DIGITALLY TRANSFORMING HEALTHCARE
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DIGITALLY TRANSFORMING HEALTHCARE WRITTEN BY
GEORGIA WILSON PRODUCED BY
MICHAEL BANYARD
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A S T E R H O S P I TA L S U A E
Dr. Sherbaz Bichu, CEO, Aster Hospitals UAE discusses its digital transformation journey to improve the healthcare industry
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racticing anaesthesiologist and CEO of Aster Hospital Group, Dr. Sherbaz Bichu, manages the
group’s hospitals in the UAE and Oman. Dr. Bichu has been a part of Aster Hospitals UAE since 2014. “I joined as a junior anaesthesiologist, and climbed the ladder,” he says. “My role as CEO started at one hospital, then further progressed to CEO of the group.” When asked about the healthcare industry, Dr. Bichu comments that it “has taken a complete U-turn. Right now, it is not healthcare that is practiced, it is sickcare. People come to the hospital when they are sick, rather than to keep themselves healthy.” However, with the rise of healthcare technology such as wearables and teleconsultation, Dr. Bichu sees this changing and the continuity of care increasing, “something which is lacking currently.”
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A S T E R H O S P I TA L S U A E
“ Innovation is very easy in the UAE. If you want to develop machine learning, artificial intelligence or robotics, this region is the best place to be” — Dr. Sherbaz Bichu, CEO, Aster Hospitals UAE
BECOMING A SMART HOSPITAL “If you look at the countries around the world, I would say the UAE is one country where, compared to any other country, the government runs five
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years ahead of the private sector in terms of technology,” says Dr. Bichu. “Innovation is very easy in the UAE. If you want to develop machine learning, artificial intelligence or robotics, this region is a place to be.” As a hospital in the UAE the group is working very closely with Dubai Quality Group and Dubai Health Authority to process service innovations, implement changes and make the UAE the best and safest medical tourism destination. When asked about the group’s vision Dr. Bichu comments that, “the group has a global outlook to drive an ecosystem of healthcare, which
CLICK TO WATCH : ‘ASTER, WE’LL TREAT YOU WELL’ 07 only technology can help us achieve.
Dr. Bichu emphasises that “the
Otherwise we risk facing extinction.”
world is growing, but if you look at
With this mission driving its operations,
technology usage in healthcare, it is
the group has established its four
further behind compared to bank-
pillars of digital transformation, with
ing and other industries. “In order to
patient care at the forefront.
catch up we need to empower our
“It’s mainly about empowering our
employees by fostering collabora-
employees by fostering collaboration
tion and innovation, in addition to
and innovation,” notes Dr. Bichu. “We
looking to other industries to learn
believe that innovation happens from
and tailor solutions to the healthcare
the ground up, with our staff being
industry.” An example of the group
the best innovators we can think of.
applying this method is its adoption
We have monthly innovation meeting
of barcoding. “We have barcoded
where people can put forward their
medical administration and barcoded
ideas for processes and technology.”
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A S T E R H O S P I TA L S U A E
“ If you ask me what our strength is, it is our people and their innovative way of thinking” — Dr. Sherbaz Bichu, CEO, Aster Hospitals UAE 08
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A S T E R H O S P I TA L S U A E
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safety,” says Dr. Bichu. “As a result,
our employees the importance of
we were the first to have a completely
innovation. We have sessions where
closed loop medication administration
we teach them how to think in an innova-
and specimen collection. We know
tive way.” In particular Dr. Bichu sees
exactly what medicine has been given
automation as the future of healthcare.
to which patient and what time it was
“We have looked at our processes
administered. In addition to increased
with our employees and came to the
safety, this method reduces time spent
conclusion that, whatever can be
on documentation, shifting more time
repeated, can be automated.”
for patient care.” The group as a whole has a pas-
Current innovations the group has made, includes
sion for innovation which has been
adoption of Microsoft Azure
ingrained into the DNA of its employ-
cloud. “We were one of the
ees. “Right from induction, we inform
first healthcare providers in
the Middle East to host our business-
Azure, data mining has become sig-
critical applications, including the
nificantly easier for the group, which
electronic medical record (EMR),
allows the group to feed data into
hospital management systems, picture
machine learning technology to drive
archiving and communication systems,
robotic process automation (RPA)
with Microsoft Azure cloud UAE Data
innovation. Other innovations the
Centre. With our recent move to
group is looking into includes the use
cloud computing, we are improv-
of artificial Intelligence. “We have
ing our services and processes,
recently brought diabetic retinopathy
mainly to increase patient safety and
screening that operates with artificial
continuity.� Since adopting Microsoft
intelligence (AI) in the backend. Now
E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE
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Dr. Sherbaz Bichu Dr. Bichu is Chief Executive Officer and Specialist in Anaesthesia at Aster Hospitals, UAE. Having worked in the field of Anaesthesia as well as Hospital administration, Dr. Sherbaz Bichu is well versed with the medical as well as the administrative aspects of hospital operations. On the administrative spectrum, he was actively involved in the development and implementation of hospital information systems, process re-engineering, talent acquisition, hospital operations, quality administration, materials and procurement, as well as other functions related to the delivery of patient care. As Specialist in Anaesthesia, he managed anaesthetic cases in general surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatric surgery, head and neck surgery, neurosurgery, urology, and gastroenterology. He managed intensive care of postoperative patients, head injury patients, polytrauma patients. Bringing together his expertise from India at Malabar Institute of Medical Sciences, he is a core member of the founding team at Aster Hospital.
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“ We constantly focus on technology and innovation, but the company can only grow if our people grow too” — Dr. Sherbaz Bichu, CEO, Aster Hospitals UAE
believes that “5G will be the best opportunity for connected health at
we are also exploring to collaborate
Aster Hospital Group. 5G would trans-
with major players such as Fuji to start
form us into pioneers in telemedicine
cancer screening centres for occult
and connected health for the region.”
blood stool testing, mammograms and
Dr. Bichu acknowledges that new
endoscopies, using AI alongside doc-
innovations entail risks, in particular
tors to enhance diagnosis.”
cyber threats, and highlights that the
Futuristically, Dr. Bichu strongly
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A S T E R H O S P I TA L S U A E
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technology to shield the group from external threats and ensure patient data security. “Our technology partners include Cisco, Alcatel, Dell and SonicWall. With the help of our partners, we periodically carry out penetration tests to identify potential security flaws.” The group has also made recent infrastructure upgrades to make its environment secure and is continuously driven to educate its workforce. Reflecting on the group, Dr. Bichu believes that its biggest strengths
2015
Year founded
are its employees, and the innovative approach they have. To ensure continued growth Dr. Bichu highlights that the group makes sure all its people are being encouraged to pro-
18,700+ Number of employees
gress to the next level so that they scale up along with the group. “We constantly focus on technology and innovation, but the company can only grow if our people grow too.”
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Aster Hospitals UAE Mankhool Qusais Jabel Ali (UAE) T +04 4400500 www.asterhospital.com