Medlern, a digital learning solution for hospitals and healthcare professionals, offering learning resources and technology to healthcare professionals, aims to augment the skill set of healthcare professionals through their comprehensive in-class learning as well as online training solutions. Deepak Sharma, CEO and Co-Founder, MedLern, talks about increased focus on improvement in quality of service delivery, growth of allied healthcare professional courses

By Sonali Patranabish

What is the market size of medical professional training and development in India? Do we see this market growing in future, can we see more players foraying into this segment?

The overall market consists of various segments and is made up of private, government, individual and B2B components. The estimated size is currently between $2.5 to $3 billion and is growing strongly due to the rapid expansion of demand and infrastructure investment in healthcare. 

The favourable regulatory regime, increased focus on improvement in quality of service delivery, growth of allied healthcare professional courses and the returns on upskilling are additional drivers of growth which will fuel the demand. This segment needs players who can master the unique combination of innovative learning technologies, evidence-based and peer-reviewed content and an understanding of the practices in the local context. 

Organisations that can meet these criteria- whether startups or global players are likely to be interested in participating in this market.

How will hospitals and healthcare organisations benefit from such training solutions and tools?

Systematic and structured delivery of training is vital to every aspect of healthcare delivery - since the final touch point in healthcare services is highly qualified employees who are expected to deliver complex, high risk and high-impact services to patients.

Each element of healthcare delivery – risk and safety management, patient outcomes, patient experience, efficiency and ultimately profitable operations can be significantly improved by ensuring that the deep and complex knowledge of hospital staff is retained and applied judiciously at the point of care.

Reduction of preventable harm like safety incidents, hospital-acquired infections and medication errors can save countless lives but also improve key operating metrics like ALOS (average length of stay), ARPOBD (average revenue per operating bed day) and other quality indicators.

These initiatives are as relevant to ongoing hospital operations as well any strategic change management initiatives that are vital to the operating strategy of the hospital. It can be easily demonstrated that this can result in margin improvements of anywhere between 3 to 6 per cent within 12 months, depending on which are pivotal areas of outperformance for a healthcare system.

On what parameters do you train hospital staff and how is your training

different from the regular induction and orientation programmes?

With our full stack platform, we can cover the entire depth of the training spectrum – delivering cognitive, affective and simulation of psychomotor skill-based learning. We train hospital staff on parameters such as quality and accreditation, nursing excellence, service excellence, patient safety, and digital healthcare delivery. We have various continuous education

programs for nurses and doctors alike which are essential for continuous professional development, career progression and upskilling of staff at various levels. Besides, our unique library of healthcare roles and competencies can rapidly create an organisation-wide training plan for each employee based on their current role, proficiency levels, growth skills and potential career opportunities.

In terms of RoI for a hospital, how beneficial have these courses and modules been? Can you share a few tangible pieces of evidence for the same?

Since its inception four years ago, MedLern has transformed the training landscape in more than 400 hospitals across the country. MedLern hospitals usually see a lift in quality and operational indicators, employee engagement and retention, improved patient outcome measures as well as a much more streamlined quality accreditation process.

While no value can be ascribed to lives saved or restored to health – hospitals can tangibly measure financial outcomes – realising a margin lift of 3 to 6 per cent depending on their strategic performance areas. Investment in training yields a return of 15 to 20X within a 12 to 18-month period in terms of improved quality and financial indicators.