‘IJN seen as the Cleveland Clinic of Asia’
KUALA LUMPUR - On top of the good, solid work done by Malaysia’s Institut Jantung Negara, it is the high accolades and recognition from its peers worldwide that sets our National Heart Institute head and shoulders above others in the Asia Pacific region.The institute has set itself on this path through a combination of careful planning and the serendipity of having the best minds in the field of medicine who happen to be dynamic, driven and liberal.
“When it comes to heart, we are the leading centre and IJN is considered one of the leaders in dedicated heart centres in Asia Pacific region,” said Datuk Dr Mohd Azhari Yakub, IJN’s Chief Executive Officer.
“Amongst our fraternity of cardiac surgeons and cardiologist, we are very well known. Our doctors are very experienced and they are the leading opinion makers in their areas of specialties and are invited to publish and present papers at international scientific meetings,” he added, highlighting that there is a research departments in-house at the doctors’ service.
The hospital prides in the scale of the networking its specialists have with their colleagues worldwide, enabling it to access the experts as well as the latest procedures with great ease.
Dr Azhari, who has been at the helm of the heart institute since July 1 this year, said IJN provides integrated care where it treats the very young to the very old and from the very simple routine to the very complex surgery.
“And we cater for a wide variety of patients – from the VIPs to the very poor and also we are focusing on private patients (patients who are paying via insurance or privately paid or paid for by the company where they work). We have private clinics called Platinum Clinics, and we have private wards for private patients. We are trying to meet the demands of a wide sector of patients that we need to satisfy.
“Previously, the public thought we were only treating government patients,” Dr Azhari said.
And just how eager are their foreign associates and colleagues to work together with IJN?
“I’ve heard a few comments fom doctors and surgeons from Australia: they have quoted us as the Cleveland Clinic of Asia,” says Dr Azhari with a measure of pride.
The leading heart centres in the world are the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Boston Children’s Hospital (all in the United States), Royal Melbourne Children’s Hospital in Australia and the Birmingham Hosptal and IJN has linkages for co-operation with them.
“In the fraternity, we know each other’s names and because we are the opinion leaders in Asia Pacific, they have been to our hospital and they have seen how our staff work and the level of expertise and that spreads amongst the fraternity of cardiologists and the cardiac surgeons,” said Dr Azhari, who is a surgeon himself.
As IJN’s leader, Dr Azhari embodies all that is the best about the celebrated heart hospital and is in the best position to speak about the institution.
On its part, he said, IJN has trained more 100-odd overseas trainees that specialise in cardiac.
Like any business, at the end of the day, it is the numbers that impress doctors and surgeons in the fraternity.
It is not just the volume, but the sheer complexity of the surgeries done at IJN and the clinical results attained that sets this national institution head and shoulders above others in Asia Pacific.
“In terms of clinical results – the mortality, and the the success rate – we have a success rate of 97 per cent to 98 per cent. For angioplasty alone, we have success rate of 99.5 to 99.9 per cent. We benchmark against the world’s best and we are on par to that,” says Dr Azhari who is also Senior Consultant Cardiac Surgeon, pointing out the reason for IJN being held in high regard by cardiologists in top hospitals.
The most recognition came in February 2014 when IJN carried out a first-in-man (FIM) procedure of a device for a patient faced with heart failure and leaking valves.
This was done in collaboration with a technology company in the US and the minimally invasive device was used when the patient had cardiac failure – which is an end-stage heart problem – and, as a result of that the heart dilates, resulting in one of the valves leaking. In such cases, patients become more and more breathless and there are repeated admissions and with this minimally invasive procedure, the problem of the leaking valve is addressed.
“Apart from the clinical aspects, we are known for innovation. We have introduced a lot of new procedures in the country since our inception: transplantation, new and less invasive procedures, new stenting. We are early adopters of technology and advances. If it is introduced in the world, we will be having that and practicing that within a year or so,” said Dr Azhari.
IJN is managed on the premises that it has to be financially sustainable but it is NOT a profit-making hospital.
With that philosophy, the profits that IJN generates re swiftly reinvested in new equipment and also in manpower.
“We spend from RM4 million to RM5 million of our annual budget for staff training. That is how much we value our manpower and our people. No matter how sophisticated a hospital is, without skilled, motivated manpower, we would not have achieved what we have achieved,” the surgeon says.
