Indian Healthcare: Organisational challenges and solutions

Description

Healthcare sectors around the world continue to face a significant range of challenges. India, in particular, faces unique challenges in managing healthcare needs of its fast-growing population and complex demographics including an ageing and diverse population.

Australia and the UK’s health policies are similar in many ways to those in India, with all three states sharing essential resources, technology and knowledge across  health policy, infrastructure and practice, through strong connections established many decades ago. With many shared challenges and demands, there is much the three countries can learn from each other.

This conference will cover:

• Increasing healthcare demands of an aging and diverse population;
• Workforce shortages and mobility of medical specialists;
• Long-term capacity building and developing resilience for future pandemics/disruptions;
• Understanding impacts of climate change on health systems;
• Responding to the UN’s SDGs and building them sustainably into our healthcare systems;
• Building agile and resilient health supply chains;
• Healthcare system infrastructure/health asset management;
• Accreditation, regulation and auditing in health;
• Adopting AI and digital technologies into the health sector.

We are inviting all leading academics/researchers, top-level health professionals and government officials/health policy-makers to join us and form strong partnerships to facilitate real-change initiatives for immediate action/implementation.

Program

Speakers

Dr Helen Bevan, Professor of Practice in Health and Care Improvement, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, UK

Dr Bevan is also Senior Fellow of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in the USA. She acts as a strategic advisor to many organisations and systems in the English NHS and globally.

Dr Bevan has been instrumental in leading numerous improvement initiatives that have significantly impacted patient care and healthcare systems. Early in her career, she led the Leicester Royal Improvement Re-engineering Programme, which won the Hewlett Packard Golden Helix Award for the best healthcare innovation initiative in Europe. Dr BEvan has also been a national leader in the NHS, spearheading projects like the Cancer Services Collaborative and the 10 High Impact Changes for Service Improvement and Delivery.

Professor Graeme Currie, Professor of Public Management, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, UK

Prof Currie’s research focuses upon leadership, service improvement and workforce development in health and social care settings. He leads large scale research programs funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and focused on implementation of evidence-based service improvement in West Midlands England; the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and focused on innovation to support care leavers; the UK’s Department for Education and focused on service improvement for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND); and the Global Alliance for Chronic Disease and focused on implementation of health and well-being interventions in Nigerian and Indian schools. In a pre-academic work life, Prof Currie worked in organisational development for the NHS and for a now-defunct UK car manufacturer.

Professor Nicola Burgess, Professor of Operations Management, School for Business and Society, University of York, UK

Professor Ian Kirkpatrick, Professor of Public Management, School for Business and Society, University of York, UK

Previously, Professor Kirkpatrick worked at the Warwick Business School and the Universities of Leeds (Business) and Cardiff (Business). Prof Kirkpatrick’s research interests are in the area of the changing management of public services and professional organisations. He has conducted a number of studies focusing on developments in social services and healthcare, most recently drawing on large scale (routine) administrative data sources to profile the management characteristics of health care organisations and the impact of managers. Other projects have focused on the development of professional associations in the US and the UK and the management of professional service firms in legal services and management consulting.

Prof Kirkpatrick has published widely on these topics in leading academic journals and a number of jointly authored books. His most recent book, published with Cambridge Elements, explores recent theories and trends in the sociology of professions (with Daniel Muzio). Prof Kirkpatrick’s research has also attracted considerable media interest, most recently his study focusing on the impact of management consultants on performance in the English NHS.

Professor Julie Wolfram Cox, Department of Management, Monash Business School, Monash University, Australia

Prof Wolfram Cox is a previous head of department at Monash Business School, and currently teaching philosophy of research to PhD students. Her research interests include organisation theory and organisational change, leadership and leadership development, the effects of technologies in organisations, and professional work.

Prof Cox has supervised 16 research students to successful completion, and in recent years she has also worked on an Australia Research Council Linkage Project grant on professional identity, education and wellbeing in architectural work. She sits on several editorial boards, and mentors students in the Organization Development and Change Division of the Academy of Management. Her most recent papers focus on challenges to research orthodoxy and how those challenges can contribute to and beyond management practice. In 2023, she was awarded the Best Critical Organization Studies Paper Prize from the Critical Management Studies Division of the Academy of Management and in 2025 that Division also included her paper among its Best Papers.

