LEARN INSURANCE

Many medicines are available over the counter ( OTC) . These are usually safe drugs, which have been used for many years . They are effective for common problems; have few side effects; and do not need a doctor's prescription. However, most medicines are still available only with a doctor's prescription. This is because medicines can be powerful , and while they may be very good at treating certain problems, they may also have undesirable side-effects. Experts need to make a decision regarding the risk-benefit ratio of these drugs, so they can select which drugs are so powerful that they can only be dispensed with a doctor's prescription.

Medicines form an important tool in the medical armamentarium. However, not all illnesses need medicines, and an increasingly important addition to the medical arsenal today is Information Therapy.

It's useful to remember that while Information Therapy can be effective and inexpensive, just like any other therapeutic tool, it can have side effects as well ! This is especially true with online medical information, because a lot of this is unreliable, outdated and plain wrong. Unfortunately, many people do not have the ability or sophistication to differentiate between good quality and poor quality information , and wrong information can actually harm a patient. Thus, patients with blocked tubes may end up wasting thousands of dollars on pursuing ineffective therapies such as Clear Passage ( massage therapy which claims to open blocked tubes) rather than do IVF; while men with low sperm counts end up getting frustrated after spending hundreds
on " herbal medications" which claim to boost low sperm counts but are completely useless !

Not only can unreliable information harm patients, it can also waste a lot of the doctor's
time, because he now has to remove the myths and misconceptions which patients have acquired online from unreliable websites, which are just out to earn a quick buck by peddling cures !

Just like powerful medicines need to be "prescribed" by a doctor, it's a good idea for doctors
( and hospitals and governments) to "prescribe" reliable information. Information Therapy is powerful medicine - and it needs to be promoted, so that patients benefit from it.

The best way to do this is to use reliable patient educational content, designed by non-profits such as Healthwise. You can see how well this works in real life by going to www.informationtherapy.in !

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 !