalso revolutionising the way in which these reports are processed by physiciansand specialists.

Stage is set for TeleMedicine toflourish:

Department of Information Technology hasannounced the establishment of 100,000 Telecentres across the nation as part ofit’s E-Governance initiative, which will be connected with fast internet andwill be a resource centre for all governmental activities, Telemedicine wouldalso be an integral part of this initiative. In the next five year plan,government plans to spend Rs 20,000 Crores for creating a Optical Fibre networkacross the country and they also have a proposal to give ‘Right to Broadband’as a basic right in coming future.

Another very important boon to growth oftelemedicine in India is the very high penetration of mobile usage in thecountry. According to a recent estimate, there are more than 900 millionworking mobile numbers in our country right now, which is an enormous resource with more reach and morepotential than any other means of communication. We can use this huge networkof mobile telephony for betterment of health services, management of chronicdiseases, increasing health awareness and to provide follow up care along withvarious newer and more innovative models of interventions.

Barriersfor TeleMedicine

Thebiggest barrier is the mindset of both physicians and patients. Physicians havetheir own reservation about different legalities associated with Telemedicine, aboutConsumer Protection Act and about how to administer care without actuallymeeting and touching the patients. In more than 80% of cases encountered inprimary health care settings, actually touching the patients is not requiredand with all the available high end technical devices for real timeauscultation, ECG, Fundoscopy, skin examinations, autoscopy and pulse oximetry;they can make even better diagnosis than the physicians in the field with thetraditional equipments.

Asfar as patients are concerned it has been seen that the ease of usage andquality of care has been instrumental in winning the confidence of the peopleworld over and the initiatives have picked up speed through mouth publicityonly. Similar response has also been observed in different pilot projects oftelemedicine carried out in various parts of the country.

Anothervery important barrier is lack of connectivity and proper network of internetservices, that is why any organisation who wants to render services throughTelemedicine has to first create their own network, than by using that network they provide their telehealthservices, which leads to sky rocketing of costs and makes the entire projectcommercially non viable. The required model is where a service provider (has tobe the government) creates a network for telemedicine and opens it for usage bydifferent organisation and charge them on the basis of amount of usage by eachof them. With the recent announcement of DoT & IT of ‘right to broadband’and nationwide optical fibre network, this model is very soon going to be areality.

'Health for All': means to social justice

2011-11-22T14:36:00.001-08:00

By: Dr.VanitaSingh,

MHA-Health (2011-13)

'Justice impliessomething which is not only right to do and wrong not to do, but which someindividual person can claim as his moral right' (A.M. Sarma, 1991). Socialjustice is an integral part of justice. Though it is not like legal justicewhere you can be imprisoned for wrong doings, but it is based on the moral principlesof equal distribution of benefits andburdens throughout the society. When ALMA ATA declaration took place for HEALTHFOR ALL, it was perhaps based on the same principle of social justice.

Today, looking atthe growing differences in health indices between developing & developedcountries and between rich & poor states within the same country, no doubtthat social justice is nowhere to claim. Looking at the health indicatorsespecially infant and child mortality, the poor sections of the society are ingrave situation. Various factors identified for these disparities includeinaccessibility of services for poor either geographic inaccessibility orfinancial barriers.

One of the important componentsof social justice is redistribution of wealth fairly among the population.However, the data in India shows that 20% of the richest have about 75% of thewealth of the country while 80% of the poor have only around 25% of the wealthof the country. Thus, the principle of social justice is blindly violated. Thepolicy makers are rich and affluent; their policies are also biased towardsricher section. The name-sake policies for poor people are for writing onpapers only.

Right to health is afundamental right and it’s the state responsibility to ensure access to healthcare for all without any discrimination on the grounds of caste, sex or abilityto pay. Is this really happening???

A poor man can’t eventhink of going to a corporate hospital. Even their entry system is so technicalthat a poor and illiterate person would hesitate to enter a corporate hospital.When he reaches a government hospital, that too after travelling a long distanceand paying huge some of money as travel-fare, to his surprise, doctor isunavailable or some unskilled person is there to treat him.

Many schemes have comeforward for BPL families. And to avail that service they need a yellow card forwhich they keep on running from post to pillar and that too sometimes of nouse. Is this the social justice? On one hand governments slab for deciding poorpeople are not less than a joke and on the other hand a poor has to run hereand there to prove that he is poor. With all these flaws in our system thedream of health for all seems distant.

The rural urbandifferences in health indicators are huge, still government approvesopening of new hospitals in urban area/s. Why not drive a policy to set uphospitals in rural areas..! The profit has become the only motive for providinghealth services; perhaps because of this, the health care has become an industrynow from a philanthropic service area.

Let the social justicegovern all schemes and policies and in all sectors, only than universal healthcoverage is possible. Social justice, not for the name sake rather forimplementation. This is the only answer to prevailing inequalities in healthsector. For holistic growth, each part is required to grow; If only a section ofthe society will keep on growing, the society may perish..!

Clairvoyance 2011

2011-11-22T14:26:00.001-08:00

Clairvoyance has been the signature event of the School of Health System Studies at TISS. Being organized and celebrated as a part of the institute's Platinum Jubilee celebration, 'RESONANCE', the theme for this year's Clairvoyance is: "Paradigm shift in healthcare: towards equity".