Dr Geoffrey Cox, Vascular Surgeon, Cabrini Health, Melbourne, Australia

Dr Cox was an undergraduate in medicine at Melbourne University and graduated in 1980. He completed General Surgery training at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in 1988, and then undertook further training in Vascular Surgery in the USA in Houston, Texas and Cleveland, Ohio, developing a special interest in surgery of the thoracoabdominal aorta. He was then an attending surgeon at The Cleveland Clinic in the United States. On returning to Australia in 1992 he worked at The Royal Melbourne, Alfred and Western Hospitals before focusing his attention on the Alfred Hospital. He was head of Unit at The Alfred Hospital from 2005-2018 and continues in private practice at Cabrini Hospital in Melbourne. He is strongly committed to outcome-based surgery and was secretary and then chairman of the Melbourne Vascular Surgical Association for eight years as well as a member of its audit committee.

This period was integral in the development of what is now a bi-national Vascular Surgical Audit in Australia and New Zealand. He has had a strong commitment to under-graduate and postgraduate teaching at Monash University and at the Alfred Hospital and has had the opportunity to have been involved in the training of many of the Vascular Surgeons in Australia and New Zealand. He has been a board member of Adelaide Vascular Trials since its inception in 2003, as well as one of the teaching faculty.

Associate Professor Paul Thambar, Department of Accounting, Monash Business School, Monash University, Australia

A/Prof Thambar’s research and education expertise is in impact measurement and evaluation of social businesses including cooperative and mutual enterprises which are tackling significant social challenges including social care services (aged care, disability care, primary care) and food insecurity. A/Prof Thambar holds a PhD in Accounting and an Executive MBA from the University of Technology Sydney and has published his research in leading accounting journals.

A/Prof Thambar is the founding Director of Mutual Value Impact Lab at the Monash Business School and has received over AU$1 million in industry grants to carry out research projects with social businesses. His research has included the development of an impact measurement framework, the Mutual Value Measurement (MVM) framework, which has been research commercialised with an industry partner, the Business Council of Cooperatives and Mutuals (BCCM) and adopted by cooperative and mutual enterprise in Australia, UK and NZ.  His research has received global and Australian recognition through awards including a commendation for the 2024 AMBA (UK) Best Business School and Industry partnerships award and Research Enterprise and Commercialisation and Research Engagement and Impact awards at Monash University in 2023.

Professor Chris Bain, Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University, Australia

Prof Bain’s position is the first of its kind at Monash University and he is the only medically qualified Professor of IT in Australia. He has more than 35 years' experience in the health industry, including 12 in clinical medicine. He has led numerous software development and implementation projects in the health industry and works with many faculties and Institutes across the University, as well as with a range of health industry partners, in leading the Monash efforts in Digital Health. Prog Bain is considered a global thought leader in his field.

Dr Shakti Kumar Gupta, Executive Director and CEO, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Jammu, India

Prof Gupta was previously with AIIMS New Delhi, where he was Head of the Department of Hospital Administration and as Principal Investigator, led WHO-funded projects on hospital governance, PPPs, and electronic medical records, making his department the first at AIIMS to receive ISO certification.

A Fellow of leading medical academies, Dr Gupta has received a WHO Fellowship in the USA and training at the National University of Singapore. He has directed national capacity-building programmes such as the Healthcare Executive Management Development Programme with WHO, the National Initiative for Patient Safety, and Best Procurement Practices for Hospitals. He also chaired the National Ambulance Code Committee and the Working Group on Emergency Care under the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways.

Prof Gupta has advanced hospital governance and emergency medical innovation globally. At AIIMS Jammu, he pioneered the “Pain-Free” approach, the “Patient First” philosophy, and the “Apna AIIMS Jammu” initiative. Despite pandemic challenges, under his leadership 43 world-class buildings were completed in just three-and-a-half years, a national benchmark that won the Central Public Works Department’s Best Project Award.

Dr Kamal Gulati, Senior Scientist, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, India

Dr Gulati has additional roles as Honorary Lecturer at University College London - Global Business School for Health, and Executive-in-Residence at Brunel University London. He has several research publications in international journals. He has been invited to prestigious international universities such as UCL, Brunel, Warwick, and Erasmus. Dr Gulati has been recognised globally through prestigious fellowships, including Chevening Fellowship (Oxford), Institute of Advanced Studies Fellowship (Warwick), ZonMw Fellowship (Erasmus), and Norwegian Institute of Public Health Scholarship. He has been honored with the Certificate of Achievement in Leadership for Healthcare Improvement and Innovation, the NHS-UK Leadership Academy Award in Healthcare Leadership, and the Wellcome Trust-DBT Award. With a deep commitment to transforming healthcare systems, Dr. Gulati continues to innovate and inspire through path-breaking initiatives, empowering the next generation of healthcare leaders in India and beyond.

