1. Definition, meaning, other important aspects of your topic.

 The Healthcare industry remains one of the biggest opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors. Innovative start-ups are
utilizing new technologies to offer solutions that improve quality, lower costs, and streamline access to healthcare
services. The core market for Healthcare does not work like other markets. Because Healthcare costs are usually paid for
by a third party (insurance, government), patients are not price-sensitive and providers may not feel the need to compete
for their business. Lack of competition results in a highly artificial market plagued by problems of high costs, inconsistent
quality and poor access. But in Healthcare markets where patients pay directly for all or most of their care, providers
almost always compete on the basis of price and quality. This space is growing with new areas coming in. New business
models are being created and entrepreneurs are exploring many innovative services. Though the Healthcare enterprises
are for profit, innovative social ventures increasing play a role in Healthcare. Not only that, the business to business
entrepreneurship is also increasing, which gives more room for innovation and improvement in Healthcare.

2. Characteristics

 Purchaser Provider Split

 IT Based
 Referral System
 Service Providers Public/Private
 Service Limit/ Cashless
 Round the year Enrollment / Renewal
 Universal Coverage
 Subsidy to poor
 Contributory Family based Voluntary scheme

3.

A. Started by serial entrepreneur Amarinder Singh in Delhi in 2011, Clove Dental is a private, oral healthcare organisation
that opens and runs dental clinics in urban neighbourhoods. It all started when Amarinder was visiting a dental clinic with
his wife. " I was at the clinic for a tooth filling, and everything was going fine till I had to rinse and spit. That's when I saw
the drain was dirty and unhygienic," he tells SMBStory. This inspired him to look into opportunities in dental care, and he
found one to set up local dental clinics that were high tech, accessible, convenient, and hygienic for middle class residents
of cities and towns. To back the ambitious idea, Amarinder raised an initial amount of $1 million (around Rs 7 crore)
through personal investment, friends, family, and a few American investors. The Rs 124 crore revenue Clove Dental has
now become one of India's largest network of dental clinics. Today, it has over 330 clinics across major cities and towns in
Andhra Pradesh, Delhi-NCR, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana.

B. Dr. Phadke Labs was originally started by Achyut Phadke in 1963. It began in Mumbai as the first andrology centre - a
medical branch dealing with male fertility. However, with the proliferation of illegal pathology labs, there was a need to set
up doctor-led diagnostic centres in the city for proper testing and healthcare services. Thus, his son, Avinash, and his
wife, Vandana Phadke, started several pathology tests and services, leading to the establishment of Dr. Avinash Phadke
Pathology Labs in 1980. “We offer up to 3,000 different tests to patients, performing more than 30,000 tests a day, with a
team of 700 employees, including over 30 MD pathologists. We also have an annual co-branding partnership with SRL
Diagnostics,” Avinash says. The business’ standalone annual turnover is approximately Rs 120 crore, and caters to
10,000 patients per day through 26 laboratories set up across Mumbai, it claims.

4.