Every new employees goes through a customer-focus culture -- a two-day programme – and a yearly audit is done to see how well the staff carry through this culture of service.
As for the new equipment, Dr Azhari says that since IJN’s highly respected surgeons and cardiologists are often invited to participate in leading edge scientific meetings, they are in the perfect position to know what is new and what are the latest reliable new treatments that need to be brought in to the hospital.
Dr Azhari is proud of the fact that IJN’s surgeons and staff have worked together for so many years that the eco-system has evolved and formed a culture of team work and a culture of constantly wanting to advance. This eco-system is not something that is readily available in a private hospital where, he says, the doctors are more ‘individual contractors’.
There are more than 95 doctors in IJN and 80 per cent of them are specialists.
Training, which is highly valued in IJN, sees trainees going on one-year scholarships to expose them to a specific area of specialty and also exposure to the leading centres.
“We have sent numerous IJN doctors to Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic with the scholarships,” he points out.
He feels strongly that retention of talent is not just about remuneration and says it is important for the younger generation to be engaged in challenging working environment.
“We have been successful in doing this since our inception in 1992. We have been providing a challenging working environment whereby the specialists are empowered to further progress and really maximize their full potential.
“That is the reason we go for the latest innovations, we collaborate with other universities in terms of research and training and the doctors are able to progress like their colleagues around the world in terms of doing newer things, and exciting things. This provides career satisfaction and career progress and we have been very successful in doing that,” he shares.
Since 2009, IJN has almost doubled the number of beds from 240 beds to 460 beds today.
“Hand in hand with the high success rate registered by IJN, is its top notch customer service. We are very well aware of providing the best service to the patients. We get comments that our service is better than that of private hospitals,” he said.
With that done, Dr Azhari has made it his mission to rewrite the misconception amongst the public that IJN is a very good hospital but difficult to get in.
He wants people to know that IJN is a very good hospital AND IT IS EASY to get in now because of the expansion.
“We have solved our waiting-list issue. Today, procedures with our cardiologists can be done within the week and surgeries can be done within two to three weeks. That applies to both government patients and private patients,” he emphasised.
IJN also is popular with foreign patients and has translators and private facilities for them.
If pricing is an issue of concern for patients, Dr Azhari is quick to offer the answer the public wants to hear.
“In terms of pricing policy, we need the approval of the government, and in this case, the Ministry of Finance which owns us. We need prior approval from them because our mission is to make excellent healthcare accessible and affordable to all sector of the public. For the public sector, the government pays for it and, so, it is at the cheapest possible price. Even for private patients, our prices are competitive,” he offers.
Dr Azhari has charted a path for IJN’s future plans with the aim of further improving and maintaining the heart institute’s leading position as a centre of excellence.
He is overseeing the institution’s big push to be a centre for integrated care.
“What this means is that we will not only be focused on cardiac or heart treatment, but also what we call in the medical profession as co-morbid care.
“For example, in terms of of coronary artery disease, 40-to-50 per cent of them will have diabetes, 30 per cent will have high blood pressure and 20-to-30 per cent would have kidney problems. For us to further improve our service to the patients, we have to take care of the co-morbid factors as well in an integrated fashion. So, we would then expand to areas of diabetes, hypertension, and renal care.
“Non-communicable disease is our next step to further maintain our excellence in the care of patients. We will expand our expertise. These doctors are already in the team and from here we will expand from cardiac care to being a centre of excellence in non-communicable diseases,” he says.
So, how is Dr Azhari switching from wearing a surgeon’s cap to a CEO’s hat?
Very well, it seems. The jovial and youthful spirited Dr Azhari says that being a leadership position means one is inspiring one’s team.
“It is about having a shared vision. I basically consider myself a conductor and I am surrounded by people want to make the same music. They know the tune and they know we have to go in harmony. It is all about people skills, about leadership, and about inspiring people,” he says.
And being in the medical line, he makes it a high priority that he keeps abreast of developments and keep on learning new skills.
And how does he unwind.
The sprightly 54-year old is an avid cyclist and never a misses an opportunity to join his group of fellow IJN cyclists, called the Cardiac Cycle Team, enrol themselves in cycling events.
“I have no problem unwinding. My idea of work is work smart and hard at the same time. That has been so since my school and university days,” he says, with jovial laughter.
