Dr Alexander Thomas honoured with Professor Emeritus title by Indian Medical Association

He played a significant part in incorporating healthcare communication among the NABH Accreditation Standards for Hospitals (4th Edition), introducing communication skills within the MBBS and PG curricula for medical students across India, rolling back the service tax for the health sector and making assaults on doctors a non-bailable offence. Due to his efforts, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) had made entry-level accreditation mandatory for the empanelment of hospitals, leading to the potential empanelment of about 33,000 hospitals across India. He is the Chairman of the Health Environment Leadership Platform (HELP) and Chairman, Technical Committee, Grading of Hospitals, Quality Council of India [QCI]. He is the Advisor, Longevity India Advisory Board, an initiative by IISc, Bangalore. Co-Chair – Programme Review and Advisory Committee [PRAC], ISRO, for leveraging ISRO’s specialized skills to build solutions for various problems in the healthcare sector. He is an Adjunct Professor at the Public Health Foundation of India [PHFI].

At the State level, Dr. Thomas played an important role in developing the Karnataka State Public Health Policy as the Member-Secretary of its Task Force. He has led committees for NABH accreditation of government hospitals in Karnataka, the implementation of NBE accreditation for DNB courses in district hospitals of Karnataka, and working towards a tobacco-free Karnataka. He played a key role in engaging with the Government of Karnataka to bring out a patient-centric Clinical Establishment Act, and through FHAK, was able to engage with insurance companies to negotiate reasonable reimbursements for hospitals while ensuring patient safety and quality care.

He has pioneered several training initiatives and certificate courses for healthcare professionals through AHPI and CAHO, as well as in collaboration with PHFI, on different topics such as healthcare quality (adopted by several State governments); healthcare communication; and mental health and substance use disorders, among others. He initiated the first technology course for medical professionals in collaboration with IISC, ISRO and PHFI.