Evaluation of skill gaps of health-care leaders in Indian public and private sectors

Background: Indian health care is experiencing a significant shift in terms of requirement of resources and changing demographic pattern. The customer-oriented and quality conscious competitive environment has intensified the need for healthcare organizations to attain higher levels of organizational performance. Competencies of health-care leaders play a pivotal role in deciding the organizational development and strategic growth. A cross-sectional study of select health-care leaders� of India was done from various hospitals and other health delivery agencies to identify and analyze the gaps in competencies. Objectives: The study objectives were to identify the existing leadership competencies of private and public health-care executives, assess and compare these competencies against standardized leadership models, and recommend key competencies for Indian leaders. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out amidst health-care leaders of India so as to assess their leadership competencies. Health-care leaders of India were identified after focused group discussion and senior health-care leaders such as Directors, Deans, CEOs, and Principals were shortlisted for this study. Two structured questionnaires were administered to health-care leaders of various hospitals in India. The ratings in the questionnaire were on a Likert scale ranging from very poor to excellent. Respondents were asked to self-evaluate various competencies and the same was analyzed using the SPSS statistical software. Interpretation of results of data analysis was done. Ethics Committee Clearance was taken from the institute where the study was done. Results: A total of 300 questionnaires were sent of which 106 questionnaires were completed and returned back by select health-care leaders, 78 were doctors and 28 were nursing executives. The study has been able to identify deficiencies in the perceived �existing competency� and �required competency� levels in the selected competencies amidst public and private sector health executives. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that there is deficiency in perceived �existing competency� and �required competency� levels in the selected competencies of health-care leaders both from private and public sectors. Indian health-care leaders are operating at operational level and have not graded themselves highly in transformational roles. There is a need for training to bridge the competency gap of Indian health-care leaders both in public and private sectors.