We study various diseases in-depth. We perform screening and testing of patient samples, received from across the country, to
understand the cause of the disease and accordingly guide the clinicians to reach a diagnosis. We offer up to 3,000 different tests to
patients, performing more than 30,000 tests a day, with a team of 700 employees which include over 30 MD pathologists. We also
have an annual co-branding partnership with SRL Diagnostics. Our standalone annual turnover is approximately Rs 120 crore. Over
the years, through providing high quality services and cementing strong associations, we built our legacy further and today we cater
to 10,000 patients per day through 26 laboratories set up across Mumbai, My son, Ajay Phadke, is a Centre Head and is striving to
bring next gen technology to tests and pathological services in our lab. He has developed new age tests in infertility such as Sperm
Function Assays, DNA Fragmentation, etc. SMBS: How did the company diversify into so many categories? AP: Before the
andrology centre became a pathology lab, it only performed few routine tests and investigations in male infertility. After Vandana
and I joined in 1980, we set up departments such as histopathology, microbiology, immunoassay, molecular diagnosis, and
genetics. We also brought automation to existing tests, thereby improving technological proficiency of testing and investigation
procedures at the pathology lab. In 1985, we started Histopathology testing and gradually moved towards improving and expanding
the departments through newer technologies. This continued up till 2000. Then, we started a full-fledged microbiology setup, one of
the first in India. Our lab was also one of the first labs in the private sector to get the prestigious NABL accreditation. We started
genetic testing in 2004 in association with Hema Purandare, and expanded into in-house molecular diagnostics services in 2017.
We have been continuously working towards enhancing our pathological services and our lab technology. SMBS: How are you
using digital in your business journey? AP: Patients can go online to book a home visit for their blood tests online. We offer 3,000
different tests along with comprehensive healthcare packages. Certain tests will require patients to upload prescriptions signed by
their doctors, which are further verified on the platform. Unless patients choose a preventive healthcare package or a set of
preventive tests, we ask to see the doctor’s prescription. After the test is booked online, we schedule the home visit and sample
collection timing, according to the patient’s preference. The patient immediately gets a booking confirmation via sms and email
along with the contact details of the lab and the visiting technician. The patient is digitally kept updated about all the proceedings,
right from sample collection to delivery of the sample to the arrival of test reports. Dr Avinash Phadke Pathology Labs is
headquartered in Mumbai Patients can register on the platform with a user ID and password and get access to their reports online.
Our platform is SSL encrypted, which ensures that all data shared between the patient and us remains private and confidential.
Alternatively, we also email the reports to patients. We currently undertake 250-300 home blood collections per day through each of
our labs, although some patients still prefer coming to the lab and getting the test done. SMBS: What are your challenges in terms of
bringing diagnostic healthcare to the masses? AP: The biggest challenge, from the perspectives of business growth and patient
safety, is the proliferation of unauthorised pathology labs. In India there are approximately 1.5 lakh path labs, of which 50 percent
are run by under-qualified technicians. Inexperience and lack of qualification gives rise to erroneous reports, incorrect diagnosis and
increases patient distrust in pathology. Further, the contributions of a qualified pathologist are undervalued even today in the
industry. Nearly 70 percent of clinical decisions are made on the basis of pathological findings. It is highly unfortunate that this
section of the healthcare industry is so undermined, simply due to lack of awareness of the role of pathology. Additionally, nearly 80
percent of healthcare in India is under the private sector. Private players have to incur heavy healthcare costs that arise from
importing machinery. It is necessary for the government to intervene and provide financial aid to the sector. With a high population
count such as ours, it is impossible for one section of the industry to bear the expenditure. Cost burden must be lifted through
public-private partnership healthcare schemes. SMBS: What is your advice to people who want to set up their business in the same
sector? AP: There is a common notion that pathology is a business. It not a business, it is a medical profession. Business is a by-
product of the services you provide. The decisions we take impact patients’ lives directly. So unless you have certain medical
experience, not necessarily in the field of pathology, but in other branches of the medical or healthcare industry, it is not advisable to
start a business in this field. The healthcare industry is expenditure-heavy. India does not have the technological capacity to provide
healthcare accessibility to every part of the country. Neither do we have enough cost benefit to invest in or build the necessary
machinery ourselves. Hence, there is a cascading effect on the patients i.e, a lack of access to healthcare, key tools of healthcare,
and medical professionals. In today’s time, starting a laboratory from scratch is a difficult prospect. It becomes a lot easier if you
have a pre-set up. Starting an individual lab, then growing and sustaining it will become difficult, as there is already a lot of
competition, especially in metro cities. If you want to start an individual lab, it would be advisable to start it in tier II and tier III cities,
where there is a greater lack of good healthcare facilities. SMBS: What is the way forward for Dr Avinash Phadke Labs? AP:
Currently, we are primarily focussing on western suburbs, and are in the process of expanding further within Mumbai and Navi
Mumbai. This is a step towards making our special diagnostic services available to people through state-of-the-art facilities in every
part of the city. In the near future we also aim to expand to other tier I and tier II cities in Maharashtra. We are looking at
collaborating with doctor clinics and hospitals and working together to provide quality and affordable healthcare to patients in every
city. Finally, we are furthering developments in molecular diagnostics and genomics, which are fast-growing branches and will boom
in the coming years.