Healthcare industry leads market in IT hiring

2011-10-05T06:40:00.000-07:00

An article by Lucas Mearian:
Please visit the link,
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9218753/Healthcare_industry_leads_market_in_IT_hiring

MATERNAL MORTALITY : Still an issue of concern for India

2011-08-23T12:28:00.000-07:00

by: Ms.Supriya Goswami, MHA-Health (2011-13)

In 1987, the “International community” resolved to reduce maternal mortality by the “safe motherhood initiative”. In 1994, “The International Conference on Population and Development” recommended reduction in maternal mortality by at least 50 percent of the 1990 levels by the year 2000 and further one half by the year 2015. The 2000 Millennium Declaration signed in US by 189 countries including India, has set the target of achieving 200 maternal deaths per lakh of live births by 2007 and 109 per lakh of live births by 2015. Out of the 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDG), the MDG 5 specifically focuses to Improve Maternal health.

The repeated needs of initiatives were due to failure in achieving the objectives every time.

In India, the “Janani Suraksha Yojana”(JSY), a conditional cash transfer scheme to incentivize women to have institutional delivery, was launched in 2005. The aim of JSY, also known as “Safe motherhood scheme”, is to decrease maternal and neonatal deaths.

According to JSY guidelines, after delivery in a Government or accredited private hospital, women would receive financial assistance as: In Non-high focus states, eligible women would receive Rs.600 in Urban areas and Rs.700 in Rural areas. Eligibility criterion is - having 1^st or 2^nd live-birth and carrying government issued BPL card or belonging to SC/ST. In the 10 High-focus states, all women irrespective of socio-economic status or parity would receive Rs.1000 in urban areas and Rs.1400 in rural areas. JSY also gives a small incentive of Rs. 500 to a BPL card holding women of age 19 years and older, for delivering at home, for 1^st two live births.

JSY implementation occurs through community health workers as ASHAs, who receive Rs.200 in Urban areas and Rs.600 in rural areas per in-facility delivery assisted in high-focus states.

India’s Maternal mortality ratio(MMR) still being high, i.e. 212 per 1,00,000 live-births in the period of 2007-09, as indicated by Sample Registration System, clearly indicates the failure for proper implementation of JSY.

Government provision is needed but it is not enough for success as other factors too exist. Several possible explanations are there which need to be considered. Actually targeted population of poorest and uneducated women did not benefit much, so approaches to raise awareness and encourage them to take benefit are needed, such as communication strategies not based on literacy etc. Physical access to accredited facilities as well as Cultural barriers needs to be addressed. Quality of obstetric care needs to be taken care of with the load increasing on Health facilities due to JSY. The quality aspect could be considered by innovative strategies as - PPP based “Chiranjeevi Yojana” of Gujarat etc., but strict monitoring of healthcare quality maintained there is needed.

An important aspect is the continuous monitoring and evaluation of the programme, when it is progressing, as it would give an idea of what is working and what is not. This would give idea of what better could be done for making this country a safe place for the “mothers” as well as “infants”-the life that depends on them.

P.S. an interesting read on the issue of maternal mortality, 'Maternal Mortality: A Human Rights Emergency'

Marketing hospitals: a tight-rope walk

2011-08-19T12:25:00.000-07:00

by: Ms.Khushboo Kumari, MHA-Hospital (2010-12)

Healthcare is a basic human need; and hospitals are the institutions, which cater to that need. There is no denying the fact that hospitals do need marketing, especially in the present day context, when healthcare is seen as an industry and when the competition is getting increasingly tougher with mushrooming private players. Customer focus has become primarily important in order to improve the bottom-line (profit/surplus). As a matter of fact, financial success of a hospital often depends on its marketing ability.

But the ethicists have always raised brows on this subject. Is marketing a healthcare institution ethical? What are the ethical standards that must be maintained while marketing the hospital services? Apparently, there is a huge knowledge gap between the providers and the customers (patients) in case of medicine. Hence these concerns are valid; and there is need of a strong healthcare marketing ethics model.

In case of hospitals, patients’ welfare should always be the prime motive, and not the profit. Marketing should never lead a patient to accept unnecessary service/s, irrespective of the costs or risks involved. A supplier (hospital)-induced demand for unnecessary services must be vehemently discouraged in healthcare. For instance, including X-ray as a part of routine check-up procedure or promoting cosmetic surgeries etc.

Advertisements should never be misleading, whether of any new equipment employed or of any new facility or service, introduced at experimental level. The best marketing is marketing that educates, i.e. letting people know what’s true; being honest and helping them to make an informed choice.

Customers are the best marketing agents that an organization can secure; and this can be achieved only by means of building up the confidence in them that their welfare is being given highest priority. This confidence further can be instilled only by means of offering honest and sincere services to them. The marketing team in a hospital must concentrate on relationship management with customers, aimed at improving their satisfaction level.

The 4P of marketing must be integrated with the 4Cs, i.e. Product as Customer solution, Price as Customer Cost, Place as Convenience to Customer and Promotion as Customer Communication. A satisfied customer base automatically improves the market share and consequently, the profit.

AYUSH and Public Health System in India

2011-08-18T08:31:00.000-07:00

By: Dr. Sarosh and Vanita Singh
MHA-Health (2011-13)

Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH) are rationally recognized systems of medicine and have been integrated into the national health delivery system. The NRHM seeks to revitalize the traditional medicine system of our country and to mainstream AYUSH to strengthen the public health system at all levels.

It is a rational decision because these systems have age-old acceptance in our country. Ayurveda is the oldest system with known efficacy. Yoga is gaining popularity as it has been found very effective in treating life-style diseases, which are on a rise presently. Homeopathy propagates indigenous knowledge aimed largely on chronic illness and preventive care e.g skin conditions, sinusitis, hair-loss etc. Many prefer these systems over Allopathic system because of the latter’s known side-effects.

The lack of state patronage in the past had prevented this form of medicine to be practiced at the same platform as Allopathy, which has a more scientific base and approach. Pharmacopial standards in manufacturing of AYUSH drugs, standard teaching institutes and scientific research which will answer the 'what' 'when' 'how' and 'why' will lead to more acceptance of this system. The increase in budget allocation for AYUSH is the right step in that direction. Integrating AYUSH with other system of medicine at lower levels like CHCS, PHCS in rural areas will definitely strengthen our public health system because this system enjoys a popular base in the mass rural population and is slowly attracting urban inhabitants as well.

