Demand and Supply Analysis of Human Resource Capacity for Hospital Management in India

Abstract

The healthcare industry in India caters to a large population, and the sector is expected to continue growing close to previously projected rates of 10 to 12 per cent. The administrative and management complexities of a large organisation like a hospital need the frequency matching and fine-tuning of all the associated staff with the hierarchy. A qualified man-agement graduate specially trained to work within the health sector would have an advantage in the inter-disciplinary interactions, effective and efficient management of the available resources, coordination along the hierarchy, logistics and supply-chain related issues along with many other issues that are required in a hospital. It is evident that there is a huge backlog of trained hospital managers and administrators to work for hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, health insurance and third-party administration and other health care provider organisations. Despite having a diverse range of options to choose the educational institutions for such managerial courses, there is still a gap between the supply and the demand side, as no exhaustive list of program related data from these institutes is available till date. This article analyses the demand and supply issues surrounding courses offering hospital management in India, thereby attempting to highlight the current mismatch. A systematic, predefined approach was used to collect and assemble the data. All the institutes offering such courses were contacted for detailed infor-mation. Fifty one institutes have been identified which annually produce around 2500 qualified professionals to work in the domain of hospital management. The article also discusses the demand analysis where these prospective students can be placed. To estimate these numbers, various stakeholders of the hospital industry were consulted and desk reviews were performed. An estimated 21,750 professionals would be required based upon the country’s present status, which reflects the dearth in their workforce capacity. The findings could be adapted for future health work force planning in the country.