6 Health Care Founders Shared Opinions on how they will Recover after CoronoVirus Outbreak

Covid-19

Ashwini, Atish Ranjan Das

Apr 15, 2020 — 8 min read

COVID-19 virus is spreading so rapidly and it has hit dozens of countries globally. Indian government has put 1.3 billion residents in lockdwon. This pandemic has impacted many industries like stock market, travel industry, healthcare, supply chain, manufacturing units. Most of the start-ups are on the verge of closure or bankruptcy. Every individual has been adversely affected however it has largely impacted the new start up’s. Healthcare startups have also got impact of this pandemic. This virus originated in China but has spread-ed to many countries. Nobody knows when this contagious disease will end.

We have asked few founders of few healthcare companies about the impact of coronavirus outbreak on their business and what are they planning to recover it.

Also Read: Coronavirus Challenges for Travel Startups & how to Survive them?

Freedom From Diabetes

Freedom From Diabetes is a innovative healthcare organization that educates thoroughly, supports implemention and inspires transformation in diabetics and family members. More than 6000 are already free of insulin and medicines. We talked with Dr Pramod Tripathi, Founder, about their plans to recover after Covid-19 outbreak.

It's already geared through specialized FFD App, what's app group support and telephonic consulting to continually serve the patients during lockdown.

Those start ups who haven't invested last 2-3 years in creating the right online support will find it very difficult to adjust to this sudden developement.

Mediconation

Mediconation is a top-notch medical education consultancy with Pan-India presence. We talked with Geeta Jain, Founder, about their plans to recover after Covid-19 outbreak.

In the past couple of weeks this Corona Outbreak as shaken many lives. This global pandemic of novel Coronavirus has affected all startups as well. This kind of situation has not been seen in centuries and has put massive pressure on the healthcare department and economy. The Indian government is taking all the preventive measures to stop this virus from our country. Covid-19 has made massive disruptions in the healthcare industry and supply chains that have wreaked destruction on global financial markets.

The impact of this wildfire on health startups in India has brought a paradigm shift in the Indian healthcare industry. Public healthcare for rural areas is still weak and in shortage of health resources. The Digital Healthcare market has gone down due to the lockdown in the entire country. There’s been seen that health insurers are asked for health insurance from all over the country, people are scared and frightened. Early action might be impactful than later action. While the economy is down and all the crisis in the country is difficult, but survival is the single most important thing. The salaries will need to be slashed by some percentage. Be Creative and find for sources where you can generate revenue for your firm to stay alive including doing some short term deals with other startup companies. It’s hard to tell what a countries economy will look like when this will pass but if your company is flexible and alive than there will be great fortuity.

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The Centre of Healing

The Center of Healing, which is rejuvenation and healing center for helping people to overcome their mental and health problems has taken an initiative to help these poor and degraded sections of our society. We talked with Swati Sawhney, Director, about their plans to recover after Covid-19 outbreak.

Corona outbreak has impacted human life in all aspects of life. It has impacted human life and its lifestyle a lot. Busy Entrepreneurs, employees are under lockdown these days. The world economy is at a toss. The entire business community is experiencing huge losses. All Imports and Exports of the necessary goods are almost shut down. No one dares to take risks of importing any goods from impacted nations these days. Even the Coronavirus Kits are hard to import from other nations because of their non-availability and risk of importing the virus along with the kit. New startups are hit hard due to this pandemic majorly in terms of financial loss.

Most of the start-ups are on the verge of closure or bankruptcy. This pandemic has adversely impacted new investments, fund-raising, new hiring’s, expected growth opportunities, expected promotions and hike in salary of individuals, inflation, stock market, travel industry, healthcare, supply chains and whatnot. Every individual has been adversely affected however it has largely impacted the new start up’s because of lack of backup, lack of chain of customers, less exposure to the market, lack of new investment and fund-raising opportunities, etc. Same as any other industry, this pandemic has harmed Healthcare start up’s as well. We know that everything is showing downfall however to see a ray of light in dark is what makes us lively and vibrant.

There are certain opportunities that this pandemic has given to this healthcare industry and people with great vision are grabbing it with both hands. Some organizations have come forward and announced a special fund to support innovators and researchers to fight against this ultimate pandemic coronavirus. Some of the organizations are looking forward to stepping ahead and manufacture such machinery for which we were dependent on the outer world to date.

Some of the big giants of industry have raised funds to invest a huge amount of money into the start up’s that are working on a possible solution for coronavirus and this kind of activity brings motivation at such a time. A great achievement by Pune based Lab - Molecular diagnostic company Mylab becomes the first Indian company to have received the validation for its Coronavirus diagnostic test kits.