Also, preventive care emphasis is universally accepted for its benefits in day to day life as prevention is surely better than cure. Hence, AYUSH can and will be a helpful adjunct to the system of medicine for curative and preventive aspect of public health.

“Demand” Vs. “Need” in healthcare

2011-07-21T12:27:00.000-07:00

by: Dr.Ajitendra, MHA-Health

Demand is an economic concept which describes the quantity of a good or service per unit time that an individual or household will purchase and consume at given price of goods or services. It is distinct from need which, in the context of health- can be seen as the level of health services which a medical specialist finds necessary to meet particular health indicator. When demand and need do not coincide the real problem surfaces.

When individuals demand for health services that medical specialist suggests they do not need, it causes waste of resources. On the other hand if individuals do not demand health services, which they medically require, it will lead to worsening of their health and if that disease is communicable, then of others too.

Concept of shortage: Both for Poor and Rich

“Rich: ever-growing demands not met”

“Poor: basic needs not met”

Apparently, market forces can’t provide the needed health care at affordable prices. Hence the government has to intervene to keep medical services within the reach of vulnerable poor and restore equity.

In rural areas, the need is very high, but demand or the purchasing parity is quite low, thus it results in lower supply. On the other hand stands the ultra modern urban city, where the demand has far more exceed the need and hence there is a continuous supply of medical care. The gap between urban and rural and the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ is increasing as 75% of India’s health infrastructure & medical manpower are located in urban areas, where only 27% of population resides. Also largely preventable contagious and water borne diseases cause over twice number of death per year in rural areas than urban areas and immunization rates, pattern of delivery, IMR, MMR and other health indicator are skewed in rural areas.

This disparity clearly indicates the restructuring of workforce and other resources according to the need of people rather than demand. For better management and to achieve a more rational distribution of health care resources, one has to clearly distinguish between Demand and need and set the priority to meet 'Need' and tame 'Demand'.

3 Reasons why Government Hospitals in India should provide good quality health care

2011-03-09T00:03:00.000-08:00

by: Dr Sandeep Moolchandani, MHA-HO (2009-11)

Hospitals form an important arm of the healthcare delivery system. Though the focus of various National programmes may be on primary health but secondary and tertiary public hospitals form one of the largest expenditure category in the national health budget. Over the past decade, inspite of the complexity of hospitals having increased many fold, not many changes have been made in the management structure of public hospitals.

It is very well known that hospitals should be hundred percent clean and hygienic, but in practice government hospitals are generally the filthiest places. Even central level tertiary government hospitals are run on primitive principles; problems of poor governance and administration is not a hidden fact. Waiting times in government hospitals can reach upto two hours just for accessing outpatient services.

Lack of governments’ commitment towards quality assurance in government setups, low management capacities at health facilities, lack of policies and guidelines from the State, as well as structural problems of the centralized health system are key problems in Public Health Sector leading to inefficient use of scarce resources and deficiencies in the quality of services provided (Davey, 2006)

This post enumerates the reasons why the public hospitals should start focusing upon delivering optimum quality of services.

1. Public Hospitals impose significant opportunity costs to the society

The secondary and tertiary care as such has a limited impact on the population health. Inspite of this known fact a major chunk of healthcare budget is spent on secondary and tertiary care which can be upto 40-50% of state healthcare budgets. Thus infrastructure and administrative costs of hospitals carry a big opportunity costs with them.

Maharashtra 2000-01
Public Health Expenditure (Rs. Million) in Urban Areas

In 2000-01, 48percent of public health expenditure in Maharashtra, which amounts to Rs 5396.11 million, was incurred on medical care alone.

2. Decreasing utilization of Public Hospitals for Inpatient and Outpatient Care

Some studies on the patterns of utilization of health care facilities indicate that the private health care provider is preferred for the cost and quality of the health care services provided (Uplekar 1989a, 1989b; Viswanathan and Rohde 1995).

80percent of households prefer to use private sector treatment in India for minor illnesses, and 75percent of households prefer to go to the private sector for major illnesses (M.Uplekar, V.Pathania, & M.Raviglione). Numerous other studies have confirmed the dominance of the private sector and the reasons for this dominance: government health services entailed longer waiting periods, arrogant behaviour of doctors and non-availability of medicines (Ananthakrishnan). Even though the treatment in public hospitals is free, the patients have to pay for tests, and bear the incidental costs of boarding and lodging (Pasricha, 2006).

Chart: Sources of Utilization
of Health Care Services, Maharashtra (Adapted from “Health And Healthcare In Maharashtra: A Status Report”, Ravi Duggal,
2005)

The users don’t prefer to use public facilities for medical services like Inpatient and Outpatient services in contrast to other primary healthcare services especially in urban setup as per the data published by National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO). The major public providers which provide these services in urban setups are teaching hospitals and general hospitals. There is a clear preference towards private providers despite of costly treatments in secondary and tertiary domain. This data points towards the failure of public hospitals in meeting the expectations of the public.

3. Health Expenditure incurred by patients in Public Hospitals vs Private Hospitals

The ratio of hospitalisation expenditures in public vs private hospitals in urban setups ranges between 0.16 in Tamil Nadu to 1.75 in Haryana. The services provided in public hospitals amount to a considerable fraction of the costs in private hospital. Even after spending a comparable amount, all patient gets is dismal sanitary conditions, long waiting times, rude behaviour of staff, high infection rates and substandard clinical care. This is one of the prominent reasons why the patients prefer private healthcare providers more than public hospitals.

