The remarkably impressive benchmark policies adopted by the Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS) got rave reviews from the fraternity outside the country.
Samuel Jackson and Mutshipay Mpoy, students of Class 2019 at Central Michigan University School of Medicine, who were here on rotation recently, were literally floored by the best practices adopted here by the hospital.
Along with the Director and Vice-Chancellor of SVIMS, Tanjavur S. Ravikumar, the duo visited the super speciality hospital’s departments, attended meetings and rural medical camps, besides interviewing volunteers and patients to understand the financing angle to meet the medical expenses of the economically underprivileged.
“The SVIMS is delivering free and low-cost healthcare for the country’s poor without compromising on quality,” they observed. Recalling their interaction with a 63-year-old physically challenged daily wage-earner from Kodigullapadu – a name they found a tongue-twister – Mr. Jackson said the patient required neurosurgical laminectomy costing Rs.2 lakh, which he qualified for free treatment under ‘Pranadanam’, meant for those in the low-income bracket.
Reformative measures
The SVIMS recently initiated many reformative measures aimed at achieving perfection. Dr. Ravikumar launched a ‘Quality and Patient Safety’ programme to transform the SVIMS into a ‘High Reliability Organisation’.
For example, the recently launched ‘Code Blue’ establishes the process of summoning appropriate teams and resources necessary to resuscitate and rescue patients with deteriorating conditions. “This is to eliminate chances of failure to rescue”, Dr. Ravikumar explained to The Hindu .
Another concept is the ‘Never Events’, which refers to unambiguous events that should never occur in healthcare, such as infections .
