Medical Director
Medical Director
"All Transportation happens under the guidance of the Medical Director - Dr Nitin Yende who takes personal interest from the process of transport planning, accurate quotation, travel implementation to providing Transport summary for reviews and improvement."
He has been passionate about the process of transport from the inception of the company and has offered guidelines for developing a system focused on transport safety, patient care, quality management, and continuous Travel improvement.
He has been passionate about the process of transport from the inception of the company and has offered guidelines for developing a system focused on transport safety, patient care, quality management, and continuous Travel improvement.
He has helped HI Flying over a period of last 18 years
- Create paperless documentation so that work is implemented properly for every transport in an efficient, effective operation.
- Created a work process so as to increase customer satisfaction and retention. Happy customers are repeat customers.
- Attaining ISO 9001 certification and standard working protocols which can be used as a marketing tool to promote quality to end users.
- Help raise quality awareness amongst Medical Coordinators and Medical Escort Teams and motivates them to attain quality objectives. Corrective action and preventive action helps to keep quality objectives in the minds of the medical crew and other team members.
- Help in reducing waste and increasing productivity leading to more affordable travel for patients and greater profits for the company.
Role of Medical Director in HI Flying
The Medical director plays a key role in the professional development of all aspects of the Medical Transport process. In almost all cases, the medical director will have an input into the curriculum of medical escort training at a local level. He is actively involve in choosing the right medical escort and supervising the transport process. In almost all cases, the medical director will be charged with the creation of all protocols and standing orders, and with any research that goes into their creation. The medical director will also, assisted by others, be responsible for the creation and development of the Standards of Practice for their EMS system. The Medical Director will provide the mechanism for medical quality control and conducting chart audits and reviewing medically related service complaints, and may often have the ability to de-certify individual paramedics for a reason. Medical directors will also act as advocates for their medical escort team, advising and building support within the medical community for expanded scopes of practice when appropriate. He is also actively involved in establishing alliances and cooperation agreements with other similar minded well-audited organizations. Finally, Medical directors will act as expert advisors to those in the EMS system administration and government administration, with respect to policies and legislation required by the EMS system, and in guiding its future direction.
Interview with the Medical Director
- DR YENDE - YOU BEEN IN BUSINESS OF AIR AMBULANCE FOR A LONG TIME. WHAT IS IT THAT THE CLIENT IS LOOKING FOR BEFORE CHOOSING YOU AS AN AIR AMBULANCE PROVIDER.
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Private customer are looking at the Trust factor which I think is the most important factor for a client to choose you over other Air Ambulance operators.
Trust comes from recommendation and the number of years you are in to service.
In India and Asia - we were the first to start an Air Ambulance service with a Cessna caravan and King air C 90 way back in 1993 to a Pilatus PC 12 in 1996 and a Citation jet aircraft in year 2000. The transition from the First to a Professional Air Ambulance company was a gradual process which involved a lot of learning from our own experience and our association with a number of superior operators in the United States.
The type of aircrafts and our team of Professional Doctors, Nurses and Paramedics add to the Trust factor in our business.
We understand that Time is Life. - WHAT MAKES YOU STAND OUT FROM OTHER AIR AMBULANCE COMPANIES. WE UNDERSTAND WHEN YOU STARTED YOU WERE THE ONLY ONE AND AS TIME HAS ELAPSED, THERE ARE MANY PLAYERS ESPECIALLY IN THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET
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We are unique that besides having a team of trained Professional Medical escort team and Medical co ordinators, they are trained to empathize with the patients. The patients are our brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers and that is how we treat them. The Family members are our guest.
The Indian tradition to treat our Guest as God is reflected in our work ethos.
Another important factor, is the cost factor. We try to be economical.
In fact for Commercial flight transportation, we have a cost challenge where if there is any other company which has a lower cost, we should be able to match or beat the cost.
