When Sunil (identify modified) from Thiruvananthapuram was identified with a number of anterior lipomas — fatty lumps that seem on the neck, chest and shoulders, he was informed they would wish surgical excision. For sure, he was anxious. He pictured the powerful street that lay forward — contacting a very good surgeon, getting his insurance coverage papers prepared, and naturally, the nervousness that accompanies the above.

Sunil is okay right now.

Ask him about his expertise, and he remembers it to be some of the seamless and reasonably priced he has had. He credit a Kerala-based healthcare startup for his calm nerves all through the process and even later.

The cofounder of Mykare Well being, Senu Sam is elated when he hears tales like these. He sees it as a end result of the objectives of the startup, which was launched to offer individuals in South Indian Tier 1 and a couple of cities with entry to hassle-free providers with regards to deliberate, non-emergency surgical procedures.

The startup does this by a distinctive mannequin that takes care of the affected person’s wants from the primary to the final contact level, guaranteeing they’re in good palms. Restoration and relaxation have to be the one issues on the affected person’s thoughts, they imagine.

As The Higher India catches up with Senu and the co-founders Rahmathulla T M and Joash Philipose — all of their mid-30s and hailing from Kerala — it’s fascinating to notice how private expertise intertwined with their tech prowess led them to launch a one-of-a-kind healthcare initiative.

Necessity is the mom of invention

A stint of 13 years within the healthcare area as head of gross sales, launched Senu to 2 issues — a blaring want for introducing tech into the sector and two individuals who shared his mindset. Oblivious that one in every of them would rise to CTO at Mykare and the opposite would share his experience as chief product officer, they turned quick buddies.

Years later, as they bend their heads collectively over concepts of scaling Mykare Well being, Senu says their experience is unparalleled.

What units the initiative other than different healthcare startups is the hand-holding that sufferers are assured of, proper from getting in contact with the proper surgeon to the planning of the surgical procedures — together with orthopaedic and vascular care, urology, proctology, laparoscopic procedures, ophthalmology and beauty surgical procedure.

Recalling his problem when his father was unwell when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Senu says Mykare Well being is designed in a method that no affected person ought to need to undergo the identical.

“My household again in my hometown was anxious as my father needed to endure surgical procedure,” he shares. “Although we managed to find a hospital and a physician who would do the surgical procedure, I observed there have been so many gaps. There was no method I may verify the physician’s background, see if his experience lay within the surgical procedure he was about to do on my dad, and even get a transparent concept of the pricing of the complete process or be assured of the quantity that might be reimbursed by insurance coverage.”

This led Senu to attract parallels with how the decrease center class had been disadvantaged of fundamental healthcare options. Having labored within the healthcare area in metropolitan cities, Senu knew the above can be non-negotiable for the city wealthy.

“I realised there have been so many individuals who had been on the mercy of hospitals and docs that they’d no alternative aside from to take what they got,” he notes. An intense want to create one thing that might clear up these looming issues, coupled with a zeal for entrepreneurship, led Senu to provide you with the concept of a healthcare startup.

The months forward had been fraught with analysis and pinpointing the precise issues that wanted consideration.

Mykare Well being — a affected person’s greatest pal

On his predominant cause for spearheading Mykare Well being, out of all the opposite sectors he may faucet into, Senu says, “I’ve realised that ‘care’ is lacking in healthcare for the center and decrease revenue class in India. By Mykare Well being, I need to deliver it again.”

His surveys within the subsequent few months launched him to the bigger points that he wanted to work on to create a dent within the healthcare trade.

“I went to over 50 hospitals in South India to watch how issues labored and what affected person care seemed like. I can say the vast majority of them are unorganised and unbranded. They lacked visibility. So, the remedy journey is fragmented and full of a number of operational inefficiencies. It isn’t that these hospitals are dangerous. It’s simply that they need to uplift the affected person care. I understood that if I may construct a requirement for these small and medium-sized hospitals, and provides seamless expertise for the sufferers, I may create alternative,” he explains.

Joash shares this view. “The present healthcare system creates important limitations for sufferers, docs, and hospitals alike resulting in quite a few challenges, together with decreased high quality of care, pointless delays, and lack of transparency.”

Mykare Well being is trying to pitch in and do issues in a different way.

Presently, the startup follows a stringent vetting course of whereas onboarding docs. Their {qualifications} are reviewed and background checks are performed. For the chosen hospitals too, the process is identical. An examination of registration paperwork and on-line suggestions is reviewed and checked towards the set of 30 parameters that Mykare Well being has in place. These embody the Nationwide Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare (NABH) certificates.

Mykare’s overarching purpose is to ease the affected person’s journey and construct India’s largest healthcare community at an reasonably priced value. They do that by assuring the affected person of saving as much as 30 p.c on their surgical procedure bills and postoperative care. The startup’s tie-ups with NBFCs and fintech platforms allow sufferers to get zero-interest loans too.

Synthetic intelligence drastically helps to fine-tune the processing with the auto-updated dashboard and real-time updates.

From the primary to final touchpoint

Elaborating on the mannequin, Senu says a affected person can choose town and the process they’re in search of on the Mykare Well being platform. “The pre-medical counselling staff will then name the affected person to grasp their necessities after which move the affected person particulars to the medical counselling staff. This staff will name the affected person to ease them of any worries concerning the surgical procedure.”

Senu got here throughout a report that steered that 70 p.c of sufferers don’t endure surgical procedure due to the concern of it. “These fears are due to a number of issues. We need to ease them,” Senu emphasises.

As soon as the affected person’s paperwork and studies are in place, a session is organized with the physician who shall be performing the surgical procedure. Rahmathulla explains that so as to add a private contact to the digital platform, they’ve launched devoted care coordinators ‘KareBuddy’ throughout the Mykare Well being ecosystem.

“These people grow to be dependable factors of contact, providing personalised steering and assist all through the remedy. Appearing as advocates for the sufferers, they help with appointment scheduling, make clear medical info, and guarantee seamless coordination amongst healthcare suppliers.”

On the day of the appointment, one of many care coordinators reaches the affected person’s home, picks them up in a cab and takes them to the physician, who will handle all their questions and considerations.

The following step is insurance coverage.

Senu remembers an incident of a supply agent who was affected by piles and wanted surgical procedure however his insurance coverage was rejected.

“The agent’s lengthy hours on the bike worsened it. However the insurance coverage firm needed to reject his declare as on the day of admission he had not completed any deliveries,” he provides.

These are the anomalies within the system.

Mykare has an in-house insurance coverage staff that decodes all of the fantastic print of insurance coverage earlier than surgical procedure and conveys the reimbursement the affected person can anticipate. “If somebody has a cash crunch, we guarantee them zero value EMI. There may be full transparency by the method.”

As soon as every thing is in place, the affirmation paperwork are despatched to the affected person of their native language. As soon as once more, on the day of the surgical procedure, the affected person is picked up and brought to the hospital. Following discharge, the care coordinator drops them again residence. A follow-up go to ensues in a month by an in-house physician.

Till now, Mykare Well being has been related to 250 hospitals in 12 cities in South India and has 75 docs as a part of their staff. They’ve counselled over one lakh sufferers and seen over 14,000 surgical procedures.

Hailing from a Tier 3 village in Kerala, having such a lofty imaginative and prescient wasn’t straightforward. “Entrepreneurship was a distant dream,” shares Senu. However wanting on the superb journey that lies forward, he smiles with satisfaction at what he has been capable of create.

Edited by Pranita Bhat