Metropolis Healthcare Ltd: Benchmarking against the best

April 2011

With cut throat competition, Metropolis Healthcare Ltd knows how to set itself apart. Setting up one lab in each state of India and becoming a preferred partner to the Government are some of its aims. A look at the journey of the organisation and its growth plans.

Chandreyee Bhaumik

With cut throat competition, Metropolis Healthcare Ltd knows how to set itself apart. Setting up one lab in each state of India and becoming a preferred partner to the Government are some of its aims. A look at the journey of the organisation and its growth plans.

 Processing over 12 million tests a year and catering to more than 10,000 laboratories, hospitals, nursing homes and 50,000 consultants, Metropolis Healthcare Ltd has earned the reputation of being one of the very few multinational chains of diagnostic centres. It has branches in the UAE, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Bangladesh, Nepal and South Africa.

 Journey so far

Since its inception in 1981 as a Mumbai-based laboratory, Metropolis has come a long way. Visionary leadership, strategic associations with other leading laboratories across the country, strict ethical policies and a penchant for technology are some of the attributes that contribute in making Metropolis one of the largest laboratory chains in the country. Accreditations such as International Organization for Standardization (ISO), National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), College of American Pathologists (CAP) reiterate the fact that stringent national and international quality requirements are met. This is indeed imperative in a service sector like healthcare. A wide network with 500 collection centres proves the excellence and the commitment of the organisation. It pledges to deliver accurate and timely results across the 4500 routine, specialised and highly specialised investigations that use technologies including Biochip and DNA sequencing. Further, innovations like Home Health Services help the company to reach out to immobile/weak patients so that going for a check-up or routine or mandatory test is no longer an inconvenience for them.

Ameera Shah

Elaborating on the strength of the company, Ameera Shah, Managing Director and CEO, Metropolis Healthcare Ltd, says, “We provide a completely different experience to our clients as we comply with global standards and not just national. We are in fact the benchmark for several other companies.” 

 Way it is

For any enterprise to survive on the speedy track inhibited with competition, following a business plan is extremely essential. Metropolis located at Worli, Mumbai is the main referral lab. Discussing the business model of the company, Dr Nisha Sana Ahmad, Chief of Lab Services & General Manager Haematology & Haematostatis, Metropolis Group-National, elaborates, “We now have a standalone lab at Churchgate where lab testing is done. This lab caters to South Mumbai. Routine tests are also conducted at the Churchgate laboratory and the specialised ones at the Worli branch. In about one month, we will also be establishing another lab in Thane.” 

At Metropolis, upgradation of technology is a continuous process. The lab ensures best practices and works with awareness drives and health check-up camps. As, Dr Ahmad avers, “With time we can see an increasing concern in the arena of diagnostics. Since we live in a developing country, the progress has not reached its apex. In India, there are primarily two types of diagnostics. One type takes care of the prevention side of the process, while the other type encompasses the patients when they are actually suffering.” 

The capability of Metropolis to carry out health check-ups and testing across large geographies ensures that companies/corporate customers or individual customers can be assured of consistent results. The company considers that in the battle against diseases, diagnosis is the first step. The services extended by the company include clinical laboratory medicine, radiology and imaging services, hospital laboratory management, central laboratory services for clinical trials, site management services, home health services, preventive health check-ups and remote pathology testing services. 

 Vision

The company aims to become the global network of highly automated and sophisticated diagnostic laboratories along with cutting-edge technology, accuracy, efficiency, unparalleled customer service and above all a stringent ethical code. Dr Ahmad clarifies, “In this organisation quality is given prime importance. Several accreditations that we have attained help us in maintaining our standards.” Elaborating on this line of thought, she adds, “Another essential requisite in our company is the consultation factor. We do not just receive samples and give reports but also talk to doctors, and arrange consultations with them.” Discussing the present areas of concentration, Dr Ahmad says, “At present, we are focussing on the way to change mercury thermometers into non-mercury ones.”

Metropolis hopes to become one of the most preferred partners for the Government of India with plans to set up at least one lab in each state. This would help in developing a platform to learn and share knowledge. It is not just the national supremacy that matters but the company also desires to position itself among the top three dominant players in South East Asia, Middle East and South Africa. 

 Hygiene: A prime concern

Being a pathological laboratory, hygiene is a prime concern. There is an assigned safety officer, who has to conduct regular programmes in this regard. If there are any blood spills, needle pricks then immediate action is taken so that hygiene is not compromised. Further, a physiotherapist is appointed who takes care of ergonomics ensuring that correct posture is maintained while an employee is working at the computer. Further, the officer also sees that in the refrigerators that are only meant to store samples or required solutions food and drinks are not kept. Again, double gloves are worn – one is used for handling the samples and the other is while performing other chores like working on the computer. Further, it is also ensured that the person wearing gloves is not allergic to gloves because this might cause harm to the samples under consideration. Also, if a person has any contagious disease, care is also taken in that respect. Dr Ahmad reiterates, “We conduct sputum tests every month to see that the staff dealing with the samples is not infected.”

 Money matters

Commenting on the investment pattern for the company, Dr Ahmad says, “Investment is not uniform in all the sectors. We primarily have three types of equipment – major equipment, minor equipment and miscellaneous equipment. Most of the major equipment are either bought or rented or on generally it is a ratio of 50:50. Again, minor equipment like centrifuges, incubators are usually bought. The last category, which includes equipments like glasswares, also involve buying.

Elaborating on the Return on Investment (ROI) Shah  elaborates, “From the gross income, we reinvest ` 30 – 40 crore to our business.” 

 What sets them apart?

Like every aspect Metropolis also has its own share of problems. Ameera clarifies, “Today there are several small- and medium-sized companies in this line, and thus there are at times dearth of proper talent and technology.”  She continues, “Since there is growing awareness in healthcare, in the next five years we would be the leading player.” It is the positive vibes of the company that sets it apart from the rest on the same track. Dr Ahmad signs off saying, “When somebody gives us negative feedback we take it positively. We do not consider it as complaint. We feel that it is an opportunity to improve. The tests are then given to the neutral body of quality assurance department. Sometimes the complaint is not valid, but in the process lot of things, which are learnt  are considered more important.” Thus, learning from mistakes definitely marks the difference. 

(chandreyee.bhaumik@infomedia18.in)