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A GOOGLE OF HEALTHCARE
For a patient, a search for a good doctor is one of
the pain areas he can happily live without. Often the sole solution to
finding a good healthcare practitioner or a diagnostic centre is asking
someone else who has had a pleasant experience or doing a random search
asking random people. Ravi Virmani, founder and managing director of CrediHealth.com,
dissected the issue and believes information based on patient feedback is a
panacea for the problem. An 18-month stint at Max Healthcare helped him
understand the issues that patients have to deal with, like finding an
empathetic and the right doctor, and the costs involved. The result is the
self-funded CrediHealth. com, which went live in January.
An industry veteran and founding managing director
of Hewitt Associates India and former COO of Max Healthcare, Virmani sees
CrediHealth solving the people’s problem of looking for the right doctor or
a diagnostic centre, besides being an additional sales channel for the
hospitals.
Says Virmani: “Cost of sale for a hospital is
12-15% [that is, commissions given to doctors to send patients for
check-ups]. In our model patients choose a hospital based on actual patient
feedback that we collect, allowing for a more informed decision.”
Started in Delhi NCR region CrediHealth has tie-ups
with 55 hospitals and diagnostic centres, including Max, Apollo, Fortis,
Ganga Ram and, boasts of a roster of 500 doctors on the portal, besides
50,000 unique visitors so far.
While the model helps a patient crowdsource a
doctor, be it a cardiologist or a dentist, users can also seek second
opinions from doctors at any of the registered hospitals. Explains Virmani:
“A patient may have consulted a doctor but wants a second opinion. For a
fee, equivalent to the out-patient department charges of a hospital, a
patient can seek a review from another doctor.” The doctor will evaluate
any X-Ray, blood test, ultrasound reports etc to offer the second opinion.
“We give people informed decisions. Our goal is to
build a Google of
healthcare,” adds Virmani. By May Credi-Health plans to expand to Mumbai,
Bangalore, Pune and Chandigarh.
Virmani says CrediHealth is a one of its kind in
the country. Overseas there are start-ups like Healthgrade.com in the US,
but even they differ from CrediHealth’s model. “They don’t offer discounts
to patients. Patients registering on our site for hospital visits can get
10-15% off their OPD charges,” says Virmani.
Apart from providing information, second opinions
and patient registration, CrediHealth.com’s team of 25 includes content
writers who bring out reports on 45 common procedures—cardiac, cancer, knee
operation, hip replacement and so on.
Virmani is also targeting medical tourists.
“International patients are fleeced. In Delhi
NCR region alone medic a l t o u r i s m i s a
180-crore business annually. Touts at airports misguide patients. Now they
can register with us before flying to India. They will be fully aware where
to go and whom to contact once they register with Credi-Health,” says
Virmani.
CrediHealth claims a robust business model — like
taking a cut from hospitals for business generated through the site, in
what it calls performance incentive. Another is a subscription fee from
standalone centres like a hair transplant centre or a dental clinic that
registers with CrediHealth. But the site is yet to make money. “That’s a
conscious decision. For first six months we will create awareness. The
challenge is to change the habits of people,” Virmani adds.
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