How Google is influencing Healthcare in India

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Google today announced that it will make available access to more than 400 health conditions on their search site in English and Hindi for the India’s population. This feature is already available in the US and recently they have also started in Brazil.
In India Google will do a check of the condition and symptoms partnering with Apollo Hospitals and Columbia Asia.
Google being the go-to site for search, Google wants to bring Health education to the finger tips of its users. With mobile subscriptions crossing over 800 Million and phone based search reaching more than half a billion users, this will definitely help users to be more aware of themselves and the symptoms they have.
I wrote about educating the Healthcare consumer few days ago and this is one way of educating the consumer. I am sure that over the period of time, Google may start suggesting the Doctors / Hospitals / Clinics you can visit for the kind of symptom you have searched including providing finger tip taxi booking along with medicine delivery.
Is this not what the future is?

IoT and Healthcare

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Internet of Things will take some more time in playing a crucial role in our lives through Healthcare. I personally see two aspects which are important – Hesitation and Consistency.
Hesitation is in regard to using mobile devices to track Healthcare. Even though there are quite a few apps we use today, depending on them to take care of our health is not in practice by a common user. Giving confidence to users to use their phone as a dependable device is the first step in getting more people connected.
The consistency of Data is the next important aspect. How the data from the device is stored and integrated with other apps or synchronise with Doctor’s system plays a pivotal role.
Of course, Security is also an important aspect, but if we accept and the data is consistent, we can build safer systems.

3 Questions

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Before you start working on your idea either as an Entrepreneur or as an Employee, there are 3 important questions you want to ask yourself:
  1. Where do I want to be?
  2. How to get there?
  3. Can I get there?
Very simple, but yet powerful.
Where do I want to be? 
During the last week of December 2015, I was restless. I want to something but did not know what to do and how to get there. So, I tasked myself with a simple project – 100 Blog posts in 100 Days of 2016.
How can I get there? 
I did not have any laid out topics on which I wanted to write, but have quite a few interest areas. So, on the varied topics of interest, I have which range from Driving, Photography, Innovation, Healthtech, Inspirations, Running, Entrepreneurship, Innovation etc. I identified 3 areas to focus on – Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Healthcare, and Life.
Can I get there?
As much as possible each blog post of mine, I wanted to have a real life example which I went through or which someone whom I know has gone through so that I can illustrate better.
Today is 93 Day of my writing. I will do an analysis later on how I fared, but these are the three simple questions which got me to where I am today.

Ideas as Platform

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When we have an idea, we focus on building the product. What happens eventually is that the product gets into iterations and over the period of time becomes redundant for various reasons.
What we need to focus on is to build our idea as a platform. Think of it as a broader solution and the products are offerings of the solution. What happens with this is that the ideation has a broader spectrum and it gives us opportunities to build on the platform.
This lays the foundation for the future of your startup. Look at any major organisation, they build their offerings on the platform. Maggie does not just sell noodles, they have soups, pasta’s etc. What is the platform? – 2 minute snack/food.
Look at any car manufacturing company. They specialise in manufacturing a SUV, Sedan, 4X4 etc. The outcomes are quite different and appeal to varied consumers. Maruti in India focus’s on Sedan’s and they offer Compact to Mid-end cars – Alto 800 to Ciaz to Grand Vitara. They have a offering to varied economic diversities. This is how they build their market share.
Entrepreneurs should first identify the platform and then build their offerings to solve components of the problem so that their offering can be varied, affordable, sustainable and if changes are required, only one solution can be altered and remaining in tact.
So, the next time you are addressing a problem – create the platform and not just one solution.

Future of Consumer Priorities

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Consumers are now more demanding then few years ago. Thanks to the competition. There are newer and innovative products coming out more frequently and also the iterations to market are coming down.
According to TrendWatching.com, the five key attributes for any successful startup are Affordability, Simplicity, Sustainability and Design.
Any product/service wins market share which balances these five attributes.