A significant dilemma is faced by middle income groups who can spend on healthcare but not as much as charged in good private tertiary setups; while in case of treatments in government hospitals the quality of services provided is too bad to meet their expectations. The middle class comprises to around 25 to 30 percent of the total population of India.


	Major State-wise Average Total Expenditure (Rs.) Per Hospitalisation by Type of Hospital for Rural and Urban Areas in India

There are three things which should be clear with respect to the treatment in a government hospital, firstly the treatment in government hospitals is not completely free, secondly apart from these costs there are costs involved due to loss of daily livelihood and thirdly there are potential costs that can come into picture due to bad quality of treatment (improper instructions while prescribing, post op infections, medical errors, medical negligence etc).

Conclusion

A significant amount of taxpayer’s money is spent on Government hospitals which puts these hospitals in a critical position to be accountable for the quality of services and deliver quality services within the constraints of available resources. It should be tried by the public hospitals to prevent diversion of its customer to private setups due bad quality of services. This warrants an existence of a quality management and control mechanism for government hospitals.

Quality of service should not be denied just because the direct consumer is not asking for it; but concrete measures towards quality assurance are necessary because lots of money is being spent in providing the infrastructure and bearing the administrative costs in the public hospitals. A few state governments (Gujarat, Kerala) are coming up with answers to these questions by taking concrete actions towards quality assurance and commitment for continuous quality improvement.

Indian Healthcare and IT: Is the romance going to last?

2011-02-26T05:08:00.000-08:00

by Ms.Khushboo Kumari, MHA-Hospital (2010-12)

In India, one word that (most) doctors and medical professionals are skeptical about is Information Technology aka IT. Though major IT players in the market see immense opportunity in healthcare in terms of offering solutions from automating processes to streamlining clinical workflows, the user groups (doctors, nurses etc.) in healthcare sector are yet to change their mindset from “IT Vs. me” to “IT for me”.

Indubitably, healthcare has its unique challenges; still it can learn its lessons from the experience of manufacturing and retail industries which are reaping huge benefits of adopting correct IT strategy to remove process-related inefficiencies. Innovative and tailor-made IT solutions magnificently increase the efficiency, safety and quality of medical care. They help lower costs and even standardize processes. Also the information gaps during clinical analysis that persist due to missing records and informal levels of exchange of clinical data can be bridged by using EHRs and quality patient management solutions. The rate of medical and clinical errors can also be brought down significantly.

But if the advantages are so apparent, where do the hitches come from?

They arise on account of the ineffective training and change management, specifically for the medical user groups. Mostly, major chunk of modules in HMIS in a hospital remains unused. Non-usage is one huge threat that prevents top management to invest in healthcare IT.

Nevertheless there are ways out. Any change initiative in any organization needs strong determination of the administrators to be successful. Involvement of the user groups and continuous monitoring & training are other important aspects.

With corporate chains and big private hospitals opting for HIS, there appears to be a silver lining in the cloud. Accreditation and standardization needs would also encourage IT adoption in healthcare.

I would hence rest my sincerest hopes in this romance to last forever.

An insightful read

2011-02-24T22:04:00.000-08:00

Working in various hospitals, haven't we often wondered how GOOD is the hospital, we are in..!!

What makes a hospital (or any healthcare provider) better than others- the facilities it offers or the quality of service that it provides..!

Is there any possible way that this comparison can be standardized? YES, there is. The paper speaks of parameters in terms of measuring mortality, efficiency and patient experience that can help in critical assessment.

Quite an interesting and insightful read..!

Is rationing a rational option in health care?

2011-02-10T09:45:00.000-08:00

by Dr.Arun K. Tiwari

There are two concepts of rationing in healthcare- Conventional Rationing and Price-based Rationing.

Concept of Conventional Rationing can be animated in the function of a sand clock where scarce resource from upper half passes down through a narrow channel and gets distributed to a large base. Similarly price based rationing can be visualized in the form of a coin box telephone, where only those get to make calls who are capable of inserting coin and also in order to maintain it, they are required to keep pushing the coins.

Question regarding which type of rationing seems to be settled in favor of the conventional rationing as it is less offending towards human rights (consider emergency cases being denied for not being able to pay). Looking at various health systems across the world, Rationing is evident in various forms e.g. waiting time, exclusion of drugs from list, gate keeping or even complete denial of services like cosmetic surgeries and dentistry.

Though healthcare sector strives hard to achieve cost minimization, it becomes difficult because of two major reasons: shortage of skilled professionals, which drives the cost of labor high and second, using finished products from other sciences (e.g technology, IT, pharmaceuticals etc) as inputs to produce services, which causes a second level of cost escalation.

Nonetheless, the health systems have their own ways of reducing cost. Primary Health Care (based on the principles of equitable distribution, Community participation, inter-sectoral co ordination and appropriate technology) is the most suited low cost model advocated for most developing countries by WHO. Other prevalent approaches are those of QALY and DALY. It is out of these principles of allocative efficiency that the concept of rationing derives most of its rationality. Development of innovative financing mechanisms to mitigate the risk of catastrophic expenditure during illness is an example of expanded rationality.

There are policies in which rationing is implicitly expressed (such as NHS, UK) and in some others, it is explicit (USA). Market based or non market based means- Rationing as a policy tool seems ubiquitous in all health systems. Interestingly this happens to be the most basic of all tools known to deal with scarcity of resources.

Thus, more than the matter of its presence, it is the form of presence which ought to be subjected to debate. It is now a debate of means and methods by which this particular policy tool is used rather than the rationality and validity of the tool itself.

