Establishing a digital healthcare network

Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Ltd promises the best clinical outcomes with the introduction of AskApollo, a 24/7 service for appointments and online advice

The future of healthcare will not be based on the number of new hospital beds that come up, but on the number of patients who can actually access services through the digital medium.
Similarly, the healthcare industry will increasingly focus on preventive measures, encouraging people, especially those predisposed to certain diseases based on their DNA, to visit diagnostic clinics and labs even before the onset of the ailments, says Suneeta Reddy, Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Ltd.
"The next wave in healthcare is all about ensuring shorter stays at hospitals, deploying high-tech equipment and discharging patients at a faster rate," says the Chennai-based Reddy. "The utilisation of beds is important. Traditionally we could treat 10,000 patients on 200 beds, now we can handle 20,000 patients."
The widespread proliferation of smartphones and access to fast data would also ensure that a patient can take images and send it to the doctor and get advice or even be treated digitally.
Her company features a service called AskApollo that provides 24/7 services to patients. A person can schedule an appointment with a doctor or specialist and get online advice. "We plan to reach out to three to four million patients through our digital network," says Reddy. "Anyone with a phone will be able to get through to an Apollo doctor."
According to Reddy, the Apollo group, which is one of the largest healthcare companies in India, is also focusing on prevention as a powerful tool to tackle health-related problems. "We have clinics and labs across the country for patients," she says.
The Apollo group has about 7,600 beds at present and this is expected to go up to 10,000 by 2018. "But future growth will not happen through big hospitals, but through smaller daycare centres with facilities for post-surgical treatment," she says. "We are not focusing on heavy capital expenditure, but are putting capital in creating a digital network."
When asked about the reasons for Apollo Hospitals attracting a large number of medical tourists from all over the world, including the Gulf and the Middle East, Reddy says it is because of its excellent clinical work.
"Patients enjoy a beautiful experience in Singapore," points out Reddy. "But it is extremely expensive. At Apollo, the clinical outcomes are the best and cost is very reasonable. That is a value proposition no other country can meet."
Clinical excellence is in the DNA of the Apollo Hospitals group, she adds. "You can build a fancy hospital and make a patient comfortable, but if the clinical work is not outstanding - just good - then it is really not worth it."
The group pioneered the concept of clinical excellence, which led to international quality accreditation like JCI. It also developed centres of excellence in cardiac sciences, orthopaedics, neurosciences, emergency care, cancer and organ transplantation.
Chennai, which has emerged as a medical tourism hub of India, is witnessing a growth of 15-20 per cent in arrivals, explains Reddy. "About a third of our patients are from the Middle East."
The Apollo group has good relationship with many governments in the region, she says. It also manages a hospital in Muscat. "Our connection and bonding with the region is strong," she adds.
But the challenge medical tourists face in India is ironically the need for a medical visa, which the government introduced a few years ago. Many patients in different parts of the world are not aware that India has a medical visa category and come on a regular tourist visa.
Hospitals have been told not to admit patients who do not have a medical visa; they can only opt for OPD treatment. Reddy feels the government should either eliminate the medical visa category, or issue the relevant visa at the airport.
The Apollo Hospitals group was established in 1983 by Dr Prathap Reddy. The Chennai hospital was the first corporate hospital in India, and over the decades established itself as home to the largest cardiac practice in India with over 160,000 cardiac surgeries.
It is also one of the world's largest private cancer care provider and runs the world's leading solid organ transplant programme. The group has a presence across hospitals, pharmacies, primary care and diagnostic clinics and telemedicine units across 10 countries.
It also has a presence in health insurance services, global projects consultancy, colleges of nursing and hospital management and a research foundation with focus on global clinical trials, epidemiological studies, stem cell and genetic research, and the first proton therapy centre across Asia, Africa and Australia.

• India