Managing Adversity

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It was found out that the number of startup’s during the Economic downtime in 2009 was much higher than during the Internet and Dot Com boom in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.
This means that people are thinking different and having an appetite to do something different during difficult and testing times than when everything is going right.
When Cadbury came to India, it was a new market for them. Not for finding customers to buy chocolate, but selling them without refrigeration in the hot climate. This is the time to step out of their comfort zone and develop a chocolate which does not melt easily in hot climate. Eclairs was their answer. There was soft chocolate in the toffee, but was moulded in hard chocolate. In this way, it did not melt easily even in hot weather.
As Entrepreneurs and Intrepreneurs, it is very important to understand the situation and arrive at solution. The best times to think different is when in times of crisis.

Entrepreneurs are Risk Lovers

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Yes. This is what is the norm. If you are doing anything outside your comfort zone, then you are a risk lover. Leaving a well paying job and starting out to change the world in your way is definitely a risk not everyone is willing to take or interested in taking, but when you do, you will hear a lot of negative criticism.
Actually, Entrepreneurs are not Risk Lovers, but they are people who have mastered the art of managing risks. 
 
No one actually takes risks. Taking a risk is like jumping out of an airplane without a parachute. This is not wise. It will not help in any way. Whereas jumping out of an airplane with a parachute is managing risk.
When Entrepreneurs start, they are not jumping into the open air, but they are jumping out with a plan to ensure that they land safely. They identify and manage all their risks and also few unexpected one’s which come up very well so that they achieve the impossible.
According to a venture capital study, there are fewer than 15% of firms who have been venture funded which are still in operation. This clearly shows that 85% have ceased to exist or in other words, did not manage their risks.
 
So, the next time you are thinking different ensures there is a plan for all bumps.

Is your startup ready for tomorrow?

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You have started up. You are excited and you want to look at all possible situations and scenarios where you can build your startup and make it big. Who does not want it?
The aspect of running a company is not just providing a solution/service, but having an immaculate plan of alternative Business Models. What do I mean by this?
Do you remember Kodak? This was one company which rewrote the business of Photography. They had everything available for photographers – from films to cameras to printing solutions. Their business was unbeaten even though they had competition. They were undisputed leaders. However, things started to fall apart with the advent of Digital Photography and Digital SLR camera’s coming into the market. Initially, everyone thought that there is nothing to beat in terms or clarity and quality with the Roll photos, Digital Camera’s were not so advanced. But, by the time Kodak realized, they were being beaten up. Digital photography took over and Kodak was completely out of options. Today, we do not have any more camera rolls. What happened here is the unpreparedness for the competition. Kodak tried multiple options to save the company and its business, but everything went in vain.
Today’s startup’s / businesses focus on the primary business models and miss the fundamental aspect of Business Model, which is sustaining and running the business. What the founder should think is the long-term practicality of the idea and how he can mould the company to withstand competition and turbulent times. This is what makes for a working Business Model.

Adoption Rate

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Aviation and Health Care. Let us take two industries to compare a simple aspect – Adoption Rate.
Both industries are part of each and everyone’s lives. There are people who might fly or have never flown, but there is no person who has never visited a Doctor / Hospital.
In case of emergency, in aviation, the Pilot who is responsible for the safety of the flight knows that if he makes a mistake, even his life is in danger. On the contrary, let us look at Health Care. The Doctor is responsible for his patient’s life, but in this case, if there is a failure or medical error, the Doctor does not loose life, but the patient does. Is this a case point for why the error adoption rates being long and low in Health Care?
If there is a flight accident, the instance is completely evaluated and analysed by an independent team and the findings are quickly circulated across all airlines across the world. In return, all airlines update the required findings and roll them out to their pilots. Also, long papers and thesis reports are not circulated to Pilots, but the findings are either incorporated into the Pilot’s checklists or they are called for updated training. This happens very quickly so that there is no other life lost because of any error.
If there is a medical accident, the similar approach is not adopted. The hospital may or may not bring out the error in the first place and secondly, even if they did, the error finding reports are not immediately available for everyone. The hospital might incorporate the findings, but for others to follow takes a very very long time and in certain cases, even centuries for the change to come.
Why is there this much of difference in adoption rates when in both industries the cost of error is a life? Is there a case in point?