CHARTING THE NEW ROAD AHEAD

Getting holistic understanding of consumer experience to chart the road ahead for Zydus Hospital's Polyclinic Health Centre (PHC) Facility at Becharaji

To provide quality healthcare at affordable prices to the residents of Becharaji and surrounding villages, Zydus Hospitals with Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) set up a modern Polyclinic Health Centre (PHC) facility in Becharaji in September 2018.

Equipped with advanced health care diagnostic equipment, amenities like X-Ray, TMT machine, Minor OT, ECG, Pathology Laboratory, Ultrasound, fully equipped Ambulance, Pharmacy, etc., the facility with 3 OPD units and 3 Observation Beds, provides primary health care and diagnostics services. Qualified doctors and support staff from Zydus Hospitals visit the facility. The facility provides easy access for over 10,000 residents of Becharaji village and adjoining communities of Hansalpur, Shankhalpur, Adiwada, Sitapur, etc.

After a year of its operations, Zydus Hospitals wanted to gain patient response and feedback about this new facility. A research was conducted to understand patient experiences and perceptions about the Polyclinic Facility.

Objective:

To understand the perceived benefits for the patients in the catchment area of the PHC in terms of:

Accessibility to a reliable health facility
Accessibility to experienced and competent doctors for primary health care
Accessibility to specialists on a periodic basis
Accessibility to a well-equipped diagnostic lab facility
Cost of consultation

To understand in which aspects the healthcare facility has improved in the catchment area in the last one year
To understand specifics of patient experiences and perceptions about PHC with regard to:

OPD with MBBS doctor / physician
Consultation with a specialist
Diagnostic lab
Pharmacy, including, feedback on availability of prescribed medicines and cost of medicines

To understand the feedback of the institutional customers about their satisfaction level and overall experience at the PHC.

Our Approach

Building a research protocol, questionnaire and tools for the study
Random sampling of target respondents from database of patients
Training of field staff, conducting interviews on-field and data assimilation
Creating final report of findings

Samples Covered in the Study:

Patient sample size: 192
Institutional tie-up sample size: 6

Respondents - Demographic Details

Age Group

Gender Base

Usage of Zydus Polyclinic Health Centre (PHC)

58% availed only OPD services
31% availed OPD and Pharmacy both
11% availed OPD services, Pharmacy and Diagnostics
Only 1% opted for OPD and Diagnostics

Our Findings

Top-of-the-mind recall for hospitals known and visited

Among all the patients 26% recalled Government Civil hospital, 16% Mamata Hospital, 13% Zydus PHC
The aided recall of Zydus PHC was 23%
Almost 63% recall about PHC from all the patients treated here

Awareness

More than 40% were aware about Zydus PHC, which includes TOM and spontaneous recall
23% respondents recalled after being aided and reminded about Zydus PHC

How did they get to know about PHC

Almost 61% got to know through word of mouth, mostly from family,
friends and relatives. Only 17% were referred by doctors

Number of Visits to PHC

41% of the patients visited PHC only once
As per the data, from the 27% who didn't recall PHC even after aiding,
18% were the ones who visited Zydus PHC only once
32% of the patients visited 3 to 5 times
12% of the patients visited it more than 5 times, who had top-of-the-mind recall

Perceived Benefits of Zydus Health Centre

Availability of good specialists regularly, esp. cardiologists, ophthalmologists and lung specialists in Becharaji
Good infrastructure at par with hospitals in Ahmedabad
Camps and visits by doctors from Ahmedabad
Good quality diagnostic centre at Becharaji
Good private facility has reduced dependence on Government Civil Hospital
Patients are pleasantly surprised to find out the charges,
but a few suggested that a perception of high charges exists among those who haven't visited Zydus PHC

Satisfaction Levels with the OPDs at Zydus PHC

Top Reasons for Dissatisfaction:

Preferred Civil Hospital
Not satisfied with explanation given by doctor
High waiting time
Had to visit another doctor
No specific reason

Satisfaction Levels with the Diagnostic Centre at Zydus PHC

Top Reasons for Dissatisfaction:

Higher cost when compared to others
Delay in receiving report

Satisfaction Levels with the Pharmacy at Zydus PHC

Majority opted for local chemist who gave them higher discounts

Health Camp Awareness

Many patients became aware about the Zydus PHC post the launch of different health camps in the catchment area. Regular heart, eye and lung camps were organised to increase awareness about PHC.

Feedback from Institutional Clients:

Overall satisfaction is quite good
No major issues cited with the process of tying up

When asked about Things they Expected from PHC, they cited:

24-hour clinic
System to update pro-actively about camps or visits by specialists
Timely availability of diagnostic reports
Two doctors to be present in OPD at all times

Conclusion:

The overall satisfaction level was good
More awareness about PHC will lead to more footfall
No major issues with services and facilities provided
Institutional clients were satisfied with services but pointed out a few areas of improvement