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The way the Indian healthcare industry is opening up to experiments is an encouraging development for established players and new entrants alike. In recent times, medical information derived from the internet is starting to gather a sizeable proportion of eager followers. A survey concluded thatabout 60 to 70 percent people turn to the internet to answer their health related queries. This underlines the importance of creating credible, authentic and reliableinformation sources online. Medindia, originally conceived in 1997 as the Medical Computer Society of India (MCSI), emerged into this space with the social mission of educating consumers and patients about health and providing physicians and professionals the tools to leverage technology and the internet to improve healthcare.After launching its full-fledged website in 2001, the company consistently attracted a steady audience base, making it one of the top health sites in terms of traffic in India and South Asia and among the top sites globally.
The content generated by the company coversover 200,00 pages of articles, news animations, quizzes on all medical conditions and diseases, a directory of over 250,000 doctors, medical colleges Hospitals, Chemists, Drugs and medications (over 70,000) including generic/brand names with pricing, side-effects and other useful information. The company has evolved as a trusted destination for its consumers constantly striving to experiment through innovative programs.
‘My Health Page’ is one such health risk assessment program that tracks the calories and weight, maintains an E.H.R, and helps users connect withdoctors, experts and other consumers.
Medindia has developed services for doctors where they can login and connect with their patients, schedule appointments,and get a private portal for communicating with them
The kind of detail the company pays towards these measures was reflected when it became one of the first websites to introduce health calculators in 1998. ArunShroff, Co-founder and CTO explains, “A consumer only needs to entersome basic data about his health to calculate things such as BMI, diabetes or cardiac risk. It will help them keep a better track of their health, and they will automatically be notified of any issues or areas of concern.”
Medindia’s innovative approach is breaking all traditional barriers which once dictated the terms of engagement between doctors and patients. The company has developed services for doctors where they can login and connect with their patients, schedule appointments,and get a private portal for communicating with them. Arun Shroff says, “The market has a dearth of websites that connect doctors to their patients in an easy way. We took the initiative so they are just a click away from getting instant help and advice via their mobile phones, text or video chat.”
The company does a unique health wellness portal for companies as well. The objective is to nurture the overall organization health, and to evaluate and track the health performance of the workforce by forming a corporate health index. “Our focus is on delivering a quick snapshotof an organization’s health- are we getting healthier or getting less healthy? Organizations need toretain better people, and we know that healthy employees are more productive and lead to a healthier and growing company,” Arun adds.
The company’s presence in the competitive market is evident from a growth rate of over 35 percent achieved each year. In 2014, they launched an e-commerce site and marketplace to sell health products including health directories &eBooks, health supplements, herbal and Ayurveda products from leading manufacturers. Going forward Medindia intends to be the pioneers in areas offeringconsumers and patients with more powerful personalized health applications and utilities.