“We connect hospitals in big cities to patients in smaller ones”

The lack of connect between the patients in remote areas who need timely treatment and the world class hospitals in cities is well known to us. Now the Tattvan E-Clinics headquartered at Gurugram in the national capital, is putting the best foot forward towards solving this situation through its branded telemedicine clinics that connect doctors from world-class hospitals to patients.

In a chat with BioVoice, Mr Ayush Mishra, Co Founder, Tattvan E-Clinic shared his views on the importance of e-clinics to reach the rural population, the inspiration, and role of his company. Read on:

How do you look at the relevance and growth of E-clinics in Indian healthcare industry?

E-clinics bring a ray of hope and value addition to the Indian health sector landscape as it seen to provide the much-needed real-time consultation which is critical during an emergency. The Union government’s digital India is seen to accelerate the growth of e-clinics. The relevance of an e-clinic format is now positioned to transform the healthcare scenario in the remote regions of the country.

The name ‘Tattvan’ sounds interesting. Please share the story behind the foundation of Tattavan (inspiration, funds, journey so far, etc)?

Tattvan comes off as a breath of fresh air to the industry, providing healthcare benefit to the remote locations. Time plays a crucial role in procuring optimal care and often remote areas are left bereft from such facilities. Such acute is the situation that fairly limited or no advanced care medical doctors are stationed in tier 2 and 3 cities of India. Tattvan comes as a beacon of hope in bringing quality healthcare.

Conceptualized August 2017 with its headquarter in Gurgaon, Tattvan E-clinic brings doctors and specialists from reputed hospitals in big cities to the smaller regions, catering to their various medical requirements. These e-clinics have a team of full time doctors and nurses, available to ensure quality consultations through video conferencing and tele-medicine technology. These centres also host doctors of global repute to conduct one-on-one follow up OPDs for better diagnosis and treatment, ensuring that health is in safer hands.

What is the revenue model of your company? Are you also looking at collaborations?

Our revenue model is straight, we charge some premium on the doctor consultations. Yes, we are looking for hospitals to represent in small cities. It’s a win-win.

What role is Tattvan playing in giving a cutting edge competition to hospitals?

None. We are not competitors to hospitals in any sense. As a matter of fact, we are a brick and mortar model platform that connects hospitals in big cities to patients in small cities.

How has the telemedicine progressed in India so far? Has it really been able to help in providing access to rural patients?

The global market for telemedicine is expected to reach nearly US$ 64 Billion by 2022. The deployment of telemedicine has significantly changed the healthcare paradigm, due to various technological innovation in the field of medical device and services. The growing geriatric population coupled with rising prevalence of chronic diseases, a dearth of healthcare professionals worldwide, improvements in telecommunication infrastructure, and need for affordable treatment options due to rising healthcare costs are some of the factors expected to propel the growth of telemedicine market in the coming years. Some of the key factors inhibiting the growth of telemedicine market include lack of skilled and trained professionals in the remote areas, privacy and security concern and availability of telecommunications bandwidth.

People are now getting aware about these eclinics through radio advertisements, healthcare camps, local marketing efforts, PR activities, banners, posters etc.

Most E-Clinics in extreme rural population or even slum populations have reacted to telemedicine much better then expected. For example, a telemedicine centre in a Maharashtra slum run by Lilavati hospital sees more than 500 new cases each month

Could you please list out few key areas where telemedicine could play a great role in future?

First is that it provides access to healthcare. Second is that the cost of the patient gets reduced significantly. Third is that tele-medicine can help in practicing evidence-based medicine. Fourth it that it helps to close the huge gap of doctor-patient ratio.