LEARN INSURANCE

At the Dr Batra Positive Health Awards held recently in Mumbai, Mr Rajv Bajaj, CEO of Bajaj Auto commented that he had learnt a lot about managing his very successful company by studying homeopathy. I was very intrigued and requested him to elaborate.

This is the email he sent me, which I’d like to share. These are very original ideas which can provide a lot of food for thought !

“ 1. Ideation: Individualisation & brands.

One of the fundamental principles of homoeopathy is individualisation. We are not what we have in common, but what we have in uncommon with others.

In disease terms, it’s our strange, rare, & peculiar symptoms that make us the unique individuals that we are. The good homoeopath seeks to glean that & then choose the one remedy that's that individual's similimum.

In a similar vein, a business that is like its competitors ie is not unique is essentially a commoditised business.

Most of us make this mistake either out of a greed for growth and/or a false sense of security in ill-conceived derisking.

So we try to make everything to sell to every market/segment/individual.

The result is that in the end, directly or indirectly, the business competes on price, as every competitor is making the same claims.

And thus doesn't make much money.

Most global automakers that make everything for everyone, such as GM, Ford Chrysler , Fiat , Renault , Peugeot , Nissan , Mitsubishi etc have great revenues but poor profits - in fact , most lose money.

Are they not ill? And in subsidising them, our governments make us ill!

On the other hand the individualised automakers ie specialists , who handle brands such as Porsche , Mercedes , BMW, Harley ( and Bajaj !) are far more profitable ie healthier.

That's not to suggest that individualisation means being a premium niche player.

There's nothing premium about Swatch , Coke or Mcdonalds but they're are well because they all stand for a uniqueness.

There are many lessons in homoeopathy's concept of individualisation that can help guide brand strategies.

2. Execution: posology ( the science of doses) & execution.

Once the homoeopath has chosen a suitable remedy, how he gives it to the patient (the posology ) is not mechanical as it is in allopathy, but is rather artistic as it too is individualised.

In the same way, how ideas relevant to one brand are executed in one company may not only be unsuitable, but may even be inimical to another company.

Yet under the broad (but shallow) argument of benchmarking management consultants will tell us that one of the best things that we can do is to adopt someone else's best practises!

A homoeopath's posology is guided by 4 fundamental principles-

* Simila similibis curantur – “ like cures like :. An immune system's response can be galvanised against a problem by magnifying the problem before it.

* Use a single remedy . If more than one remedy is administered at a time, how does one know what effects are related to which causes?

* Use the smallest dose . If the remedy is resonant it will work gently as it shouldn't need a big dose to get the job done.

* Use potentised repetition . Every time the remedy is repeated , its potency should be slightly altered so that it creates a somewhat new sensation each time.

If you reflect upon these , you will see how they can help managers execute their business ideas better. These are just 2 examples, & I must warn you that they are my personal interpretations as a homoequack! “

As a doctor, I am big believer in Integrative Medicine. I do not think any branch of medicine has a monopoly on knowledge and we should all be willing to learn from each other. What ever works for the patient is what’s best ! I think we can all learn from each other – and most of the “fun stuff” happens at the cutting edge/ boundary of 2 apparently unrelated fields.

I especially like Rajiv’s key hypothesis - that you should play to your strengths !

It's a good idea to ask yourself - What unrelated fields have you learnt from ? And what have you learnt from them ? Please share !

In an ideal world, doctors would be able spend as much time with the patient as he needed. They would understand the patient's personal beliefs and preferences; empathise with his worries and concerns; educate and inform the patient about his treatment option; and draw up a treatment plan which the patient was happy with.

Sadly, in real life, the only kind of people who are going to get this type of care today are billionaires who own their own hospitals. Today, most doctors are just too busy to be able to even talk to their patients for an uninterrupted ten minutes ! When they are young, they are rushing from clinic to clinic , trying to grow their practise . When they are senior, they have so many patients who have lined up to see them, that they just cannot devote the time needed.

As a result of this busyness, the first casualty is often patient education. Because doctors are not able to spend enough time with the patient, they are often not able to explain how they plan to fix the medical problem. As a result of this breakdown in doctor-patient communication, patients often have unrealistic expectations from their medical care - and if something goes wrong, the doctor is the one who bears the brunt of the patient's anger and resentment.

