Interview with Insights Success
Previously , Manasije was the Chief Executive Officer of Max Bupa . Under his leadership , Max Bupa witnessed exceptional growth , making it the fastest growing health insurer . Prior to this , he had a two-decade career with HSBC . He served as the Managing Director of HSBC Invest Direct and held senior positions in Strategy , Retail Banking , Operations , E-commerce , Trade Finance , Treasury and Financial Control .
Manasije is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers , UK . He is an Economics graduate from Delhi University and an MBA from XLRI , Jamshedpur .
3 ) What are the challenges your company has faced on the road to success ? Our biggest challenge is to change behavior . Consumers tend to ignore symptoms initially and try to selfmedicate . After the things get serious , they directly seek a specialist . Most of us do not regularly consult a family or primary care doctor . This behavior leads to higher costs and poor health outcomes . IHO is tackling this with the launch of vHealth by Aetna . Today 40 % of our patients are repeat customers . Patients realise effective consultations can happen over the phone or video . The post-consultation rating of our doctors is at 4.5 out of 5 .
4 ) What are the benefits gained by your clients while doing business with you ? Our team of doctors completed over 15,000 consults since its launch in May 2017 and we are delighted with the patient feedback . Our doctors at vHealth were able to provide the appropriate diagnosis and treatment for 70 % of the patients without referring them for physical interventions .
Several patients have commented that we have been able to identify the root cause of their long-standing medical problems . Apart from managing acute and chronic patients , we have helped to diagnose cases of hemochromatosis ( iron overload ), gastric cancer , triple vessel disease , nephrology , Parkinsonplus and more .
Patients were also delighted that they were able to get the undivided attention of the doctor for over 30 minutes and with our hand-holding and follow-ups consultation .
5 ) What would be your words of advice for the upcoming entrepreneurs ? Behind any innovative solution is a consumer problem and a strong belief that this can be solved . Being a successful entrepreneur involves a series of missteps and mistakes , in seeking the right , commercially viable solution . Don ’ t hesitate to experiment and fail . Entrepreneurs , who disrupt the market , are driven by passion and self-belief . They will fail fast until they hit on the solution .
6 ) Brief us about some of the highly acclaimed and widely accepted innovations of Indian Health Organization ? 66 % of the medical expenses are related to consultations , diagnostic tests , medicines and other nonhospitalization expenses . IHO launched Classic Consultation membership , designed to meet the dayto-day outpatient medical expenses . The membership is priced at Rs . 5880 for one year for a family of four and helps people save upto 50 % on their health expenses . Since its launch in Oct 2016 , IHO has enrolled over 1.5lakh members for this consultation .
The annual benefits of Classic Consultation membership include access to vHealth by Aetna , where members get unlimited teleconsultation for their family members . Members can avail free specialist consultation at top hospitals . The package also offers 2 FREE comprehensive health checkups , 2 FREE dental scaling and cleaning sittings and discounts on other day-to-day medical expenses like diagnostic tests and medicine delivery . This membership also helps its customers benefit from Tax exemption under section 80D .
7 ) Kindly share your views on the current industry trends ? The neglect of primary care in India is one of the reasons for the increasing disease burden and medical costs . E- healthcare has the potential to make quality healthcare accessible and improve the quality of primary health care .
In the next few decades , the idea of driving to a doctor ’ s clinic , waiting and physically meeting the doctor will be obsolete . Technology , including smartphones , remote sensors , connected devices , will provide access to digital primary care services . While technology can simplify access to the primary healthcare system , a critical component for success in India will be the delivery of quality care . Clinical expertise clubbed with digital technology is the game changer .
8 ) What can we expect from Indian Health Organization in the future ? We see a great future for the digital healthcare ecosystem in India . During 2018 we expect many more families to accept vHealth by Aetna as their first port of call for any healthcare issue . By 2020 , we aim to have 4 million members .
18 December 2017