At this time any start-up which has innovative ideas and is looking forward to implementing the idea or need of hour into reality by way of action will not only survive perhaps will excel. So, analyzing the situation, implementation of innovative ideas into action holds the key. This ability can make even a start-up do wonders and create history.

Xtraliving

Xtraliving Pvt Limited is a wellness and fitness solutions company. We talked with Mr. Rishikesh Kumar, Founder, about their plans to recover after Covid-19 outbreak.

All start-ups have been affected by the Covid -19 outbreak. It all depends on how well they are able to cope up with the situation. There is a financial crisis along with the health crisis.

Some health care will see opportunity while some tends to close down. Agility and alignment with future needs is the key. Companies who will be able to make life better during this crisis will do better than others. Cash flow will be a very critical for survival and the global economy will put pressure to cut cost. It is important for any company to have 8-12 months of reserve to be safe.

We at Xtraliving, have changed our format and we will be investing in online services. We need to drastically change our ways of working to be relevant tomorrow. The pandemic will result in drastic change in habits and behaviour.

Docttocare

Docttocare allows the users to schedule their surgery appointment with the right doctor or hospital, which is best for their health and which is cost-effective. We talked with Sugandha, Founder, about their plans to recover after Covid-19 outbreak.

As the government urges people to stay indoors, most hospitals have closed down their OPDs because of the risk of transmission. But Health-tech startups are taking these challenges into stride by working on different ways patients can opt for on call consultation.

Healthtech startups believe that this is the best time for them to step in to solve critical situation. We at Docttocare, are making things easy in difficult times. We are helping patients to get admitted in hospitals, we take care of their stay and transport. We provide them a online guidance regarding their surgeries. We are providing this service at zero extra cost.

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CliniVantage Healthcare Technologies

CliniVantage Healthcare Technologies is a comprehensive healthcare platform that delivers various PaaS-based healthcare solutions for clinical, non-clinical, radiology and administrative services. We talked with Nilesh Jain, Co-Founder and Managing Director, about their plans to recover after Covid-19 outbreak.

With the growing concern of the pandemic in the country, India is trying to put its best foot forward to tackle the situation. A skewed doctor to patient ratio, lack of medical supplies, and shortage of hospital beds has become a daunting concern for the country. The demand for health tech companies to develop data analytics and profiling-based early disease detection solutions to help reduce the load on doctors and hospitals is increasing. In the wake of this situation, Health tech startups across the globe are already pivoting their technologies to help fight the spread of this deadly virus.

For a country like India, testing and diagnostics to consumers, and scale up the development of home kits is very crucial. Existing modern solutions in diagnostics, monitoring, and molecular development are being used as powerful tools to help fight the current pandemic. Healthcare technologies like big data, cloud computing, supercomputers, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, telemedicine, and instant screening instruments are effectively used to ensure increased hygiene, point of care delivery and continuous monitoring during self-quarantine. These technologies can help identify outbreak hotspots, prevent infections and reduce the need for physical contact in diagnostics.

In this critical time, we have understood the importance of smart and digital healthcare. Officials at railway stations, airports and in other public areas are using smart thermal scanners to record temperatures from a distance, thus helping in identifying potential coronavirus carriers. Companies like CliniVantage Healthcare Technologies have launched Caremate Health ATM. It provides pre-screening using the health ATM and the suspected cases with their case history can also be tested using a rapid test for the Corona COVID-19 test. Such kind of technology can be implemented at the Airports, railway stations, educational institutions and hospitals. The ATM can provide instant patient screening for symptoms , includes self-screening parameters and secondary rapid test for Covid-19 - instant test results.

There is also a surge in the demand for care management solution to keep diagnosed patients engaged at home, in quarantine facilities and hospitals and also cater to post-diagnosis activities such as health checks, diets, follow-up tests, etc. Amid the corona virus outbreak, Telemedicine startups are helping to cater the need for remote care. For patients, telemedicine provides faster care and helps them avoid hospitals, where they risk either infecting others or coming into contact with the disease.

Virtual care can also reduce the strain for the healthcare system and help track the spread of diseases across geographies. One thing virtual doctors can’t do is test people for the disease. But they can help to coordinate with healthcare centers or direct symptomatic patients to the drive-thru coronavirus testing centers that are now cropping up around the country. Such solutions reduces the burden of the healthcare system and keeps the healthcare staff away from the danger of contracting the infection. Studies shows that 22% of healthcare workers exposed to Covid-19 patients contract the infection and the pandemic in India increases the ratio of patients to doctors and nurses increases exponentially. Hence, need for smart and proactive care via telemedicine is very necessary.

We also see startups coming up with home detection kits for COVID-19. The benefits of such kits could be substantial, allowing everyday people to test themselves for COVID-19 in the privacy of their homes instead of visiting a hospital, potentially exposing health care workers and other healthy individuals.

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