EasyClinic.in April 19, 2008
Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Healthcare , add a commentHealthcare IT is a relatively new domain, especially when we consider clinical information systems (CIS). In most of the advanced western economies, this market is well defined and with plenty of competition (and I should know, since I’ve been in the same for last 8 years
). It’s heartening to see Indian homegrown efforts now emerging in this space. EasyClinic is a clinic management and electronic health record system that is designed and developed exclusively for doctors in India.
Their first release- ‘Easy Clinic Express’ has been in beta at about 10 sites in India. It was officially launched on 15th April 2008 and is aimed at single doctor practices. Their second offering, ‘Easy Clinic Professional’ is due June 2008 and is designed for multi-doctor, multi-specialty clinics. In December 2008 they plan to release ‘Easy Clinic Enterprise’ for small to medium nursing homes and hospitals.
The website is neat and professional looking with easy navigation to product features, a demo and some purchase info. From what I see in the demo screenshots, the product seems to follow suit. The two main components offered are Practice Management (does the scheduling, billing etc.) and Electronic Health Record (stores and abstracts the clinical info). Having no personal experience with the product, I can’t endorse the functionality except that the overall structure and framework of the offering seems to be competitive with the US systems that I deal with.
Easy Clinic is developed by Novel Medicare Solutions Pvt Ltd (incorporated 2005) and is based out of Kolkata. The company is self-funded by the founder Girish Mohata (India-born Australian entrepreneur who teaches at Bond University and is an active researcher in Medical Informatics, Data warehousing and Data Mining).
If I could read the tea leaves, I’d see EasyClinic as another sign of the emerging next transformation of the Indian healthcare industry, one where IT starts playing a role in enabling more efficient and standardized care delivery. At the very least, it’s a sign of a formal business models emerging around medical informatics in India. Goodluck and keep us posted, Girish!
IndianMedicalSites.in March 9, 2008
Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Healthcare , 3commentsI found IndianMedicalSites.in while surfing for Indian medical informatics content online. It seems to be a serious effort by qualified folks (its founder, Vasumathi Sriganesh, is an MLIS professional with experience as Chief Librarian) so I thought I’ll catalog it at eIndia.
Having gone through the Indian medical education system, I know that the access to online resources with clinical information is rarely of any practical utility. The sister company of IndianMedicalSites.in is Quality Medical Knowledge Foundation and it signals a change in that regard- they offer literature search services, document delivery, training programs and other products aimed at the medical user community. Very neat business to be in- I’m sure that there is a great untapped market there.
Anyways, back to IndianMedicalSites.in. It’s a good directory of all Indian websites related to medicine. The content is not much, but I think that is also the fault of not enough websites being out there to catalog. I found interesting links in the ‘Books & Magazines Online’ category, and was pleasantly surprised to find some listings in the ‘Doctors’ category (Check out Dr.Arun Mehra who owns www.bypasssurgery.in- not bad!!). Overall, like I said before, it’s a good resource to bookmark if you are in the medical profession. I hope the content keeps growing.
MeraMD January 19, 2008
Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Healthcare , 1 comment so farMeraMD launched this month in an attempt to be an online directory for Indian doctors and healthcare institutions. Their press release claims a listing of over 10000 hospitals/clinics and over 25000 doctors in India, but my search for a cardiologist in Delhi didn’t return any results.
I know, I know. I’m over-critical and they might be ramping up on content currently, having been public for barely few days. But my point here is to highlight the increasing tendency of web startups- they all seem to be anxious to get out there as soon as possible, without giving much thought to getting it right or the first user impression. It’s something that is not limited to Indian web startups, only more prominent in them.
The site has better than average design. They also go over the oft-ignored question of ‘How do we make money’ on their About page: The ubiquitous advertising-based business model with free user access to content. The interesting (and possibly viable) twist is their registration-based revenue from doctors and hospitals. That might actually sustain MeraMD, given the fact that healthcare insurance is taking off in India and the web is emerging as a infrastructure to some extent.
I couldn’t find any public information about big names or pockets backing MeraMD. Some facts point towards a NRI benefactor/founder though: choice of name (MD is an abbreviation more common in US), above-average design, somewhat thought through business model, to name a few. Lookout for more healthcare related web startups for India- the wave is coming.
eHealthOpinion September 13, 2007
Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Healthcare, Technology , add a commenteHealthOpinion is an upcoming Healthcare IT startup by Ahmedabad-based MediSoft Telemedicine Pvt. Ltd. Launched on 24th July 2007, eHealthopinion aims to provide a platform for patients and doctors to connect remotely.
Basic idea is that patients (along with referring doctor) can initiate an online ‘case’ that can then be taken up by one of the registered ‘expert’ physicians. The service is free for the patient (and referring doctor) to submit the case, and free for the expert doctor to have a basic response functionality. The business model seems to be around a paid ‘premium’ membership for expert doctors, not sure if eHealthOpinion also takes a cut of the fee charged by expert doctor per case.