Source: New Straits Times
- See more at: http://mjn-e-news.com.my/oct2014/local2.html#sthash.OaHAbX98.dpuf
KUALA LUMPUR - On top of the good, solid work done by Malaysia’s Institut Jantung Negara, it is the high accolades and recognition from its peers worldwide that sets our National Heart Institute head and shoulders above others in the Asia Pacific region.
The institute has set itself on this path through a combination of careful planning and the serendipity of having the best minds in the field of medicine who happen to be dynamic, driven and liberal.
“When it comes to heart, we are the leading centre and IJN is considered one of the leaders in dedicated heart centres in Asia Pacific region,” said Datuk Dr Mohd Azhari Yakub, IJN’s Chief Executive Officer.
“Amongst our fraternity of cardiac surgeons and cardiologist, we are very well known. Our doctors are very experienced and they are the leading opinion makers in their areas of specialties and are invited to publish and present papers at international scientific meetings,” he added, highlighting that there is a research departments in-house at the doctors’ service.
The hospital prides in the scale of the networking its specialists have with their colleagues worldwide, enabling it to access the experts as well as the latest procedures with great ease.
Dr Azhari, who has been at the helm of the heart institute since July 1 this year, said IJN provides integrated care where it treats the very young to the very old and from the very simple routine to the very complex surgery.
“And we cater for a wide variety of patients – from the VIPs to the very poor and also we are focusing on private patients (patients who are paying via insurance or privately paid or paid for by the company where they work). We have private clinics called Platinum Clinics, and we have private wards for private patients. We are trying to meet the demands of a wide sector of patients that we need to satisfy.
“Previously, the public thought we were only treating government patients,” Dr Azhari said.
And just how eager are their foreign associates and colleagues to work together with IJN?
“I’ve heard a few comments fom doctors and surgeons from Australia: they have quoted us as the Cleveland Clinic of Asia,” says Dr Azhari with a measure of pride.
The leading heart centres in the world are the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Boston Children’s Hospital (all in the United States), Royal Melbourne Children’s Hospital in Australia and the Birmingham Hosptal and IJN has linkages for co-operation with them.
“In the fraternity, we know each other’s names and because we are the opinion leaders in Asia Pacific, they have been to our hospital and they have seen how our staff work and the level of expertise and that spreads amongst the fraternity of cardiologists and the cardiac surgeons,” said Dr Azhari, who is a surgeon himself.
As IJN’s leader, Dr Azhari embodies all that is the best about the celebrated heart hospital and is in the best position to speak about the institution.
On its part, he said, IJN has trained more 100-odd overseas trainees that specialise in cardiac.
Like any business, at the end of the day, it is the numbers that impress doctors and surgeons in the fraternity.
It is not just the volume, but the sheer complexity of the surgeries done at IJN and the clinical results attained that sets this national institution head and shoulders above others in Asia Pacific.
“In terms of clinical results – the mortality, and the the success rate – we have a success rate of 97 per cent to 98 per cent. For angioplasty alone, we have success rate of 99.5 to 99.9 per cent. We benchmark against the world’s best and we are on par to that,” says Dr Azhari who is also Senior Consultant Cardiac Surgeon, pointing out the reason for IJN being held in high regard by cardiologists in top hospitals.
The most recognition came in February 2014 when IJN carried out a first-in-man (FIM) procedure of a device for a patient faced with heart failure and leaking valves.
This was done in collaboration with a technology company in the US and the minimally invasive device was used when the patient had cardiac failure – which is an end-stage heart problem – and, as a result of that the heart dilates, resulting in one of the valves leaking. In such cases, patients become more and more breathless and there are repeated admissions and with this minimally invasive procedure, the problem of the leaking valve is addressed.
“Apart from the clinical aspects, we are known for innovation. We have introduced a lot of new procedures in the country since our inception: transplantation, new and less invasive procedures, new stenting. We are early adopters of technology and advances. If it is introduced in the world, we will be having that and practicing that within a year or so,” said Dr Azhari.
IJN is managed on the premises that it has to be financially sustainable but it is NOT a profit-making hospital.
With that philosophy, the profits that IJN generates re swiftly reinvested in new equipment and also in manpower.
“We spend from RM4 million to RM5 million of our annual budget for staff training. That is how much we value our manpower and our people. No matter how sophisticated a hospital is, without skilled, motivated manpower, we would not have achieved what we have achieved,” the surgeon says.
