The Associate Partner, Ciuci Growth Advisors, Onome Akwara says end-to-end healthcare management is key to improving a patient’s experience. In a chat with CNBC Africa, she notes AGCare has developed the Clinical HEIRS framework, a six-step model designed to address challenges and drive improvements across all aspects of healthcare delivery.
The Associate Partner, Ciuci Growth Advisors, Onome Akwara says end-to-end healthcare management is key to improving a patientâs experience. In a chat with CNBC Africa, she notes AGCare has developed the Clinical HEIRS framework, a six-step model designed to address challenges and drive improvements across all aspects of healthcare delivery.' I guess it's just with everything else, how you organize it, right? If you want to figure out how to deal with any issue, just to make sense of the issue. And in healthcare specifically, I will say it's how it is managed. Now, the way we've seen it before now is when you think healthcare, you think of doctors, nurses, but there's a whole lot that goes into a patient's experience, right? So it's really now focused on how do we look and address all of those issues holistically, right? So making sense of it means how is it managed end-to-end. Now, from a doctor's angle, it's different. But the interesting thing about healthcare is really about how it is handled from a patient's perspective, because that's how success is managed. So more or less the perspective there. But I see that you all have a healthcare management framework. Yes. And I'd like to get to hear a bit more of that and more or less the key pillars driving that. Yes. So just to give you some context, like everything else, like I said, it starts with doctors. It's always been about doctors, right? And so I work for an organization that is into operations management. Now, we get a lot of inquiries from hospitals, medical doctors who are amazing at what they do. But they're saying, hey, I'm great at this, but when it comes to administration, I give up. Come get this. And we've done that for quite a number of hospitals. So it comes down to how do you manage end-to-end? That is where the problem was. So that's where the problem is, if you ask me in healthcare today. We have great doctors, but how is it managed end-to-end? And it was in seeing that gap that we came up with what we call the clinical health framework. And we use this for clients and we use this across all the four assets that we manage, where we see over 10,000 patients average in a month, right? So clinical health is basically an acronym. Well, clinical is clinical, because if you go to a hospital, you're going there because you want to get better. So there's the expectation clinical-wise in terms of your clinical outcome. You want to get better. So the clinical stands for clinical excellence. Now, it's one thing for you to feel better. I will make a patient feel better. But how do you break that down? What does feeling better mean? Does it happen when it's expected to happen? And does it happen to the degree that you want it to happen? All those things need to be measured. And then we go to the H. So breaking the hairs now, the H is for human-centered care. Again, we manage hospitals and diagnostic centers that have a care home. And you hear things like, you know, the doctor was in a hurry because he went to see someone else. So he may have seen you. He may have run some tests. He may have gotten medication. But the fact that the doctor didn't have time for you as a person is an issue, right? So we've taken time to study patients' data, observe. We do a lot of ethnographic research where we follow patients from one touchpoint to another. And we see the human elements driven by empathy. So that H speaks to human-centered care. And then there's the E. We were catching up before we started. We talked about the place of people. So we are very big on employee development because human resource is at the center of healthcare management, right? And then there's the I, which is you cannot take away innovation from everything. And that's where the doctors, I dare say, need us, non-clinical folks, because we are wired a certain way, you know, to think about the bigger picture. And we're not, you know, for someone like me, I was in the arts. I studied theater arts. I know the opposite. That's fine, right? So we are trained to think about things a lot more broadly. And I've also worked in the business world for quite a bit, right? So that's the difference in thinking. It has some very exceptional doctors who can do this as well. I've seen a couple, but it's not a skill that is readily available. Innovation is talking about people. It's talking about how you apply data and how you apply technology as well. And then the R is the big buckets. So employees are good, but then the R is relationships. And healthcare is very capital intensive. Some of the time you can't do it alone. So relationships are extremely important. I'm talking local and international relationships. So I'll give you an example. One of our assets, we have a telemedicine structure where you can get the second opinion without having to leave the country. It's a relationship, right, that we build on. And then the S is the icing on the cake. After you've done all the clinical, managed all the clinical outcomes, you've driven human-centered experiences, you've developed employees, you've innovated, you've built relationships. The icing on the cake is how do you standardize it? Make sure it happens every time and in line with the global best practice. I think that's where there's going to be a big challenge. Exactly. So we've cracked that. We have cracked that. And again, healthcare is not something you do alone. You have to know exactly what's going on. So in one of our assets, for instance, we're currently going through the ISO certification, which takes us through process design and all of that. And certain things we have to have in place minimally to be considered an ISO accredited hospital. Now that keeps us in check, in line with standardizing things. It's good that you paint the picture of the entire framework. But from personal experience and also looking at the ecosystem here in Nigeria, when you look at some of the challenges that could compromise the quality of care, it can help to look at some underlying factors. For example, the welfare and compensation of the health workers plays a key role in how they deliver the outcomes that were designed. Exactly. Yeah. I'd like you to speak to that and how this is captured in that framework of yours. So that's a very interesting question because, you know, the other day someone asked me, how are you solving the JAKWA syndrome? And this was my answer. So a very critical piece of employee development is what we call employee experience. There are some things we can't change about Nigeria, given, but there are some things that are within our control. If our doctors, nurses, medical clinical guys leave Nigeria, the opportunities in terms of leadership and transition into health care management is limited. So what we've tried to do is to create what we call the AJ Care Leadership Network. Now, by employee development, we give you access to, we can deploy you to other roles. You're exposed to leadership responsibilities. And then for each of these things, you get, I don't like to call them compensations because you can't put money on experience. Right. But then there are benefits. We've had people who've sent out of the country, Ghana, India on training, and then they come back and then they have, it's meaningful work. So for us, that employee development bucket for us is very key. And I'll give an example. We have, we manage public hospitals and private hospitals. So if you work in a public sector, there's a certain mindset. And some of my colleagues in that space have never gone private.