I think eHealthOpinion is a great networking tool for doctors- it a viable alternative for building professional relationships by directing referral traffic from a generalist to a specialist physician. It’s also an avenue for distressed patients to get virtual second-opinions, and can play a significant role as our healthcare economy moves online.
Having said that, the scope of clinical conditions that can be assessed just on the basis of written text is limited. Telemedicine is a spectrum of solutions- it can range from a simple phonecall/email to remote-monitoring (like ideatel or visicu) or domain solutions like PACS and robotic surgery. Even telepathology and teledermatology are on the horizon. Every one of these involves a wide array of technologies to solve clinical conditions and/or help care providers. Another issue with any web 2.0 solution is that the audience is fickle, they may start using the site in droves, but leave just as quickly when the initial enthusiasm dies. eHealthOpinion has impressive numbers for a fresh startup- 175 patients, 109 doctors and 27 hospitals from 20 countries had registered as this post goes online (official stats from the founder via email on 13th September 2007).
The website is quite professionally done with a neat design. Since it focuses on a relatively unconventional concept (of online consultations), it’d have been prudent to include a “How it works” section on homepage. Although the concept becomes clear once you click on the FAQ pages (buried in the menu), it’s still a good idea to allay the newcomers anxiety right away.
MediSoft has been operational since 2001, and besides eHealthOpinion, they have another product called ‘Tele Doctor 2.0‘ which is a desktop-based telemedicine system. Company statistics show that it has been installed in 105 locations in five countries. It’s heartening to see Indian entrepreneurs taking tangible steps in defining this upcoming market already.
YosCare.in September 7, 2007
Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Healthcare, Technology , 1 comment so farYosCare is the product website for Yos Technologies, a Bangalore-based healthcare IT startup. The company seems to have formally come together in May 2007 when it secured its first round of funding- $1.25 million. Among its angel investors is the notable Rajesh Jain who founded IndiaWorld in 1995 and sold it to Sify in 1999 for $115 million.
Back to YosCare, though. It’s projected as a ‘e-Health Gateway’ that connects providers, patients, hospitals, Labs, Pharmacies and other healthcare players together. A provider to be able to access medical record in an emergency, or to remind the patient of an appointment are few of the much-needed improvements that YosCare can provide to Indian healthcare. But, as usual, I’m going to play the devil’s advocate more than the optimist.
In my view, having foreigners in the website graphics (even though its an India-focused company) is least of YosCare problems. YosCare has a lofty goal overall- the IT infrastructure and basic applications need to be pervasive enough in Indian healthcare economy for such product to be commercially viable. Although YosCare is sticking to international standards like HL7 , it doesn’t really matter If most pharmacies/labs/hospitals the patient goes to don’t have IT systems (and in the rare chance they do, it’s not necessarily HL7 compliant). I know its a chicken-and-egg situation, but that’s the Achilles heel- the overall penetration of IT as such is low for YosCare to leverage it effectively for a “gateway”. That argument aside, a remote-hosted model needs a minimum level of connectivity. What happens when the connection is down?
Second issue is around the consumer-controlled Personal Health Record. How many of the inundating patient population today have the initiative or (more importantly) the means to access/maintain/own their ‘personal’ health records? Insignificant fraction. That’s not because Indians don’t value their personal health info, but because they don’t have an incentive for doing so. Even in paperwork-heavy US healthcare, PHR’s haven’t taken off because most consumers (who have acute health issues) don’t see the value for it. Mobile-based health info is also an exaggerated concept today- besides an appointment reminder and few other logistical items, what else can you send in an SMS? and how secure is that mode for personal information?
Anyways, I do applaud YosCare on being one of the pioneers in a market plagued with difficulties (they have a nice ‘beta’ sign overlay on the logo). They seem to have a competent team and decent funding, I hope all my dismaying rant about the market conditions is proved wrong by them.
TeleDoc.org July 8, 2007
Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Healthcare, Non-Profit, Technology , add a commentTeleDoc is a project of Jiva Institute, an India-based non-profit research and development organization that aims to foster sustainable development by producing innovations. Launched as a pilot project in 15 villages in Haryana in April 2003, TeleDoc provides handheld mobile phone devices to village-based health workers in India, permitting them to communicate with doctors remotely.
TeleDoc uses java-enabled mobile telephones to provide real-time ability to record and transmit diagnostic information that doctors can analyze and then prescribe medication and treatment. At a regional office, medicines are prepared and picked up by field workers, and delivered to patients in their homes through a network of pharmacies and delivery personnel. The approximate cost of this entire process is 70 rupees (US$1.50) per consultation, which is pretty impressive.
TeleDoc won the World Summit Award for eHealth in 2003 at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva, Switzerland. Jiva is an organization based out of Faridabad (Haryana) promoting Ayurveda techniques.