Clairvoyance 2010: Official Album and Speaker Presentations

2010-12-27T08:55:00.000-08:00

Official Album of Clairvoyance 2010. Click here
Speaker presentations at Clairvoyance 2010 can now be found here

Clairvoyance 2010 : Healthcare in South Asia: Revisiting the first Decade, Foretelling the next

2010-10-23T06:49:00.000-07:00

Check out the website for TISS Clairvoyance 2010

http://www.tiss-clairvoyance.com/tiss/

"Clairvoyance, the signature annual event held at TISS, has spread its wings this year to include the entire South Asian subcontinent

Just like other sectors, healthcare has undergone enormous changes in the last one decade. It has witnessed the dawn of new concepts and the decline of old theories. It faced the heat of numerous challenges and was blessed with innovations from unlikely sources. These transitions shall pave the way for developments of the coming decade.

The students of the School of Health System Studies at TISS feel that concurrent developments during the past 10 years should be explored further in order to fathom the trends of the future. They have thus proposed Clairvoyance 2010 to be held on 11th and 12th December, 2010 as a platform for hosting a 'Dialogue on a Decade of Health'. Clairvoyance, the signature annual event held at the Convention Centre, TISS Campus, Mumbai has spread its wings this year to include the entire South Asian subcontinent."

Read More about Clairvoyance 2010 at Express Healthcare.

http://www.expresshealthcare.in/201010/market29.shtml

http://www.expresshealthcare.in/201008/market36.shtml
http://www.expresshealthcare.in/201009/market38.shtml

Clairvoyance 2010

11th and 12th December, 2010
Venue: TISS Campus, Mumbai

Tel: 720444815,720444818Email: clairvoyance10@gmail.com

BRMS: A Well Drafted Idea or Short Sighted Proposal

2010-09-29T23:14:00.000-07:00

"If the availability of qualified doctors is denied to the rural population, early detection of complicated disease conditions and appropriate treatment will be affected".

"District hospitals that serve thousands of patients are inadequately staffed to form training ground for doctors. Due to little recruitment from government side, today even medical colleges recognized by the MCI, numbering about 300, face faculty crunch. What faculty and infrastructure would be made available to churn out semi-qualified medical personnel?"........

Read More Below:

BRMS - A Well Drafted Idea or Short Sighted Proposal

Dr Rekha
M.A in Hospital Administration (2010-2012)
Tata Institute of Social Sciences

Final Placement Brochure 2010

2010-09-24T21:30:00.000-07:00

School of Health Systems Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences

MEGH MUDRA 2010

2010-07-26T05:26:00.000-07:00

“Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rains.”

United with music – MEGH MUDRA, THE RAIN DANCE @ TISS… the smash play of an

exclusive four hours set..!

As the name suggests, it’s an event organized to praise rain gods, but what’s the need for

praise when the city is Mumbai..! This EVENT had beaten out the heat this summer with a

refreshing party on SATURDAY, JULY 3. What more can one ask for, if the venue is the much loved basket ball court? The party started 6 PM onwards and presented hot and high voltage music with great performances.

It's the time of the year again when juniors realize what it means to be at one’s dream place

and seniors realize how far they have come, and yet how much enjoyment is still in store. Last year, approximately the same time, I was breathing in the fresh air after BDS, trying to imagine what the coming years would bring as I was all set for TISS. There was a hope, enthusiasm, excitement, curiosity on my face and in my spirit too. Today, after an year, I look around me, the

campus all lighted up, smart people bustling around and I see my feelings, from an year before mirrored into many new lives. Yes, that's how we were welcomed in TISS and the various new faces were thus integrated into our lives.

The baton had to pass and we decided to do everything in style.The event started with the usual fanfare; and after the freshers were seated, the compeers of the night took over. The batch of 2010 came up and performed in the rain. Technically nothing was audible! Still it was a laugh n

fun riot! Job was done well guys!

Of course, then there were group dances by the freshies, which started off as a group dance alright, but ended up into a mob dance. We were joined by everyone capering around from different schools, and enjoyed it to the hilt. The same continued till 10pm in the night. The best part was that it rained from 5pm to 10pm and throughout we danced. All I can say is that this was the best rain dance I had ever experienced. I would like to thank all those who made our most awaited moment truly special.

Those of you who missed it, however, missed out a special night ! Its vibes were electric… we danced n danced n danced…………

Dr Pallavi Soni

2010-12 Batch

Connecting the Dots

2010-06-25T22:20:00.000-07:00

Was given an assignment to analyze the Stanford commencement speech of Steve Jobs in the Strategic Management class by Prof. Thapar.

It was a group assignment and my part was to present first story from his speech, that is "Connecting the Dots". Liked this story very much and also the way in which it has been told by the man. These three words are just magical and i thought a simple powerpoint presentation wont be able to do justice to this idea.

Some days back came across this article of HBR and came to know about an awesome and innovative way of making presentations; a web based application called Prezi with a zooming user interface. It is a perfect example of a big leap. One of the best feature is that it makes it very easy to express the non linearity and complexity of thoughts. Especially for all you right brain dominant individuals who think images and can see the bigger picture behind things. Now when i look back at powerpoint presentations, they look like dwarfs. Am embedding my presentation below...enjoy connecting the dots!

Connecting the Dots on Prezi

Convocation address by Dr Purnima Mane

2010-05-11T09:39:00.000-07:00

Convocation Address

70th Annual Convocation (2008-2010 Batch)

2010-05-09T11:34:00.000-07:00

70th Convocation of the Institute will be held on Monday, May 10, 2010 at the TISS Convention centre.
Dr. Purnima Mane, Deputy Executive Director (Programme), United Nations Population Fund has been invited as the honorary chief guest for the occasion.

Best wishes and heartiest congratulations to SHSS 2008-2010 batch from SHSS 2009-2011.