Associate Professor Rohit Kumar, Indian Institute of Managements (IIM), Ranchi, India

Prof Kumar is an Associate Professor at IIM Ranchi with a PhD in Strategic Management from IIFT, New Delhi, and an MBA in Healthcare Management from IIHMR Jaipur. He completed Executive Education in Participant Centered Learning at Harvard Business School. With over two decades of teaching and corporate experience, he has published 30+ peer-reviewed research papers and presented at global conferences in India, USA, UK, Germany, China, and Hong Kong. He serves as President of IIC-IIM Ranchi, BoG Member at IIHMR Delhi, and Advisory Member at Jharkhand Innovation Lab. His research focuses on strategy, healthcare financing, competencies, business model innovation, and entrepreneurship.

Professor Julie Davies, Professor of Healthcare Management and Leadership Development, Head of Business School Accreditations, Rankings and Branding, Brunel Business School, Brunel University of London, UK

Professor Davies’ research interests include qualitative research, healthcare workforce, hybrid strategic leadership development, management education, micro-entrepreneurship and workplace inclusion.

Prof Davies currently has a British Academy of Management funded project on clinical leadership competences, well-being and sustainable career ecosystems in the UK, India, and Saudi Arabia. She is working with King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre on the socio-cultural challenges of palliative care nursing. She is an editorial board member of Long Range Planning, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, hospice trustee, and chairs the UFHRD research development committee. Previously, Prof Davies led an Erasmus Plus project in the UK on HRM in regional SMEs.

Dr Keerti Bhusan Pradhan,  Professor of Health Management and Global Health, Chitkara University, Chandigarh, India

Dr Keerti engages intensely with charitable hospital growth and sustainability as an advisor and mentor, and also helps social enterprises in healthcare scale and sustain. With over 30 years of experience working as a management professional in the healthcare industry and as a professor of practice with academia, Dr Keerti is developing south-south capacity building and knowledge exchange initiatives between India, Africa and other South-east Asian countries.

He has a Management of International Public Health qualification from Emory University USA and CDC Atlanta, and holds a PhD in Health Innovations and Strategy. Dr Keerti served in a variety of organisations in his early career, including Aravind Eye Care System.  He also hosts Healthcare Management international students, presenting a curated program, Immersion to Indian Health Ecosystem and Health Innovations Learning.

Workshop Chair

Professor Amrik Sohal, Department of Management, Monash Business School, Monash University, Australia

Prof Sohal’s teaching and research covers operations/innovation/technology management, supply chain management, circular economy and sustainability, and healthcare improvement.  He holds a PhD in Operations Management from the University of Bradford Management Centre in the UK, plus a BEng (Hons) and an MBA, also from the University of Bradford.

He has received research grants from the State and Federal Governments, the Australian Research Council, a number of industry associations and businesses, as well as from Monash University.

In 2001, Prof Sohal received the Vice-Chancellor's Award for Postgraduate Supervision. In 2004, he received an award for research excellence from the International Association for Management of Technology and in 2009 the publications award from the same organisation.  In 2010, Prof Sohal received the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research, and in 2013, the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Innovation and External Engagement.

He was a Board member of the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management (ANZAM) for over 10 years and ANZAM President during 2009. In 2011, Professor Sohal was awarded Life Fellow of ANZAM.

Professor A. Venkat Raman, Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), University of Delhi, India

Prof Raman works in the area of Human Resource Management and Health Policy. He holds a Master’s degree from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai; a PhD from FMS University of Delhi; faculty training from Harvard Business School, Boston; and the flagship program on health systems strengthening by the World Bank Institute, Washington, DC. He is passionate about exploring Public-Private Partnership (PPP) options to improve equitable access to quality health care services for the poor. His research projects have been funded by the World Bank, WHO, DFID, Dutch Government and others.

He has more than 80 research publications, including the pioneering book Public-Private Partnership in Health Care in India: Lessons for Developing Countries (Routledge, London).  He is actively engaged in providing technical support to many bilateral and multilateral development partners including The World Bank, USAID, UKAid and WHO in Asia, Africa, and Eastern Mediterranean Region on private health sector engagement. He is a member of several high-powered committees, including the WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on private sector governance and UHC, and Technical Advisory Group on TB-PPM; Empowered Program Committee, National Health Mission, Govt. of India; and Chairperson, National Technical Working Group (NTWG) on engaging the private sector in TB elimination, Govt. of India. He is a recipient of several awards and fellowships.

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