Cost plays an important role today. You may be the best but cost is not right, you will not survive the competition. - COMING TO COST, HOW DO YOU MANAGE A LOWER COST COMPARED TO YOUR COMPETITORS - DO YOU CUT CORNERS ON THE SAFETY FACTORS.
- No way, Safety plays an important role at every step of our operations. We have the best Medical team, we upgrade our medical equipments periodically, the Aircrafts are the best in terms of maintenance and crew. However we are economical. We have most of the medical escorts working with us full time at our base - The Family hospital which is owned by us. Operational cost are lower in India compared to other countries in the world. Our staff are active and they multitask thereby decreasing the no of personnel working for the company thereby decreasing the cost of maintaining the services. We are the only company that does 50% patient transfer on Commercial flights and 50% on Charter flights on International sectors. For a safe patient, it makes sense to do the transfer on a Commercial airlines which will reduce the transfer cost by 70% -80% compared to a charter flights. With excellent relations with Commercial airline carriers like Emirates, Lufthansa, KLM, Singapore airlines, Philippines Air, Air India, Thai airways and others, we manage to get medical clearance at a fast pace for stretcher patient. Our Medical team is very comfortable transporting patients long distance on Commercial flight stretcher arrangement even if they are ventilators.
- HOW DO YOU PLAN YOUR TRANSFERS. WHAT KIND OF PRE TRAVEL ASSESSMENT DO YOU CARRY OUT BEFORE THE TRANSFER?
- As a Medical Director, I am involved at every step of the Transfer process. As soon as the request is received by the Medical co ordinator on phone or email, the information is passed on to the Medical director. Patient information is collected by way of a Medical report and passed to me. Pre travel assessment base on Medical report and a telephonic talk with treating physician is done. We also have a Pre travel assessment form which our regular clients/assist companies fill up for an easy and fast pre travel assessment.
Once the patient clinical status is known, the right mode of transportation is decided by us. Whether it is a Air Ambulance charter flight or a Commercial stretcher transfer, we plan every details of the transfer. In case of a Charter flight, the type of aircraft, the medical escorts, the medical equipments, the additional medications apart from the standard set of medications, the fuel stops - all planning is done to the last detail. In case of a Commercial flight, we plan the right airlines, the medical clearance procedure, the medical escorts, the right FAA approved medical equipments, the oxygen quantity, the relative ticketing, the stopover airports with the medical room, the ground transportation at origin and destination, everything is planned. It is as if we are playing the transfer in our brains amongst our team members before embarking on the transfer. - IF I MEET WITH AN ACCIDENT ON THE ROAD, WILL YOU BE ABLE TO PICK ME UP AND TAKE ME TO A HOSPITAL BY AIR AMBULANCE.
- No Sir, I wish we could do that. However we are not “First Responders”. Best thing to do is take a Ground ambulance to the nearest available Medical facility. After you are assessed and stabilized, and the Facility is not good enough for your treatment, say a Surgery then we can come in to play. We can transport you to a Tertiary care center to any place - it could be a different state or a different country.
Or if the patient has completed basic treatment and wish to go back home, we can transport you back home in Commercial or Charter flight to any destination in the world. - WHAT KIND OF COMMON PATIENTS DO YOU TRANSFER.
- We always say - “Any Patient - Any Place - Any Time”. You walk in to a hospital and you see any patient in the ICU or CCU and we can do the transportation. Based on the patient - the type of transportation may differ. But we should be able to do it.
At times, we tell the patient to wait till fit to transfer. The right time with the right mode with the right team is important for the safety of the patient.
We have done transportation of trauma patients, Road accidents, Ski accidents, Train accidents, Cerebrovascular accidents, Myocardial infarcts, Patients on ventilators with ARDS, Multisystem failures, Post surgery complications, Hepatic and renal failure patients, Patients with Poisoning, Failed suicide attempts, Drug overdosage, Psychiatric patients, Children and Pediatric age groups and Neonates who have congenital anomalies going to a higher center for Treatment. - WHO ARE YOUR CLIENTS?
