Wednesday, August 30, 2006

 

Healthcare Manpower

New Categories

India has for long been a preferred source for Healthcare Manpower. Almost every hospital in the US has Indians (doctors who received their undergrad degrees in India) on its rolls. To address the shortage of nurses, US hospitals are looking at India.

Everyone acknowledges that an aging population in the developed countries will fuel an increase in demand for caregivers (doctors, nurses, therapists etc). Less apparent is that the search for newer drugs to keep these aging populations in reasonable health will require resources that can be deployed in activities like Drug Discovery and Clinical Research.

The Institute of Clinical Research (India) is addressing the huge demand for these resources. Set up by Shiv Raman Dugal, this organization is yet another step by an entrepreneur to make India a preferred provider of Healthcare Services to the World.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

 

Healthcare Tourism

Building a Healthcare Tourism Business

Seems to me that Indian Healthcare providers are trying to position their services as high quality (World Class) and almost 80 % cheaper than in the developed countries (mostly the US) as the primary value proposition to attract the Healthcare Tourist. By default they will end up targeting either the poor (who cannot afford to pay the high charges in US hospitals), or the Uninsured (who again cannot afford to pay the high charges in US hospitals). Considering that there is a large number of Uninsured in the US, as far as size of target audience is concerned, there is no problem. Whether it makes good business sense to target this group is another matter altogether.

Sunday, August 27, 2006

 

Healthcare Logistics

Blending IT and Logistics with Healthcare

The Thyrocare story is fascinating. Here is a company that has effectively blended IT and Logisitics with Healthcare to emerge a leading player in the laboratory testing business. Building on the idea that by collecting samples from a much larger universe and testing them at a central laboratory where major investments could be made in equipment, Thyrocare has managed to redefine the laboratory business in India, and grow revenues to Rs.30 Crores.

Hospitals have always perceived diagnostic labs as not just revenue generators, but extremely profitable activities as well. Because of which most large hospitals set up their own labs and spent time and effort to drive sample volumes (in addition to demand from their own patients). Thankfully companies like Metropolis Labs and Thyrocare are changing the rules of the game, and one gets to hear of hospitals outsourcing their labs to companies like these.

Dr.A.Velumani, CEO of Thyrocare seems confident about growing this business and diversify into diagnostics as well.

Saturday, August 26, 2006

 

Healthcare Tourism

Building a Healthcare Tourism Business

A few months ago I was at this Healthcare Tourism conference organized by the Kerala Tourism Department along with a few leading Hospitals. Either the organizers had done a great job marketing the event, or Healthcare Tourism was truly perceived as the next big thing-the conference was a total sell out and there must have been atleast 200 representatives of various healthcare orgnizations that were present on the second day of the conference.

I sat through presentations with content that bordered from the sublime to the ridiculous. Dr.Biju Krishnan who runs a Healthcare Tourism Company called Globe Health Tours (based out of the UK) had some very interesting points to make. His colleague talked about what it is that patients look for when exploring overseas options, and therefore how should Indian hospitals respond.

Everyone seems to believe that Accreditation (offered in India by the National Accrediation Board for Hospitals) is the answer to this, and some even talked about the state of their ambulance services !!! But there was very little on display that day about how these hospitals would actually reach out to the patients. Even more disappointing was the fact that there was hardly any debate about the segments that would be most attractive. Should they go behind the large population of uninsured patients in the US? And should they target this group for Hip Replacements, or Dental Procedures?

Such conferences are certainly useful since they help the industry collectively address what could become profitable opportunities. But the agenda needs to be set very carefully, and the speakers chosen with even greater care.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

 

Healthcare Tourism

Healthcare or Tourism ?

The Indian Media has been writing about opportunities in Medical Tourism for a while. But in the last few months, I see that even the US media has been talking about India being a good destination for medical treatment. I came across articles in Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and The Los Angeles Times.

A few days back, I met a friend of mine who is the Managing Director of one of India's leading Third Party Administrators, and he tells me that he is able to see a lot of interest (among insurers especially in the Middle East) to send patients to India. No doubt, people all over the world are realizing that India has the infrastructure and expertise to deliver World Class Healthcare, and I am reasonably sure that we will exceed the revenue projections made by Mckinsey in their 2002 Report.

But one thing bothers me. Is Healthcare Tourism about Healthcare, or is it about Tourism ? Sure, India is a fine Tourist destination, and it has World Class Healthcare Facilities, but how do these come together? Who is better placed to build this business, the hospitals, or the tour operators, or how should they collaborate? Is there a role that the government must play?

Since this is a Blog about Healthcare Entrepreneurs, the question uppermost in my mind is, Will the Healthcare Tourism opportunity attract entrepreneurs who will be able to build businesses with attractive valuations, pretty much the way the IT Entrepreneurs did? I tried googling for "India Healthcare Tourism", and the first few results all took me to websites of agencies that seemed to be in the travel business, but were quite unwilling to reveal too much background information.

In the stories in the US media, I came across companies like MedRetreat, IndUSHealth and PlanetHospital-US Companies (at least one set up by a Person of Indian Origin) that seem to have tied up with some of the leading Indian Hospital groups, that seem confident that these companies will channelize patients from the US to their hospitals in various parts of India.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

 

Healthcare Goes Retail

Pharmacy Chains

Here's another one. Just a couple of days back I wrote about retailers getting into the healthcare business. And looks like the healthcare retail space is attracting even more entrepreneurs. I read about Optival Health Solutions, which has already set up 53 pharmacy outlets (under the brand name of Aushadhi) in Hyderabad, and plans to add another 50 outlets by October end. Optival Health Solutions is pursuing an interesting business model says Madhukar Gangadi, the Chief Executive Officer.

The tie-up with a mall operator for retail space seems like a smart move and should help Dr.Gangadi scale up quickly.

Friday, August 18, 2006

 

Healthcare Goes Retail

Emerging Retail Formats

Healthcare in India is going Retail. Apollo Hospitals started off with Retail Pharmacies, and then moved into Retail Primary Care Centers. Over the last few years, several groups have set up retail pharmacies, and for most large hospital chains it seems de-rigeur to set up retail primary care centers.

But now, retail players are getting into mainstream healthcare, by partnering with healthcare companies. One of the more recent entries is that of the Pantaloon Group which has created a Joint Venture with Manipal Health Services, to set up 100 Care and Cure Stores across India. The first Manipal Care & Cure store will come up on a 7,000-sq. ft space on Old Madras Road in Bangalore.

The man behind this concept is Kishore Biyani, the CEO of the Future Group, which owns the Pantaloon Brand. Kishore Biyani is clearly a man in a hurry. And it seems like he will pull it off.

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