This is why patients now often spend hours on the internet, trying to educate themselves and learn as much as they can about their medical problems. While this is very good, the reality is that the quality of information on the net leaves a lot to be desired - and patients often get confused or misled by unreliable websites, making a bad situation even worse !

This is why librarians can be such a useful source of Information Therapy ! Librarians are information specialists, who have been trained to search for and retrieve high quality information.

In fact there are many reasons why librarians can do a better job at dispensing information therapy than doctors can !

They are trained professionals, who are expert at taking an interview with the patient, to determine what his information needs are. Because they are not medical professionals, they are able to provide objective, reliable information with no vested interest ! In fact, the information provided by an expert medical librarian is often better than that provided by a doctor. Unlike a surgeon who is quite likely to push for surgery, a librarian has no conflict of interest or hidden agenda and is quite happy to present all possible options, without any bias !

Equally importantly, patients are often more comfortable talking to librarians, who are seen to be non-threatening peers who encourage questions and take delight in providing high quality answers ! Doctors, on the other hand, can be quite intimidating - and most patients are very reluctant to ask their doctors questions, even when they are completely confused and do not understand what is going on !

Even better, librarians can help patients to make sense of the information they retrieve, because they are taught how to rate the quality of information. While patients will often get lost on the net, librarians can help them to judge how good the quality of the information is, based on a number of objective criteria. Of course, whether this information then can be applied to the individual patient is something which only the patient ( and his doctor) can decide ! Thus, while a surgeon may pooh-pooh a medical treatment option ( because he would rather do surgery than prescribe medicines !), a librarian can help the patient to explore all the available alternatives, with an open mind. Also, librarians do not use medical jargon to obfuscate the information they provide. They ensure that the patient understands the information - and because librarians are also lay-people, they are often much better at speaking the same language the patient does ( unlike doctors, many of whom do not seem to be able to communicate with their patients in simple English !)

There are many advantages of using this combination approach !

It fosters and encourages team work in medicine, and allows patients to get the benefit of multiple perspectives !
It keeps doctors honest, as they know that patients will be counter-checking the information they give them
The information is provided by information specialists, which means it is reliable, and current
Interestingly, doctors can also learn from the information which librarians provide. It's not going to teach them about medicine, but will teach them how to explain complicated medical concepts to their patients , and help them improve their communication skills
It can also help doctors to keep updated, if they have an open mind. Thus, these information searches are likely to teach them about alternative medicine options , which they would not otherwise be aware of
This kind of partnership can save the doctor time. He can focus on providing the medical care, because he is confident that the information needs of his patients are being met by trained professionals
It also helps the patient to be more confident that they are getting the best care , and will help them develop more trust in their doctor, because they have verified the information he has provided using independent sources provided by the librarian.
This approach will also help to reduce the difficulty patients often encounter when they search for medical information on the internet, because the librarian will make sure the information is authentic and current !

Many IVF patients these days use acupuncture and will often ask me whether it's fine to do so or not . I advise patients to explore additional alternative medicines options such as yoga as well. Some of my patients think that the fact I am advising this stuff means I must be a quack. Others are happy that I have an open mind and am willing to explore alternatives with them.

I never want my patients to feel they have left any stone unturned. The truth is that many patients will explore alternative medicine without telling their doctor. I prefer taking a proactive approach, so they know I am on their side, and that they do not need to hide anything from me !

I am quite happy with this approach if the intervention is simple , harmless and inexpensive. I then feel that it's worth trying, even if there is no "evidence" that it works, provided the patient understands that this is not evidence based medicine and is willing to use themselves as a clinical trial, where n=1 ! I believe in Integrative Medicine and do not feel that Western medicine has all the answers. This is especially true when dealing with problems such as poor ovarian reserve, when we have very little which is useful to offer to the patient.

There are many intangible benefits to doing this. Most importantly, the patient feels that they have done everything humanly possible , and the peace of mind this can give them is invaluable ! It helps me to keep an open mind, and I learn from my patient's experiences. I am happy to share their successes and failures with other patients - and I feel Julia Indichova's book , Inconceiveable , is a great example of what the determined and motivated patient can achieve, even when the odds are against her. In fact, it is based on these "anecdotal successes" that we can learn newer techniques for treating our patients !

However, I do draw a line , especially when the treatments are expensive. Good examples of such useless treatments are Clear Passage Therapy and Proxeed. Patients need to be protected from quacks, and a good doctor will help them to do so.