In my view, TeleDoc signifies yet another indigenous IT solution to healthcare issues in India. There are plenty of such isolated efforts in existence today (just read about Andhra Pradesh and TamilNadu government’s Disease Surveillance Solution implemented by Voxiva) and hopefully will be the agents of change.
HISPIndia.org July 8, 2007
Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Healthcare, Non-Profit, Technology , comments closedHISPIndia.org is a not-for-profit organization that supports design, development and implementation of Public Health Information Systems in India. The team behind it comes from University of Oslo (Norway), SCTIMST (Kerala), IIITM (Kerala).
Health Information System Project (HISP) activities started in India in 2000, and the resultant software (DHIS- District Health Information Software) software was deployed in the state of Andhra Pradesh. As the project grew, it led to formation of HISPIndia as an NGO in 2003. Today, HISPIndia has about 35 full-time staff and is active in Kerala, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, and soon in Karnataka.
HISP projects are also being run in other developing countries- Ethiopia, South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania , Botswana, Malawi, Nigeria, Zambia and Vietnam. As a ‘network’, HISP aims to strengthen open source health software, share best practices and deploy the technology working directly with health services of each country. Masters and doctoral students from University of Oslo leverage HISP for research activities. If you are into Healthcare IT, check out their software resources section and wiki.
MediAssistIndia June 28, 2007
Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Healthcare , add a commentThird party administrators (TPA’s) are financial transaction administrators that handle the processing and paperwork for retirement and/or insurances plans.
I was still speculating over the rise of health insurance in India, when I found out about MediAssist. They are a health insurance focused TPA operational in India. MediAssist provides ‘cashless hospitalization’ and facilitate reimbursement claims process both ways (for insurer and insured). A partnership venture of Nadathur Holdings and Reliance Health Ventures, MediAssist services 15 insurance companies with it’s 21 branches.
Damn. I thought it was early market for health insurance by itself, and didn’t even think of TPA’s arriving at the scene. Anyways, I’m still sticking to my theory that the health insurance market is very embryonic and the money being spent is just to have a foot-in-the-door when market arrives. In this article with ExpressHealth, MediAssist COO talks about using DRG’s going forward. I’m not sure if using a US-based classification system would work for India, let alone the fact that it’s not the most perfect system in itself. Again, it all points to the brash investment in health insurance and neglecting the actual problems that plague healthcare in India.
StarHealth.in June 5, 2007
Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Healthcare , add a commentIt’s always exciting to find out about the changing healthcare business in India. My latest pick is Star Health and Allied Insurance India which is arguably the most prominent and the only stand-alone health insurance company in Indian market today.
Star Health was formed with a capital base of Rs.105 crores, backed by Oman Insurance Company and bunch of prominent middle-eastern and Indian personalities. If you read the recent press, the big numbers will make your head spin- Star has reportedly earned a premium of Rs.100 crore in it’s first year by selling health policies to 25 million people through it 95 or so offices and plans to setup 125 outpatient clinics within the next year.
The company offers a host of products and services around healthcare, starting from basic hospitalization reimbursement to specialized NRI care and travel related health insurance. It’s a sign that the forces in Insurance industry are realizing the worth of indian market.
I personally think that effective health insurance needs infrastructure that can support accurate recording, filing and validation of claims- and that piece is still missing in the Indian market. There is zero accountability in medicine today and everyone knows that fake bills can be easily procured. Companies like Star Health are probably ready to take the hit of overbilling just to get established in the market (and establish the market itself), realizing that there is a ton of money to be made once the processes and accountability issues are resolved.
Fine print is that this is good news for folks in fields like Insurance, Healthcare and IT (specially Healthcare IT). Opening up new markets like health insurance means that India will need talent that can make it happen.
Update: StarHealth is launching a coverage plan for HIV-infected people this month (July’07). More evidence to it’s growth..
MedicalTourismIndia April 4, 2007
Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Healthcare , 5commentsMedicalTourismIndia is focused on promoting travel to India for healthcare. Although medical tourism is not a new phenomenon, it has surfaced in a formal way recently with such websites. This site is owned by Erco Travels (based out of Delhi, since 1999) - they operate in India, Mauritius, Netherlands and Belgium.
Although the site graphics broke down in FireFox 2.0, they looked fine when I switched to IE. The site content is a curious mix- although majority talks about Indian hospitals and facilities available, the pure travel links are oddly right next to medical ones (Once you click on any hospital name, bottom menu brings up a section about “India Tour Packages”).
Health Tourism concept is all fine with me, but being a healthcare professional myself, I feel a bit odd referring to medical care as “Medical Travel Packages” and “Hospital Packages”. I don’t think that placing leisure travel packages right next to medical ones helps either.
I recently read Oren Harari’s ‘Break From the Pack’ that talks about commoditization of everything. Clayton Christensen also talks about commoditization of healthcare in this article (needs subscription). 
I guess blurring the line between tourism and care delivery is a step towards it, although I’m still uncomfortable with the way it’s being marketed… 