BRAINSTORMING: Feasibilty of International Health Financing Models in the Indian Context

2010-04-12T11:42:00.000-07:00

Dr Arun Jitendra
mailed-by		gmail.com

In first place why do we have to look at international financing models, it would rather be good if we are able to think something out of the box and yet rational which suits our present needs. Considering the fact even the pattern of health education is based on international curriculum its high time we start looking inside our system rather than imposing something which has been tried somewhere else . Even NRHM can be considered such an initiative which i dont think has been borrowed from anywhere.

Dr Khyati Tiwari
mailed-by		gmail.com

Guys
What i think is, considering international models is not a bad option, all we need to take care of is that it is appropriately defined according to the needs and circumstances. The most important aspect being sustainability. For example, micro financing is something which was implemented in extremely backward African countries and was thoroughly successful. You always have a turn to experiment something new, all u need is the guts to justify it, according to circumstances and surroundings.. bits and pieces must fall in place and then the wheel rolls on...

Astha Gupta
mailed-by		gmail.com

In my view, in the current global scenario of interlinked economies and globalization having entirely indigenous health financing models is not possible. To add on there are constraints from donor agencies which influence the health financing model being implemented. On the contrary a blind imitation of the international models without assessing the needs and situation of our set up is also not a feasible option. Instead we need a balanced approach wherein the international models are taken up but remodeled as per our needs after a through needs assessment and then implemented with the scope of revaluation being in place.

BRAINSTORMING - Accreditation of Public Hospitals: Possibilities and Implications ??

2010-04-02T06:09:00.000-07:00

Dr Deepthi Alle
mailed-by		gmail.com

Accreditation of public hopitals, there are two basic things to be discussed
1) What are the standards that are to be reached?
2) What is that we are expecting out of it?

If what we are trying to achieve is public welfare, we can achieve that if our governments put in little more interest into public health setups, which starts with providing basic amenities. Well equipped and maintained PHCs alone can work wonders, not even to speak of teaching hospitals.And for governments to be serious about anything, it has to be an election issue, so if our population are informed about, and they become aware of their rights; may be things will take a different turn. So, what i feel is, accreditation is of-course good, but it's not a must.
Rather an integrated approach grounded to basics shall be our immediate remedy, accreditation being a long term goal.

Dr Sandeep moolchandani
mailed-by		gmail.com

Hospital accreditation has been defined as “A self-assessment and external peer assessment process used by health care organisations to accurately assess their level of performance in relation to established standards and to implement ways to continuously improve”

-International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua)

If you ask me about accreditation of public hospitals, i will say that we should have a separate accreditation authority for public hospitals since the standards of quality for public hospitals can not be compared to private hospitals any day because of the big difference in case load and the administrative constraints. But some say accreditation and quality standards are not feasible in a public setup; but mates we should remember that quality is relative, it is an indicator of the efficiency of each unit of an organization and thus it should be monitored with help of suitable indicators both internally and externally where accreditation being an external solution. The data should also be disclosed for public scrutiny.

In short, better quality should be a persistent aim of any responsible organization; be it public or private.

Tiss scores on the accreditation front: DNA India

2010-03-19T08:52:00.000-07:00

Once again TISS has come out with flying colours in the NAAC accreditation process this year, scorring 3.88 on a scale of 4 which is one of the highest in the league!!

Check out the article on DNA India website.

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_tiss-scores-on-the-accreditation-front_1344752

Impact of Globalization on Health: Seminar and Paper Presentation

2010-01-28T09:26:00.000-08:00

Lokraj Sangathan, a Mumbai based NGO in association with School of
Health Systems Studies is organising a seminar and paper presentation on 'Impact of
Globalisation on Health' on January 30, 2010 from 4 p.m to 7 p.m. in
the Common Room, Main Campus.

The speakers are:

Dr. Amar Jesani
A medical professional who has been deeply involved with social science research in health for more than three decades especially
in the fields of human rights and medical ethics. He is the coordinator at the Centre for Studies in Ethics and Rights, an institute of the
Anusandhan Trust in Mumbai.

Dr. Narendra Jawle
A person deeply concerned with issues of Human Rights and social equity , he has rendered service as an Honorary physician since 1997 at The Indian Red Cross , Thane District.
He is a Medical advisor to many NGO's and a visiting faculty to Mumbai University on the subject of "Right to Health".

2010-01-26T12:55:00.000-08:00

They say that all good things must come to an end

And if it's the end of a great learning stint at TISS, it should be nothing short of amazing!

With this thought, we set about celebrating the exit of some special people from SHSS...

....who helped us feel at home and gave us confidence

....who took us under their wings and became our mentors.

It was time, for a grand 'Farewell' to the 2008-10 MHA/MPH batch from us juniors

Date: 13th January '10

Theme: 'Bollywood. 70's ishtyle'

Invitations were sent.

The stage was set.

And at 'Indian Standard Time', the guests arrived

Many came dressed in typical filmi attire

Once at the venue, the seniors were divided into various 'badmash' teams -

Gabbar, Langda Tyagi, Chhota Chhatree, Moganbo et al.

After a formal welcome, the teams assembled themselves on stage

We started off with - Chance pe Dance

In which, a member from each team to perform a Bollywood 'item number'

Loud cheer, whistles and thunderous applause was maintained throughout...

Winner: The evergreen Dr. Ayan, dancing away in his smart kurta

In fact, his inspiring performance set the tone for all the fun & frolic that followed

Ayaanji, aapke adaon ney toh humein...................................... Maar daala!

Show stopper: Dr. Vinit Samant, whom we all thought of as a serious fellow; leaving us spellbound with his jhatkaas, matkaas and killer expressions!

In the second game, the teams had to come up with a marketing pitch for a product.