Theme: Transforming Healthcare Management through the Clinical HEIRS Framework
In today's healthcare landscape, the focus on improving patients' experiences is crucial. The Associate Partner at Ciuci Growth Advisors, Onome Akwara, emphasizes the importance of end-to-end healthcare management in ensuring a positive outcome for patients. In a recent interview with CNBC Africa, Akwara highlighted the innovative approach taken by AGCare through the development of the Clinical HEIRS framework. This six-step model is designed to tackle challenges and enhance healthcare delivery across all facets of the industry. The conversation began with Akwara underscoring the significance of organized healthcare management. She mentioned that understanding and addressing the various components that contribute to a patient's experience requires a holistic approach. While healthcare traditionally revolves around medical professionals such as doctors and nurses, Akwara stressed the need to manage all aspects of healthcare comprehensively to achieve success. She noted that success in healthcare is primarily measured through the lens of patients' experiences, making it essential to adopt a patient-centric perspective. AGCare's Clinical HEIRS framework addresses the gaps in healthcare management by focusing on specific pillars: clinical excellence, human-centered care, employee development, innovation, relationships, and standardization. Through these pillars, the framework aims to streamline operations, enhance patient care, and drive continuous improvements in healthcare delivery. The 'C' in the Clinical HEIRS framework stands for clinical excellence, emphasizing the importance of achieving optimal clinical outcomes for patients. Akwara highlighted the need to measure not only patients' physical well-being but also the timeliness and effectiveness of treatments. The 'H' represents human-centered care, which involves prioritizing patients' individual needs and fostering empathetic interactions within healthcare settings. Employee development plays a central role in the 'E' pillar, recognizing the significance of skilled and motivated healthcare professionals in delivering quality care. The 'I' focuses on innovation, highlighting the value of incorporating new ideas, technology, and data-driven approaches to optimize healthcare processes. Building strong relationships, both locally and internationally, is emphasized in the 'R' pillar as a means to foster collaboration and access to resources. Standardization, denoted by the 'S' in the framework, ensures consistency and adherence to global best practices across healthcare operations. By establishing standardized protocols and processes, healthcare providers can enhance quality assurance and operational efficiency. Akwara shared insights on how the Clinical HEIRS framework addresses the welfare and compensation of health workers, a critical factor in maintaining quality care delivery. She highlighted the importance of employee experience and development, noting that AGCare has implemented initiatives such as the AJ Care Leadership Network to offer growth opportunities and leadership training for healthcare professionals. By investing in employee development and creating a supportive work environment, healthcare organizations can retain talent and improve overall service quality. As the healthcare industry continues to evolve, the integration of comprehensive management frameworks like Clinical HEIRS will be instrumental in driving positive outcomes for patients and healthcare providers alike. By prioritizing patient experiences, fostering innovation, and nurturing a skilled workforce, healthcare organizations can navigate challenges effectively and deliver sustainable improvements in healthcare delivery.
"If our doctors, nurses, medical clinical guys leave Nigeria, the opportunities in terms of leadership and transition into healthcare management is limited."
['healthcare management', 'patient experience', 'Clinical HEIRS framework', 'AGCare', 'end-to-end healthcare', 'healthcare innovation']