Dr.Girdhar J. Gyani

CHANAKYA of Quality

Is a Bachelor in Electrical Engineering from Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Masters in Electrical engineering  from College of Military Engineering and PhD in Quality Management from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University

One of his towering contributions has been in establishing and operating national accreditation structure for healthcare (NABH) for the first time in the country and where he worked as its CEO till he superannuated in May 2012. 
During his tenure at NABH, about 200 leading hospitals in the country got accredited, providing boost to medical tourism. Dr. Gyani persuaded a number of state governments in improving quality in public health establishments including about 100 district hospitals through capacity building measures. This includes states like Gujarat, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and NCR Delhi. This has resulted in much needed improvement in patient safety indicators in these states.

A Tireless Crusader
 Dr. Gyani has put in 38 years of service in the areas of Teaching, Research and Quality Management. He is elected Director on board at International Accreditation Forum (IAF) representing Low & Medium Income Economics. He is a  senior member of American Society of Quality (ASQ), Member Institute of Quality Assurance UK, Member All India Management Association, Life Member Computer Society of India, Life Member HRD Network Forum and Fellow Institute of engineers ( India ). 

Dr. Gyani is credited in developing Indian Institute of Quality Management (IIQM), from its inception (1993 to 2003) as institute of excellence offering training & consultancy services in all aspects of Quality. During this period, Dr. Gyani as chief mentor guided 30 technical institutes for World Bank project (IMPACT) on excellence in educational systems. Dr. Gyani designed & launched India 's first M.S. Programme in Quality Management which was adapted by BITS, Pilani. He developed one year (3-trimesters) diploma course in Quality Management, for MQI in MAURITIUS .Dr. Gyani is very widely traveled across the globe mostly in reference to Quality & Accreditation. 

He has authoured number of books & publications on Quality & HRD. He has distinction of being first Indian to have served as elected Director on Board of International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua) for 2009-14.

Dr. Girdhar J. Gyani is currently the Director General for the Association of Healthcare Providers in India (AHPI). AHPI is a conglomeration of practically all healthcare providers working closely with the key stakeholders i.e. the Government and the Society to realise the Universal Health Coverage. Its mission is to build capacity in Indian health system with focus on patient safety and affordability.

Early Days

 Dr. Gyani was engaged in research & development with DRDO for 15 years (1975-90) including 10 years in Design Airworthiness Assessment & Quality Certification of Military Aero plane. He has number of improvements to his credit, which are known to have enhanced the operational effectiveness of these Aeroplanes. In the area of education, based on the task assigned by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, then President of India, Dr Gyani has the distinction of evolving for the first time in the country, the quality accreditation standard for schools which defines quality governance in schools for providing holistic development of students. Prior to his appointment as SG, QCI, he served as Director of Indian Institute of Quality Management, Jaipur. 

The Pioneer and Trendsetter

Dr Girdhar Gyani, is widely recognised as founder of healthcare quality in India. During his tenure as Secretary General, Quality Council of India (2003-2012), Dr Gyani played pivotal role in formulation and operating of National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH), for the first time in the country.  He was Principal Coordinator in developing of accreditation standard for hospitals and getting it accredited by International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua). This was followed up with development of standards for Blood Banks, Radiology Centres, Dental Clinics, Wellness Centres, and AYUSH Hospitals. NABH has been the single most important initiative which has dramatically changed the healthcare scenario in INDIA, bringing Patient Safety at the centre stage. NABH has emerged as key criteria for evaluation of hospitals for variety of government and private paying schemes.

Dr. Girdhar J Gyani held the assignment as Secretary General, Quality Council of India during 2003-12. He was assigned with the responsibility for establishing & operating national accreditation structure and promoting quality in all walks of life. Starting with a team as small as four members, Dr Gyani has raised QCI to a level, where it is playing a key role in facilitating quality as national framework for vast canvass ranging from manufacturing, education, skill development, environment, healthcare and governance (public services), benefiting Indian Trade & Industry on global platform. Dr. Gyani has the rare distinction of serving as elected director on board of International Accreditation Forum (IAF) during 2004-10. He has worked extensively on improving effectiveness of quality certification process through actual field validation, findings of which have appeared in prominent international quality journals. He is known to have promoted using of third party conformity assessment structure to improve regulatory quality and in turn effectiveness in governance with the motto; "Quality for National Well Being" His contribution in developing accreditation scheme for Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) for the first time in the country has been widely appreciated by government as well as by industry.

Dr. Gyani was nominated member of academic council of Medical Council of India (MCI) during 2012-13, with a view to facilitate objective assessment of medical colleges. Dr Gyani is very widely travelled, which has helped him to assimilate best practices from other countries. He has been popular speaker on Quality in healthcare at large number of the international events.

Awards and Recognitions

He is recipient of numerous awards and recognitions including 16th Lal C. Verman Award’ in year 2002 and ‘Rotary Centenary Award’ in year 2004 for Excellence in the field of Quality. He was bestowed with ‘Lifetime achievement award’, jointly by DRDO, Vivekananda Yoga University and Foundation for Quality in January 2015, for innovating quality for National Well Being. Consortium of Accredited Hospitals (CAHO) bestowed on him the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ during their annual conclave in March 2016. 

Healthcare Executive magazine in its January 2015 issue complimented him as ‘CHANKYA of Quality’ and one of the prominent industry magazines; SME WORLD in its cover story of June 2012 issue described Dr Gyani as Quality Man of India.
 

*This story is published by VOH Team*

#Healthcare #HealthcareLeadership