Spoons, balloons and bowls were used as props.

Winner: Dr Sujay selling a bowl in Shah Rukh Khan voice. Hilarious!

A farewell party is incomplete without fondly recalling the quirks and qualities of the teachers

Our beloved faculty members were recreated on stage by some talented impressionists

All in good spirit and fun, mind you

Winner: The audience. For chanting - 'Please remember!!!'

Sweet aroma of the 'Farewell Cake' added flavour to an atmosphere already full of smiles and laughter

It was cut amidst much chaos and mirth, Dr. Sujay and Dr. Altaf doing the honours

And finally, the much awaited DJ!

Lights went out as everyone took the floor

Crazy disco lights, bollywood numbers, dance tracks, pop music and even a wacky vernacular song here and there created a heady mix....

It was hard not to join in and shake a leg

A tiring dance session was followed by a delectable dinner and desserts

Mementos were handed out to the senior batch, a token of remembrance from the grateful juniors

Thus ended a wonderful evening of merriment and conviviality

A smartly organized event with much attention to details

Everyone smiled throughout, laughed a lot, danced hard, ate with relish and enjoyed themselves

I can't help but think about our farewell, now less than a year away

It's going to be a year full of wonderful memories

And they'll bring a smile to our faces and moisten our eyes forever....

QUIN-TISS-ENCE 2010

2010-01-10T21:34:00.000-08:00

Schedule: Sport events: January 11th - 15th January 2010

Literary and Cultural events: 16th-18th January 2010

Venue: TISS Campuses, Deonar Mumbai - 88

The morning sunlight shines through the foliages with a silky warmth. The day dawns for the most awaited event of TISS - QUINTISSENCE. A 3-days event' consisting of educative as well as fun-filled Literary and Cultural events with Sport events being the harbinger to this colourful saga. What's better way is there to start a new year other than this?

Here is a brief purview of QuinTISSence 2010:

SPORTS:

Chess

Badminton

Table Tennis

Volley Ball

Cricket

Basketball

Football

....

LITERARY

Quiz - Will be hosted by Bombay Quiz Club

Debate

Poetry/Creative Writing

Blob writing

Pictionary

Parliamentary Debate

JAM - Just A Minute

Mock Press Conference

etc

CULTURAL

Singing Competition - Solo and Group

Dance Competition

Street Plays

....

(The list is indicative)

<< Watch out this space for updates and changes regarding QuinTISSence >>

POLEMIC ANGLE

2009-12-15T04:05:00.000-08:00

By:- Priyanka Nagdeo, MHA (HO)

‘POLES APART’.....aren’t most people like that? Err..just to ease the raised eyebrows, I’d rather substitute that with ..”Aren’t most opinions like that”..well it is a diplomatic world afterall, and to be able to express and be firm on that opinion is indeed a tough job.

Like the two opposite poles existing in a magnetic field, most often than not , people’s perceptions and beliefs also differ. Nevertheless, we continue analysing, scrutinising each other’s view points ,and present ours, ardent on the fact that the only socially acceptable ‘Angle’[AHEM!] to look at this world at is the one that ‘I’carry- Acute, Right or Obtuse who cares...and hold on ,we are not even close to the Pythagoras therom yet.;)...this argument tossed with salt, pepper and the works ,is a part of the discussions around the brewing camardrie at almost all corners at TISS...be it the canteen, the glorious dinner tables, the not so quiet library corners, or the all time favourite tapri. But then one can’t deny the fact that it is these very discussions coupled with the cutting chai, which form the champagne [yeah!!!] for the souls here.The thinking brains of the ingenous Tissians, armed with less intellect and more common sense, keep pondering, amidst the exploration of the facts.......

Again, it is only human to counterpoint, and well literally so,hence Team Clairvoyance at SHSS, decided to provide this very basic instinct a platform. Along with all other wonderful activities that are scheduled to take place at CLAIRVOYANCE this December , we also have a debate competition coming up. Aptly tagged ‘POLEMIC’ the topic for this competition is “STATE OF HEALTHCARE IN INDIA:WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?”:THE HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS OR THE SEEKERS. The team chose this as the topic because it came across as a favourite topic doing the rounds for discussions in various groups. Surprisingly, these groups were not only those of the health school students, but, even of our friends at the other schools at TISS. In health care fixing responsibility has always been ambiguous, much like the proverbial”CHICKEN AND THE EGG”Story......................”.

Who is responsible for ensuring quality level healthcare.?The Providers including the government and the healthcare industry who claim of enough efforts on their part or the seekers who are yet to find enough reasons to appreciate these efforts. Health is a priviledge, a right, everyone is entitled to, alas, the provision of the means to this right as well as the use of these very means in a prudent way so as to attain maximum benefit out of the existing set up is still a evident mismatch. Well ,time to ponder and brainstorm, we thought, and so came up this subject to be this year’s topic for the debate .The debate will be held in two rounds :the preliminary round, comprising of a write-up, and the final open house arguement, scheduled on the 19th of December ,the first day of Clairvoyance 2009.There are lots of attractive prizes to be won as well.

As a part of the glorious clan of the SHSS faculty and students, dedicated to the betterment,of health in the country,this,we believe will be another step towards unlocking the key to many solutions or atleast provision of a thinking ground,through the most enjoyable indulgences of the human race:THE WAR OF WORDS-A DEBATE.So, nomatter what one’s “angle”is,there is always scope for a new “therom” folks[with mutual consensus ofcourse].”IAM bad at GEOMETRY”did someone say?This is about physics anyways...:P
Till we ponder more....Keep the angle right...:)

To the aspirants...scope of MHA (Health)

2009-12-14T23:27:00.000-08:00

The previous blog on scope of MHA (Hospital) gives a very good overview of what lies in store for MHA graduates. Going on to MHA (Health) first let me clarify that expect for hospitals almost all openings are there for MHA (Health) as well. However MHA (Health) concentrates on the larger issues of health sector and less on the corporate aspect of it.

