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Hackensack Meridian Health is teaming up with India’s largest private hospital network to explore and implement innovative health care solutions.

As part of the strategic affiliation agreement announced Jan. 29, HMH will work with Apollo Hospitals Group to address global health care challenges and opportunities.

HMH Chief Executive Officer Robert Garrett described it as an “exciting opportunity” for the groups to explore new approaches to health care delivery, as well as ways to meet critical needs within their respective communities.

By leveraging their strengths and resources, the organizations will seek to advance joint initiatives aimed at enhancing patient care, improving affordability and promoting community health, said Garrett. He noted that New Jersey has the second largest Indian population in the U.S. Hackensack Meridian Health is New Jersey’s biggest and most comprehensive system.

Going international

The idea for HMH’s first-ever international partnership stemmed from Garrett’s annual participation at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. For the past two years, he served as chair of the health and health care governor’s community.

“In that role, I met one of the senior leaders from Apollo … And I was very impressed with their organization and what they were able to do. Two things that intrigued me about them was that they have a pretty good supply of nurses and health care professionals. Obviously, we have a shortage in New Jersey and in the U.S. particularly in nursing. And then also, I was very impressed with some of the technology and the innovation that was going on in Apollo,” said Garrett, who chatted with NJBIZ while traveling home after spending a few days in India with HMH’s newest partner.

“I started to speak with their senior leadership team and our teams got together following that initial conversation over the past year. And we decided that it would be in our best interest, because we’re two like-minded organizations that are really focused on innovation and new technologies, to potentially put some sort of partnership agreement together, which is what we did and which is what we just signed yesterday here in India,” he explained.

Having focus

Initially, the multi-year partnership will focus on key initiatives, such as:

• Addressing workforce shortages through international recruitment and training programs
• Exploring opportunities for education and training – particularly in nursing and other clinical areas – as well as supporting international recruitment efforts
• Evaluating potential for Apollo to provide virtual assistant programs to HMH as a way to enhance care administration and efficiency
• Looking at appropriate opportunities for Apollo to support HMH in various clinical areas, including centers of excellence, specialized services and clinical research
• Developing ways to engage the South Asian community in New Jersey
• Reviewing opportunities to leverage mutual benefits through shared knowledge processes, such as revenue cycle management, human resources and supply chain processes

Additionally, the organizations say they will collaborate in areas like second opinion consultations, tumor boards, genomic sequencing, CAR T-cell therapies and bone marrow transplant therapy.

A sit-down with the CEO

NJBIZ recently caught up with Hackensack Meridian Health CEO Robert Garrett to discuss his work with the World Economic Forum, how technology – notably AI – is helping to improve health care outcomes and much more:

• Read more here
• Watch or listen here

Garrett said he knows the focus areas for the partnership are ambitious.

“We purposely made it very broad based because as we get to learn more about our respective organizations, we might go in different directions,” he explained. “Even in the last two days, just touring their hospitals, talking to their leaders, and seeing some of their facilities and their technology capabilities, I think we came up with some new ideas where we can collaborate.”

“There’s a great opportunity to collaborate in many different aspects of our health care system. We thought about where our strengths were and where their strengths were, and putting those things together and where there are needs on both sides,” Garrett said.

Global goals

Headquartered in Edison, HMH’s footprint consists of 18 hospitals and more than 500 patient care locations. Its facilities include ambulatory care centers, surgery centers, home health services, ambulance services, lifesaving air medical transportation, rehabilitation centers, urgent care centers, physician practice locations, and a fitness and wellness center. Locally, the system has numerous strategic affiliations, including ones with St. Joseph’s Health and New York University.

Founded in 1983 by Dr. Prathap Reddy, Apollo is considered the world’s largest health care platform. Its network comprises 71 hospitals, nearly 6,000 pharmacies, over 200 clinics and 600-plus telemedicine centers. Additionally, Apollo is a global leader in cardiac care and the largest private cancer care provider, according to HMH.

Dr. Sangita Reddy is Apollo’s managing director and daughter of the organization’s founder. She shared in a statement, “We are delighted to partner with Hackensack Meridian Health in this strategic affiliation.”

“This collaboration aligns perfectly with our vision of advancing health care globally,” she said. “By combining our respective strengths, we aim to create impactful solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and health care systems. Using technology, skills and new age tools, this is one more step in our endeavor to make health care affordable and accessible across the world.”

Getting started

When it comes to priorities at the launch of the partnership, Garrett identified two in particular.

“We’re going to start with a virtual program where nurses from India can help assist our nurses at the bedside through technology,” Garrett said. “And that will free up our nurses to spend more time with patients and their families. We ultimately would like to see that evolve into a program where nurses are physically coming to New Jersey and the U.S. and practicing their profession at our hospitals. And, as you know, in New Jersey, we have the largest South Asian community, and I think this would be a great benefit to that community.”

Technology is another area that HMH and Apollo will immediately jump into.

“They have some very exciting technologies, particularly in remote monitoring of patients and also in the area of artificial intelligence as we do, too. So, I think putting those technologies together can really help to improve patient outcomes and enhance access to care,” he said.

Breaking down barriers

Garrett hopes the unique partnership demonstrates to other U.S. health care systems the importance of collaborating.

“Certainly, within our country, but also beyond our borders as well because some of the health care challenges are global, whether it’s access to health care, health care disparities or workforce shortages. Those are not just New Jersey issues or U.S. issues – they go well beyond our state lines and well beyond our national borders. My message is to look for collaboration where we can maybe partner with like-minded organizations that can help us solve some of the most difficult and challenging healthcare issues that we’re facing today,” he said.

Garrett also noted how continuing advancements in technology across the board make such arrangements easier than ever.

“Technology has really broken down those barriers,” he said. “Patients can benefit by technologies that could be housed halfway around the globe. That was not possible a few years ago … Even in terms of strengthening the partnership, each site intends to see each other in person in the U.S. and in India, but we can do a lot virtually as well to move the ball forward in terms of the partnership progressing.”

“That’s a barrier that might’ve been there a few years ago, and that barrier is no longer there. So, it’s even more reason to think about these kinds of partnerships moving forward,” Garrett said.