PDCA Analysis Of Panchkarma At Ayurvedic Hospital In Up, India

Management of time is crucial for delivery of quality health service irrespective of origin to patient. This on time service delivery has positive impacts on parameters like patient satisfaction staff productivity and stress management which overall helps to promote a good work life balance. This is true for all health streams like AYUSH and modern medicine. In modern times panchakarma procedures are the integral part of ayurvedic treatment. that compromises a series of specialized treatment aimed at rejuvenating and detoxifying the body as well as curing the body ailment.  The need for standardization for consistency emphasizes the importance of establishing consistent protocols and guidelines in panchakarma practices to ensure steady treatment outcomes, evidence-based affirmation and patient safety. Standardization in panchakarma is also significant for stable research and knowledge-sharing, enabling effective amalgamation of this ancient healing system into modern healthcare practices. The standardization could be achieved by improving management in the panchakarma practice which can be improved by applying basic management tool. At present the PDCA approach plan do check act is a popular approach employed in hospitals to improve the activities. This PDCA could also be applied for panchakarma process management. By promoting such standardization procedure consultant can enhance the authenticity and acceptance of panchakarma as a valuable therapeutic modality, ensuring its sustainable growth, and recognition in the global healthcare landscape. This study outlines the importance of implementing time management measures using PDCA technique to ensure enhanced time management in Ayurveda panchakrma therapies, reduces waiting time and making the process smoother and more satisfactory for patients. To attract more patients to opt for ayurvedic treatment. (Pal.,etal 2025, Yadav, etal.,2017)

The study was conducted in panchkarma department of Bharat Ayurved medical college hospital & research centre, Muzaffarnagar, UP. The study was conducted in two phases.

Inclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria

Phase 1 – This consisted of analysis of current practice in which employees of panchkarma department as well as patients were observed for a period of one month from 1st-31st august 2024   for their routine activity.

Phase 2- This included the implementation of PDCA and measuring the post impacts of PDCA in which the PDCA application protocol was planned. The protocol was submitted for approval and after seeking approval the awareness for PDCA implementation was conducted as per clinical guideline and SOP for the panchkarma department staff.

From the above findings we can conclude that there is a marked improvement in the time management of panchkarma therapies, patient satisfaction and employee satisfaction after the implementation of PDCA.

Purpose and Key Findings

The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of improved time management with the help of implementation of PDCA tool on the delivery of Panchakarma therapies in a hospital encompassing study of three-month period. After following a structured observational phase of 1 Month 1, and subsequent phases of implementation of plan and monitoring of 2 months imply that there was a significant improvement in time management. The improvement in process timings was also reported from studies done by and in hospital scenarios (Goenka A, 2024, Roopashree 2014) In addition, notable improvement was seen in patient and employee satisfaction. The studies done by et al., showed the improvement in employee satisfaction. (Yadav, etal 2017). Basti is regarded as efficient procedure for all types of vata disorders. Basti treatment was employed in our study in five forms greevabasti, janubasti, katibasti, sirobasti, and sirodhara of duration 30mins taken as standard. (Singh,2015, Mangal etal.,2019)

Interpretation

During the observation phase many factors were noticed that were hampering in the efficient functioning and time management of the panchakarma therapies. Various for mismanagement of time reasons were observed -

·       Lack of punctuality in the staff they were not coming on time

·       Not starting the therapy in scheduled time

·       Absence from work as staff was on leave

·       No substitute for the absent staff

·       Understaff as per the patient load

·       Shortage of therapy room as per patient load

·       Overstretching the time of the therapy

·       Delay in preparation of medicine and therapy room

·       Miscommunication within the staff regarding the therapy and its time schedule,

·       Miscommunication between the staff and the patient regarding their therapy time schedule

·       Patients lack of punctuality as they were not coming on their given time.

 After the observation a systematic plan was made for the improvement in time management and systematic restructuring of therapy schedules. Main strategy focuses on –

·       Increasing Human resource – one therapist and one kitchen helper was deployed to the panchkarma department.

·       Allocation of one extra therapy room with equipment’s like table, swedan box etc.

·       Training of the staff – staff was educated about the time management, about the ideal time in which therapy should be performed, prioritization of work one day before, notifying any requirement regarding medicine preparation, or equipment’s a day before to prevent delays,

·       Making a timetable for therapy slots helps in optimizing therapy slot allocation

·       reducing delays between treatment phases, and

·       Improvement in coordination between the staff.

·       Notifying patients about their therapy schedule one day earlier.

·       Improvement in communication between the staff and the patients.

·       Patients were asked to come to hospital on time and also to pre inform the staff via phone call about their delay or unavailability in the dedicated time.

·       This improved efficiency not only allowed for more therapies to be conducted within the available time but also resulted in smoother transitions between patients, reducing waiting times and enhancing patient flow.

All the adjustments made helped in improving the time management of the panchakarma therapies. Also contributed to increase in the satisfaction of the patient, as patients experienced shorter waiting times, more consistent therapy schedules as therapy timings were told beforehand and a smoother treatment process with better efficiency. Addition of therapist also solved the problem of increased wait timing. On the other hand, employee satisfaction, was improved due to better work environment as there was increase in one therapy room with equipment and one therapist which helped in decreasing the stress, a systematic load distribution, and clarity about the timings of operational procedures. With the addition of staff in the kitchen has also helped in time management and reducing the workload. Earlier the preparation of medicine was also done by the therapist only which was time consuming and was the reason for extra delay. Therapist were able to complete their therapies on time which helped them getting time for rest and also get rid of their extra duty hours. The directness of roles and responsibilities helped in reducing the operational burden on staff, allowing them to focus more on efficient care delivery without compromising with the quality. Overall, it helped in boosting employee satisfaction, improving in their work life balance and also improving their skill in efficient delivery of therapy. The same results in behaviour satisfaction and efficiency improvements were reported from the study done by Yadav and colleagues in hospital setting. (Yadav etal.,2017)

The study reflected that PDCA implementation can improve panchakarma process in an ayurvedic hospitals. The study could be extrapolated by including other parameters. The study highlight’s role of time management in improving operational efficiency of hospital as well as also for satisfaction of patient and well-being of employee. Ayurveda Hospitals and centres which are offering Panchakarma therapies may get benefit from adopting structured time management protocols and regular monitoring to maintain a balance between treatment efficacy and operational efficiency.  This study suggests that improvements in therapy management and scheduling can lead to better patient outcomes, efficient delivery of therapies, and lesser work stress, higher satisfaction of both patient and employee, and more effective use of resources.