Apart from the openings listed before ( for hospital Administration) as health managers there are openings in various NGOs and programs like NACO, NRHM etc. Also there are international openings in UN organisations like WHO and UN funded agencies. However, for such organisations, a strong CV in terms of work ex, research experience, internships and projects plays a major role.

Research project which is an essential part of MHA (Health) creates research level oppurtunities in various areas like health financing, epidemiology, human resource in health care etc.

In the end I would like to add that apart from career oppurtunities the course offers you, your interest should be a major factor in deciding which stream you finally choose

Wish you all, best of luck for the written exam results and forthcoming rounds of GD/PI.

2009-12-10T10:08:00.000-08:00

Hi friends..!! ,
Get ready for a morning of VVIA...(Very Vital Information Assimilation)....We are having a seminar by Mr.Ratan Jalan , Founder and principal consultant of MEDIUM , a healthcare consulting firm . Mr. Ratan Jalan founded Medium Healthcare Consulting in 2009 when he realised the need for bold and innovative solutions in the Indian healthcare sector.

For the last eight years, Ratan was the CEO of Apollo Health and Lifestyle Limited, part of the Apollo Hospitals Group. He created some of the most successful and innovative healthcare formats in the country such as a nationwide network of The Apollo Clinic and The Cradle, South Asia’s first boutique birthing centres.

Mr. Jalan has very impressive credentials (http://www.med-ium.com/our_team.htm ) .
An evening across a table with a wise man is worth a year's study of books , is an old chinese (or japanese or thai or vietnamese or korean ) saying .

Jalan sir will be speaking on
For MHA,MPH -Year II : "Gearing up for career opportunities in healthcare" on Friday from 5:30PM to 7:30PM and

For MHA,MPH-Year I : "What you did not know about brand positioning and advertising"on Saturday from 9 to 11 a.m.

Should be very interesting . Am sure everyone will make the most of this opportunity ...

To, The Aspirants... Scope of MHA (Hospital Administration)

2009-12-08T12:22:00.000-08:00

Many of my friends, acquaintances and aspirants often ask me about the scope of MHA and the role that MHAs are playing in the healthcare industry in India today. No comprehensive resources are yet available on the net regarding this subject where an Indian MHA aspirant can have this information. The aim of this post is to fill this deficiency.

In today's times, Healthcare industry has been in a state of flux faster than ever. We are seeing a rising trend towards alternative health models and new healthcare startups everday which are trying to fill the niche areas in healthcare delivery system. A MHA degree provides knowledge and competencies needed to understand the changing system and capacity to act as a driving force to bring about the change.

The acronym MHA is used for both Master of Health Administration(MHA-HE) and Master Of Hospital Administration(MHA-HO). I will be concentrating on Master Of Hospital Administration. You will be updated about MHA-HE and MPH in upcoming posts.

Hospital administration is concerned with planning, organizing, staffing, coordinating, controlling and evaluating health services for the community to provide maximum patient care of superior quality at low cost so as to reduce morbidity and mortality.

Apart from hospitals MHA graduates also find employment opportunities in Consultancies, Insurance companies, IT companies, TPAs(Third Party Administrators), KPOs(Knowledge Process Outsourcing), Healthcare Branding Marketing and Advertising firms(HBM&A), Medical Equipment companies, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies

Examples of some job profiles are:

Hospitals
Medical Superintendent
Deputy Director/Director
Chief Executive Officer
Manager / deputy manager - hospital administration
Manager/Asst Manager - Clinical Quality
Assistant Manager - Hospital Information Systems Implementation
Assistant Manager-International Marketing

IT
Domain Consultant/Senior Consultant/Business Analyst
Healthcare Product Manager
Functional Analyst- HIS(Health Information Systems) Implementation

Consultancies
Consultant - Healthcare
Consultant - Hospital Information Systems Implementation.
Consultant- Electronic Medical Records

Insurance
Claims Manager
Insurance Coordinator

HBM&A
Brand Manager

Some of the websites you can check to get further understanding of what happens on the non-clinical side of the healthcare sector are listed under the heading "Blogs Of Note" on this page.

So at the end I would like to wish all the aspirants best of luck for the TISS common entrance exam next week and I hope that this information helps in informed decision making to those who are planning a career in this domain.

We will be very happy to answer any queries.

Effective Media Intervention Competition on Tobacco Control

2009-12-07T08:07:00.000-08:00

Health Communication and Education is an effective means of bringing about changes in behaviors and lifestyles that are conducive to good health. The power of various forms of media in communicating thoughts, ideas and knowledge is well known in all walks of life. Media campaigns to promote healthy lifestyle can serve as keys for motivating and bringing about behavior change in an individual, and subsequently the society.

In spite of the vast scope of the media in influencing the minds of millions, it is not used effectively to create awareness about contemporary health issues. In view of this, the School of Health System Studies at Tata Institute of Social Sciences introduces “From Ideas to EXPRESSIONS for Health” – a competition on presenting effective media interventions for health related information dissemination and education.

The competition is part of “Clairvoyance 09” and is open to participation from students of varied streams of knowledge such as Public Health, Media and Cultural Studies and all other institutions which study media and communication as part their curriculum. The competition is an attempt to generate innovative and influential media messages, which shall be utilized by funding agencies, academicians, public health service providers and media personnel.

Theme for this year:

““Effective Media Interventions for Tobacco Control”

For complete detials, please visit http://shss.tiss.edu/index_files/Expressions.htm