BANGALORE: Even as more super-specialty hospitals spring up across Indian cities, a number of entrepreneurs in the booming healthcare sector are taking a contrarian approach and recreating the old model of the family physician.
Responding to demands from middle and upper-middle classes for a family doctor who knows his patients and their medical history intimately, these new ventures are creating chains of neighbourhood clinics that offer the intimacy of personal care alongside the benefits of digitised patient records and online referrals to specialists when needed.
"I was sick and tired of going to hospitals, needless tests and procedures," says TRanganathan, a former professor at IITBombay, who moved to Bangalore with his family seven years ago. His quest for a local physician ended this year when he found Modern Family Doctor, a startup that has set up a chain of clinics in India's technology capital.
"A good family doctor is affordable, knows your medical history and does not scare you by prescribing needless tests," says the 79-year-old, who now works as a management consultant.
In the past year, nearly half-a-dozen such startups have come up across Indian cities aiming to re-establish a bond between patients and a physician.
Modern Family Doctor, founded by former Cafe Coffee Day CEO Naresh Malhotra, operates 13 clinics in Bangalore and was born out of a personal need. Malhotra found that his aged mother needed to visit a hospital for every little ailment and even a casual blood pressure test.
Execution is Key for These Clinics
Malhotra's chain of local clinics under a single umbrella is modelled on the way retail outlets are rolled out, a business format he is well versed with. In the next three years, Modern Family Doctor aims to have 300 clinics across Pune, Chennai and Delhi.
"Execution is key for these consumer-facing businesses. A lot depends on the business model, scalability and a team that can execute," says Ash Lilani, president of Silicon Valley Bank India, which invested Rs 10 crore in Modern Family Doctor after Malhotra pitched the idea to him on a flight.
This year, the healthcare and life sciences sector has received the most funds from risk capital investors, with $817 million invested in 29 deals, according to data research firm Venture Intelligence.
Other marquee funds such as Catamaran, set up by Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy, are also joining the action. Catamaran, along with Reliance Venture Asset Management and US-based BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners, invested 20.5 crore in Mumbai-based Wellspring Healthcare founded by the father-son team of Gautam and Kaushik Sen. The senior Sen, Gautam, is a general surgeon and oncologist while his son used to work at consulting firm Bain & Co in Delhi and Boston.
Also in Bangalore, doctors-turned-entrepreneurs Santanu Chattopadhyay and Shantanu Rahman have set up a chain of 14 clinics through their venture NationWide Primary Healthcare Services. This chain of family physicians and paediatric clinics expects to have a nationwide network of 250 clinics. Chattopadhyay, who worked at the London Medical School, teamed up with Rahman, who had a stint with the UK's National Health Services, to set up the venture. Experts such as Devi Prasad Shetty, cardiac surgeon and founder of Narayana Hrudayalaya, say reviving the concept of a family doctor is an excellent trend.
"A hospital is the last place that a patient should visit; continuity of healthcare is important," he says. Most of these new ventures are using technology to provide value-added services to patients. These include web services that schedule appointments with local doctors. Among the ventures that have sprouted in this area isPracto, founded by two graduates from the National Institute of Technology, Surathkal.
Practo's platform manages 10,000 appointments a day with 8,000 local doctors who run neighbourhood clinics. Last month, Sequoia Capital invested 25 crore in Practo. "You can discover a good food joint or order pizza online, but cannot schedule an appointment with a local doctor," says Shashank ND, the chief executive of Practo.
Responding to demands from middle and upper-middle classes for a family doctor who knows his patients and their medical history intimately, these new ventures are creating chains of neighbourhood clinics that offer the intimacy of personal care alongside the benefits of digitised patient records and online referrals to specialists when needed.
"I was sick and tired of going to hospitals, needless tests and procedures," says TRanganathan, a former professor at IITBombay, who moved to Bangalore with his family seven years ago. His quest for a local physician ended this year when he found Modern Family Doctor, a startup that has set up a chain of clinics in India's technology capital.
"A good family doctor is affordable, knows your medical history and does not scare you by prescribing needless tests," says the 79-year-old, who now works as a management consultant.
In the past year, nearly half-a-dozen such startups have come up across Indian cities aiming to re-establish a bond between patients and a physician.
Modern Family Doctor, founded by former Cafe Coffee Day CEO Naresh Malhotra, operates 13 clinics in Bangalore and was born out of a personal need. Malhotra found that his aged mother needed to visit a hospital for every little ailment and even a casual blood pressure test.
Execution is Key for These Clinics
Malhotra's chain of local clinics under a single umbrella is modelled on the way retail outlets are rolled out, a business format he is well versed with. In the next three years, Modern Family Doctor aims to have 300 clinics across Pune, Chennai and Delhi.
"Execution is key for these consumer-facing businesses. A lot depends on the business model, scalability and a team that can execute," says Ash Lilani, president of Silicon Valley Bank India, which invested Rs 10 crore in Modern Family Doctor after Malhotra pitched the idea to him on a flight.
This year, the healthcare and life sciences sector has received the most funds from risk capital investors, with $817 million invested in 29 deals, according to data research firm Venture Intelligence.
Other marquee funds such as Catamaran, set up by Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy, are also joining the action. Catamaran, along with Reliance Venture Asset Management and US-based BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners, invested 20.5 crore in Mumbai-based Wellspring Healthcare founded by the father-son team of Gautam and Kaushik Sen. The senior Sen, Gautam, is a general surgeon and oncologist while his son used to work at consulting firm Bain & Co in Delhi and Boston.
Also in Bangalore, doctors-turned-entrepreneurs Santanu Chattopadhyay and Shantanu Rahman have set up a chain of 14 clinics through their venture NationWide Primary Healthcare Services. This chain of family physicians and paediatric clinics expects to have a nationwide network of 250 clinics. Chattopadhyay, who worked at the London Medical School, teamed up with Rahman, who had a stint with the UK's National Health Services, to set up the venture. Experts such as Devi Prasad Shetty, cardiac surgeon and founder of Narayana Hrudayalaya, say reviving the concept of a family doctor is an excellent trend.
"A hospital is the last place that a patient should visit; continuity of healthcare is important," he says. Most of these new ventures are using technology to provide value-added services to patients. These include web services that schedule appointments with local doctors. Among the ventures that have sprouted in this area isPracto, founded by two graduates from the National Institute of Technology, Surathkal.
Practo's platform manages 10,000 appointments a day with 8,000 local doctors who run neighbourhood clinics. Last month, Sequoia Capital invested 25 crore in Practo. "You can discover a good food joint or order pizza online, but cannot schedule an appointment with a local doctor," says Shashank ND, the chief executive of Practo.
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