On 24th August 2008, Dr. Vikas Agarwal conducted a live nasal surgery for the benefit of 55 ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) doctors in Mumbai. For the first time this kind of event was conducted from a private ENT hospital instead of govt hospitals. And why not? Accolades have come thick and fast to Dr. Vikas, who set up his own specialty hospital in July 2003 and has performed more than 3000 surgeries till date.
"I took up ENT branch for post-graduation as I had a certain vision for the future," says DR. Vikas. "The evidence based treatment enabled by latest technology advancement in this field of medicine excited me. With the help of high resolution camera, you can actually share the complete procedure with the patient: diagnosis- the cause of the disease, recording of the whole process of surgery and show the final result, thus, forging trust with the patient."
However, he had to go through the usual grind of starting the hospital from scratch. After passing out of KEM Hospital in 2002, he worked for one year at a Tata Hospital. Next year, he took loan and invested Rs70 lakh in buying space and medical equipments and started his ENT hospital. "For the first six months, I couldn't even pay my EMI. Gradually, I managed to earn enough to meet my operational cost and interest on various loans. After three years, I repaid all the loans and bought world class equipments," says the doctor.Medical facilities at Specialty ENT Hospital match the best in industry and some of these equipments are not available in other hospitals. For example, Laryngovideostroboscopy System, which analyses the vocal folds, is not available at any of the 5-star hospitals in Mumbai. The other facilities available at this hospital are Operating Microscope with Endoport, Nasal Endoscopes, Endoscopic Camera, Micro Drill, Micro Debrider, Cardiac Monitor, Pulse Oxymeter, Cardiac Defibrillator etc.
s in Mumbai. For the first time this kind of event was conducted from a private ENT hospital instead of govt hospitals. And why not? Accolades have come thick and fast to Dr. Vikas, who set up his own specialty hospital in July 2003 and has performed more than 3000 surgeries till date.
"ENT treatment is mostly day care and doesn't need elaborate procedure. Why then go to a general hospital where you might feel claustrophobic among various other patients." Dr.Vikas has a point. Diagnosis, surgery, and discharge- all in a day in a familial environment are his differentiating factor from other general hospitals, says the doctor.
By 2010, Dr.Vikas is planning to establish a bigger ENT hospital combined with an advance training institute for ENT doctors fresh out of college. "Medical colleges can teach you the procedure of diagnosis but not the intuition to detect it and predict results."
Going forward, he is planning to establish a network of his Specialty ENT Hospital across India. "All the hospitals will be connected through web and there will be set protocol followed across the chain for each patient. A patient can upload his medical history on our site. Our empanelled doctors will give the initial diagnosis based on the case history. This will reduce the procedure before the surgery. Thereafter a patient can come for the surgery at our nearest hospital. The whole process will be recorded and shared with the patient," says the doctor.