- We have varied clients ranging from Individuals, Corporates, Hospitals, Insurance and Assist companies, Embassies and Government agencies.
We also have a Membership scheme with few Large Corporates.
We have done a few Celebrity charters too. - WHAT IS YOUR PLAYING FIELD. WHERE DO YOU OPERATE?
- Our Services are Global. We can transport patients from any place to any place.
Our company registered in the United states with operations bases in India/Asia, Singapore and Middle east. We have hubs in a no of countries which allow us to do transportation all over the world on Commercial and Charter flights
We are very comfortable operating flights out of Military bases and War Zones having done many transfers out of Afghanistan and Iraq and Military bases like Diego Garcia.
We often do High Altitude airports like Kathmandu and difficult ones like Bhutan. - WHAT KIND OF AIRCRAFTS DO YOU FLY?
- We have in our Fractionally owned fleet - Learjet 35, Learjet 45 Learjet 60 Citation CJ2 Citation Excel and Gulfstream 150. Amongst the Turboprop aircrafts, we fly the Pilatus PC 12 and Kingair B 200.
- HOW OFTEN DO YOU FLY?
- Flights are variable. However we are able to do 30 - 40 a month including domestic - International - Commercial and Charter flights worldwide.
- WHY WILL YOUR CLIENTS PAY HIGH COST FOR CHARTER FLIGHTS WHEN YOU CAN FLY COMMERCIAL FLIGHT.
- Good question. Charter flights can cost 5 - 10 times as Commercial flight.
You fly Charter flight where Commercial flight do not fly or land for that matter.
You fly Charter flight if the patient is too critical to fly Commercial flight and the patient will not get the necessary medical clearance to travel.
You fly Charter flight which can be mobilized at short notice. - TALKING ABOUT SHORT NOTICE, HOW QUICKLY CAN YOU FLY OUT A PATIENT ON CHARTER FLIGHT.
- it is variable It can be as quickly as 2 hours or can take 24 hours. It depends on the location. The place of origin and destination. And of course the Aviation permissions - the overfly permissions and landing permissions. The average for International flights has been 6 - 8 hours
- HOW ARE THE MEDICAL ESCORTS CHOSEN?
- Medical escorts - Doctors, Nurses and Paramedics undergo a screening process before taking them on board with us. They need to have worked at least for a period of 2 years in ICU setting in a good hospital and have done basic training in ACLS and ATLS or PALS.
They also undergo an orientation program with us to understand the protocols of medical transportation.
Once they comply with the above, they fly with a senior and experienced medical escorts for a period of one year before they can fly independently for a patient transfer.
If not flying for a period of 6 months, they need to undergo the Orientation program again before they can fly with us. - DO YOU PROVIDE BEDSIDE TO BEDSIDE SERVICES FOR YOUR CLIENTS.
- Yes we do. We have a network of ground ambulance providers round the world and we are able to provide Ground ambulance at both ends for every transportation with our team visiting the patient at the origin and taking them to the final destination.
We can also arrange Limos for the patient relatives.
We can also arrange bed for the patient in most major hospitals and cities in the world. - HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN TRAVEL WITH THE PATIENT?
- In a Commercial flight - as many as possible.
In a Charter flight - based on type of aircraft - generally one to two to three can travel with the patient.
However on Charter flights, Medical escort and Medical equipments are a priority and the final decision is taken by us on a call to call basis. - HOW DOES IT WORK WITH INSURANCE COMPANIES?
- We are associated with about 18 different Assist and Insurance companies. If you have an Insurance, we should be able to coordinate with them and get a Preauthorization to take care of the expenses and fly your patient.
In case the insurance company delays the transfer, we can fly your patient, and provide a bill for your insurance company to take care of the same.
In case of Private patient, they need to pre pay us before travel. - WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE PLANS?
- We are planning to add on more aircrafts to our present set of fractionally owned aircrafts and expand our services to countries in Africa. We see a big potential in the Middle east - Africa sector.
- WE THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR INFORMATION WITH US.
- WE APPRECIATE!
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