A weekly newsletter on growing a healthcare business
Why “The Management Round”
Every morning, a doctor rounds on their patients — a quick, structured check on how each one is actually doing, before anything becomes an emergency.
The Management Round is that check-in, once a week, for the “business” side of a healthcare business, covering the parts that decide whether things are actually growing, or just staying busy until it’s a crisis.
Who this is for
- Owners and operators of independent private hospitals and clinics in India — people who trained as clinicians, not managers, and are now trying to grow a business in addition to treating patients.
- Founders of Indian healthtech startups, coming at it from the other direction — they know how to build a product, and are learning healthcare’s specific rules as they go.
- And more broadly, anyone wanting to learn about how a healthcare business grows.
What it covers
Growth in a healthcare business — whether a hospital, or a healthtech startup — never comes from one lever alone. The Management Round covers three, because they’re really one story told from different angles:
- Growth Strategy is how the business actually gets bigger, on purpose rather than by accident;
- Operational Excellence is what decides whether that growth holds once it arrives, instead of breaking the thing that earned it; and
- Profitability is what proves the growth was worth having, because a business that’s growing but bleeding money isn’t actually winning.
Each issue picks stories related to the above.
Who’s behind this
The Management Round is written by Aviral Prakash. Before healthcare, he spent 15 years building growth engines across sectors. An alumnus of SRCC and IIM Ahmedabad, he now works as a growth partner to Indian healthcare providers and builders.
Current Issue
- The Management Round — Issue #11
This week’s highlights include Manipal’s plans for acquisitions in multiple states and an emphasis on AI in healthcare, while Marengo Asia Hospitals raised ₹400 Cr to significantly increase bed capacity. Additionally, Haryana’s new policy enables doctors to lease residential plots for nursing homes, easing operational entry for smaller providers.
Past Issues
- The Management Round — Issue #11This week’s highlights include Manipal’s plans for acquisitions in multiple states and an emphasis on AI in healthcare, while Marengo Asia Hospitals raised ₹400 Cr to significantly increase bed capacity. Additionally, Haryana’s new policy enables doctors to lease residential plots for nursing homes, easing operational entry for smaller providers.
- The Management Round — Issue #10This week’s newsletter highlights key developments in healthcare, including the Moopen family’s significant investment in Aster DM, Max Healthcare’s strategic expansion, and the Delhi High Court’s forensic audit of Fortis transactions. It delves into MedGenome’s personalised cancer monitoring, Metropolis Healthcare’s growth plans, and report findings on AI in healthcare.
- The Management Round — Issue #9This week’s healthcare news features substantial investments by AIG Hospitals and Ambuja Neotia to expand bed capacity and integrate training facilities. Haryana private hospitals protest unpaid claims under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, while a study reveals operational benefits of adopting NABH Digital Health Standards. Fortis and Park Medi World focus on specialised care and regional clustering, respectively.
- The Management Round — Issue #8Issue #8 This week’s issue leans practical. Apollo just proved that not every access fix needs a budget — extending OPD hours to Sundays is a scheduling decision, not a capital one. Jehangir Hospital in Pune took the opposite kind of action: building a genuinely low-cost tool (recalibrated for Indian children) to close a real… Read more: The Management Round — Issue #8
- The Management Round — Issue #7In Issue #7, updates include Jupiter Hospital’s first robotic kidney transplants outside China, highlighting innovation through cost-effective technology. Temple, Deepinder Goyal’s startup, sees its valuation double while offering employee stock liquidity. Lilavati Hospital and KKR’s acquisition of Medicover’s India business further exemplify strategic expansions and the importance of operational consistency in healthcare.
- The Management Round — Issue #6In this edition, Aviral discusses India’s digital healthcare advancements. Key highlights include Narayana Health’s AI tool reducing documentation time significantly, J P Nadda’s report on AI in MedTech, and Aster DM Quality Care’s exit from an unprofitable hospital. The newsletter also covers NABH’s new digital health standards for hospitals.
- The Management Round — Issue #5This week’s issue discusses the factors influencing patient preference for hospitals, emphasising the importance of disciplined growth and brand clarity. It highlights successful examples from Fortis, Park Group, Artemis, and others, showcasing strategic expansions and innovative services in underserved regions while providing actionable takeaways for hospitals to enhance their local presence and brand identity.
- The Management Round — Issue #4This week’s newsletter highlights innovative growth strategies among hospitals. Dr Agarwal’s Eye Hospitals utilizes a repeatable facility template for expansion, while Even Healthcare employs a subscription model for lower-acuity patient management. Other topics include successful fundraising efforts and awareness campaigns, emphasizing the importance of structured growth and community engagement in healthcare.
- The Management Round — Issue #3This week’s issue highlights innovative healthcare models in India: From voice rehabilitation clinics to nurse-led smart hospitals, these organizations challenge norms, emphasizing targeted care delivery and operational efficiency.
- The Management Round — Issue #2This week’s News round-up spans quality accreditation, government digitisation infrastructure, and hospital expansion strategy.
- The Management Round — Issue #1Welcome to the inaugural Management Round! Every Wednesday, discover essential news and strategies for growth. This week, learn about Fortis’s innovative expansion model and the vital merger of Aster DM and Quality Care, highlighting the importance of brand clarity in a consolidating market.