Every new employees goes through a customer-focus culture -- a two-day programme – and a yearly audit is done to see how well the staff carry through this culture of service.
As for the new equipment, Dr Azhari says that since IJN’s highly respected surgeons and cardiologists are often invited to participate in leading edge scientific meetings, they are in the perfect position to know what is new and what are the latest reliable new treatments that need to be brought in to the hospital.
Dr Azhari is proud of the fact that IJN’s surgeons and staff have worked together for so many years that the eco-system has evolved and formed a culture of team work and a culture of constantly wanting to advance. This eco-system is not something that is readily available in a private hospital where, he says, the doctors are more ‘individual contractors’.
There are more than 95 doctors in IJN and 80 per cent of them are specialists.
Training, which is highly valued in IJN, sees trainees going on one-year scholarships to expose them to a specific area of specialty and also exposure to the leading centres.
“We have sent numerous IJN doctors to Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic with the scholarships,” he points out.
He feels strongly that retention of talent is not just about remuneration and says it is important for the younger generation to be engaged in challenging working environment.
“We have been successful in doing this since our inception in 1992. We have been providing a challenging working environment whereby the specialists are empowered to further progress and really maximize their full potential.
“That is the reason we go for the latest innovations, we collaborate with other universities in terms of research and training and the doctors are able to progress like their colleagues around the world in terms of doing newer things, and exciting things. This provides career satisfaction and career progress and we have been very successful in doing that,” he shares.
Since 2009, IJN has almost doubled the number of beds from 240 beds to 460 beds today.
“Hand in hand with the high success rate registered by IJN, is its top notch customer service. We are very well aware of providing the best service to the patients. We get comments that our service is better than that of private hospitals,” he said.
With that done, Dr Azhari has made it his mission to rewrite the misconception amongst the public that IJN is a very good hospital but difficult to get in.
He wants people to know that IJN is a very good hospital AND IT IS EASY to get in now because of the expansion.
“We have solved our waiting-list issue. Today, procedures with our cardiologists can be done within the week and surgeries can be done within two to three weeks. That applies to both government patients and private patients,” he emphasised.
IJN also is popular with foreign patients and has translators and private facilities for them.
If pricing is an issue of concern for patients, Dr Azhari is quick to offer the answer the public wants to hear.
“In terms of pricing policy, we need the approval of the government, and in this case, the Ministry of Finance which owns us. We need prior approval from them because our mission is to make excellent healthcare accessible and affordable to all sector of the public. For the public sector, the government pays for it and, so, it is at the cheapest possible price. Even for private patients, our prices are competitive,” he offers.
Dr Azhari has charted a path for IJN’s future plans with the aim of further improving and maintaining the heart institute’s leading position as a centre of excellence.
He is overseeing the institution’s big push to be a centre for integrated care.
“What this means is that we will not only be focused on cardiac or heart treatment, but also what we call in the medical profession as co-morbid care.
“For example, in terms of of coronary artery disease, 40-to-50 per cent of them will have diabetes, 30 per cent will have high blood pressure and 20-to-30 per cent would have kidney problems. For us to further improve our service to the patients, we have to take care of the co-morbid factors as well in an integrated fashion. So, we would then expand to areas of diabetes, hypertension, and renal care.
“Non-communicable disease is our next step to further maintain our excellence in the care of patients. We will expand our expertise. These doctors are already in the team and from here we will expand from cardiac care to being a centre of excellence in non-communicable diseases,” he says.
So, how is Dr Azhari switching from wearing a surgeon’s cap to a CEO’s hat?
Very well, it seems. The jovial and youthful spirited Dr Azhari says that being a leadership position means one is inspiring one’s team.
“It is about having a shared vision. I basically consider myself a conductor and I am surrounded by people want to make the same music. They know the tune and they know we have to go in harmony. It is all about people skills, about leadership, and about inspiring people,” he says.
And being in the medical line, he makes it a high priority that he keeps abreast of developments and keep on learning new skills.
And how does he unwind.
The sprightly 54-year old is an avid cyclist and never a misses an opportunity to join his group of fellow IJN cyclists, called the Cardiac Cycle Team, enrol themselves in cycling events.
“I have no problem unwinding. My idea of work is work smart and hard at the same time. That has been so since my school and university days,” he says, with jovial laughter.
Source: New Straits Times