A second step is rethinking how expertise is used. <\/strong>Many healthcare services assume that specialists must be physically present at every facility. However, as per media reports, there is a huge crunch of specialist doctors, especially in rural areas. In this context, healthcare models must distribute expertise across teams to be scalable outside major cities. Technicians and nurses can be trained to manage routine tasks, while specialists provide oversight, training, and support for complex cases. This task-shifting approach allows limited specialist capacity to cater to many more patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For instance, dialysis treatment traditionally depends heavily on specialist supervision, which can limit the number of centres that can operate. NephroPlus, a large dialysis network in India, addressed this challenge by creating a care model where trained dialysis technicians manage daily dialysis procedures, while nephrologists oversee treatment protocols and handle complicated cases. This allowed the organisation to expand dialysis services across many cities, even those with limited specialist services, while maintaining consistent standards of care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another important element of scaling is building a reliable workforce pipeline. <\/strong>Healthcare providers often face shortages of trained technicians and high attrition. This can be addressed by creating educational partnerships with universities and schools that train nurses and allied health professionals. Providing these students opportunities for internships and apprenticeships can enable on-site training. Some organisations also address this by developing their own training programmes, ensuring that new staff are familiar with clinical protocols and quality standards before joining operational centres. Employee experience, on-job training and succession planning are a few other approaches that can be useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Financial sustainability also matters. Healthcare institutions that scale successfully often focus on efficiency and service volume,<\/strong> rather than raising prices. Profitability can also be enhanced by leveraging fixed-cost efficiencies. Digital integration helps businesses use their fixed resources, including people, equipment, space, software, and capital, more productively. Standardised systems allow infrastructure and equipment costs to be spread across more patients, making services both viable and accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, strategic public-private partnerships<\/strong> with the government play a critical role in expanding access, increasing patient volumes, and supporting sustainable growth. Healthcare providers can deliver services to more people while sharing infrastructure and resources with the public sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ultimately, institutions that grow successfully focus on processes, workforce development, operational efficiency, and partnerships. Scaling healthcare institutions is less about building more facilities and more about building replicable systems. Healthcare scales best when systems enable expertise to travel, not people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *This blog draws insights from the discussion on \u2018Building Healthcare Institutions at Scale: Markets, Growth, and Organisational DNA\u2019 during ISB\u2019s Healthcare Catalyst 2026.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Saikumar Thaduka<\/strong> Dr. Saikumar Thaduka is a Neonataologist and pediatrician, and healthcare entrepreneur with over 7 years of experience in building and scaling pediatric care platforms in tier-2 and tier-3 markets. As the Founder of Sarayu Hospital, he operates at the intersection of clinical excellence, healthcare strategy, and operational efficiency, driving cost-efficient, high-quality care models with strong unit economics. His work is focused on democratizing access to tertiary neonatal services through scalable hospital networks, while also advancing health insurance penetration in rural areas to enable access to quality care with minimal out-of-pocket expenditure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In parallel, he serves as an Assistant Professor at a Government Medical College, with a strong passion for teaching and mentoring in medical sciences. He is currently part of the Advanced Management Programme in Healthcare at the Indian School of Business, with a focus on healthcare strategy, innovation, and system-led growth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n Navsangeet Saini<\/strong> Navsangeet Saini is a communication professional with over 13 years of experience across academia, media and communication research, and writing. She holds a Ph.D. in Mass Communication and is interested in how storytelling shapes communities and societies. At the Max Institute of Healthcare Management, Indian School of Business (MIHM\u2011ISB), she brings this perspective to healthcare communication, translating research into accessible and engaging narratives for wider audiences.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Across the globe, especially in low-and middle-income countries, healthcare remains deeply uneven. A recent World Health Organisation report says that 4.6 billion people, which is more than half the world\u2019s population, lack access to essential healthcare. In India, the majority of the population continues to depend on overcrowded public hospitals or have to travel long […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":811,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false},"categories":[53],"tags":[47,48],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/blogs.isb.edu\/healthcare\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/2\/files\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/Sai-Kumar-1024x961.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nAuthors\u2019 Bios\u2019:<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Neonataologist and Pediatrician, and Healthcare Entrepreneur<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Navsangeet](\"https:\/\/blogs.isb.edu\/healthcare\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/2\/files\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/Navsangeet-Saini.jpg\")
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Writer<\/p>\n\n\n\n