Manipal Saga - Inspired by Life

Heritage :
A few decades ago, Manipal was a barren wasteland. A great visionary saw serenity in silence, potential in barrenness, challenge in adversity. The visionary was Dr. T.M.A. Pai, a doctor who by his vision changed the face of the hilltop, built a bustling township called Manipal, which is described today as an International University Town, a renowned Centre of Learning. The late Dr. T.M.A. Pai, Physician, Educationist, Banker and Philanthropist, was indeed the founder and builder of Manipal. He established educational, medical, banking and industrial enterprises of national importance and repute. Manipal is an eloquent testimony to the vision, motivation and labour of Dr. T.M.A. Pai.

Education :
Manipal Group is a $500M enterprise focussed on growth and betterment of the quality of life.
Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) is the first private medical science institute to be recognized as deemed university. MAHE comprises of Medical colleges, Dental Allied Health Sciences and Nursing colleges. MAHE also has colleges in Mass Communications and Information Science.
MAHE and Wipro GE offer a unique three-semester MTech. course in Medical Software, with 21 students having passed out already.
A pioneer in private initiative in education, group has institutions in five countries, with 42,000 students from all over the world. Over the years Manipal Group has carved itself a niche with talent, enterprise and education.

The Research Department is equipped with the latest GE Signa MR, GE ProSpeed CT, LOGIQ 700 Colour Doppler, Prestige II, and the first remote controlled diagnostic R&F system in South India. All modalities like MR, CT, Ultrasound and X-Ray have been networked through the GE PACS. Dr. Bhushan Lakkar, Head of Department - KMC, said “The GE ProSpeed CT Scanner Tube at KMC, Manipal has crossed over 5 lacs slices and still going strong”.

The Manipal Hospital and Heart Foundation in Bangalore are equipped with the latest technology GE MR, CT, Ultrasound, Cathlab, C-Arm. This state-of-the art facility has Clinical Research Collaboration with GE. Dr. Uday D. Patil, Radiologist said “The Fast Recovery -Fast Spin Echo software developed by GE has reduced a 4 minutes procedure to less than 30 secs. without compromising on diagnostic details”

Dr. Ranjan Pai, Director of MAHE speaking on the future of Manipal Group said, “We plan to bring our education systems and curriculum on par with top colleges and hospitals in the world”. The Manipal Saga is indeed inspired by life.

  Manipal - The International University Town

Dr. Ramdas Pai, President and Dr. Ranjan Pai, Director, MAHE spoke to “IMAGES” on their vision and plans.

Can you give us an insight into the heritage of Manipal, often hailed as the Manipal Miracle?

Dr. Ramdas Pai : My father Dr. T.M.A. Pai felt that education is the most important thing that we have to give to younger generation. He believed in the old Chinese saying “If you give a man fish you give him a meal. If you teach him fishing, you give him food for a lifetime”. And so with education, people will be able to stand on their own legs and help others.
He followed the American system, which provides for a student to take a bank loan. And once the student completes his education, he may offer employment to many more people, having had the right type of education. So this was the dream. Dr. T.M.A. Pai started the first Medical College in 1953 and from then on, there has been no looking back. We have established a number of institutions in healthcare, technology and engineering.

Manipal Group has spread its wings into other countries? What have been the unique qualities, which have made it possible?

Dr. Ramdas Pai : Manipal group started as a need based venture. South Canara did not have schools and colleges and the Manipal group has transformed it into a seat of learning. We have set ourselves very clear goals in the quality of education and healthcare that we would be giving to people. In a time when many Indians go abroad to study, we have many students from across the globe joining our various institutions. These students, on going back to their own country, have shown the quality of education imparted. Now various governments in India and other countries are calling us to set-up educational institutions and healthcare ventures. We have already started new hospitals in Sikkim and Nepal and will be opening new ventures in Malaysia and other places.

How has your decision to equip your hospitals with medical facilities with the latest technologies impacted your productivity and profitability?

Dr. Ranjan Pai : We invested in hi-tech equipment like MR, CT, Cathlab from Wipro GE. This enabled us to increase throughput and improve diagnosis, resulting in better treatment to patients. We bought GE’s Cardiac Networking system, GEMNet with two cathlabs, two years back. This increased productivity in Cardiology department. Studies are conducted and stored without having to cut a CD, but images can be viewed at various locations. Seeing the benefits, we made significant investments in networking the entire MAHE using GE PACS. We are sure with upgradable technology from GE, we will have a huge saving of costs in the future. Hence technology is one of the main criteria in our purchase.

How has Wipro GE contributed to the increasing productivity through equipment?

Dr. Ranjan Pai : We are happy Wipro GE has a clear focus on customer service. Looking at our experience with our new CT and MR’s, I am happy with almost 99% uptime. Downtime is more than losing money, it is losing your reputation. If the patient is turned back saying, the machine is not working”, the patient will assume that Manipal has not maintained their equipment. It is directly affecting our reputation. We feel that GE has an edge over the rest in the market, in after sales service.

... And on Six Sigma ... how has it increased productivity?

Dr. Ranjan Pai : Six Sigma has proven to be unique. Many customers don’t like being told what is wrong with their systems. They feel, what they are doing is right. But sometimes you have to follow other industry’s best practices in the healthcare industry, to improve the processes. If you can keep customers happy by improving customer productivity, then that’s a great system, if we are better we become more viable and will be able to upgrade our equipment. Wipro GE has developed an excellent customer relationship.
This year we are going to do more Six Sigma projects with different departments. The first one we completed is on waiting time reduction at the OPD. We want to go into Lab, Pharmacy, and take up areas that directly affect the patients.
Wipro GE does not come to only sell their equipment but also help in providing solutions.