Educating the Healthcare Consumer

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There are over 1000 startups just focusing on Healthcare in India and we see more and more coming up each day. If you look at the pattern of the startups, predominantly we see competitive startup’s. There is one person who is wanting to solve a problem and they are many others following the trend but with an additional feature or functionality. Consider finding Doctors as a pain point. There are few early adopters like Practo, but over the last eight years, there are more than 50 startups in the same space offering similar services. The next thing what happened is the startups have diversified to different cities becoming first in their city. Competition is good, the consumer gets to taste more convenience and functionality. But what should not happen is withdrawal from using technology.
The key area what we need to focus is to streamline the problem-solving abilities and diversify the solution offerings based on the regional requirement. One solution does not fit all.
Consumer education plays a very vital role in building a successful startup and solving a problem. The key aspect of Consumer education is to reach out to the end user and help them utilize services available and for this, education should start at the ground level. Reaching out and working with NGO’s who work with varied population, partnering with Primary Health Centers, organizing educative seminars and workshops at meeting points (Panchayat meetings, Locality meetings etc.) will go a long way.

What has changed in Indian Healthcare landscape?

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According to the World Economic Form and Harvard Public School, the probability of during the most productive years – 30 Years to 70 Years is predominantly because of non-communicable diseases like Heart stroke, heart diseases, pulmonary diseases, and diabetes. This is accounting to 26% of death’s in India in this age group.
India struggled to bring down the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) which have been the key metrics. However, over the last two decades, this has significantly come down and it is on a positive note.
While we are improving on the metrics, due to the changes in lifestyle, there are non-communicable diseases which are increasing leading to disparities in the Healthcare in the country. The Government’s spending on Healthcare has also has been reducing.
Private Healthcare services is on the rise. This calls for out-of-pocket expenditure on Healthcare. Since India has a good number of people living below the Above Poverty Line, the affordability for quality Health services is also one of the primary reason for the rise in non-communicable disease not being addressed at the appropriate time. Most of the out-of-pocket expenses are for medicines.
With startup’s focusing on bringing Healthcare to all (even though the predominant acceptance is in Tire 1 and 2 Cities), I look at this as a possible approach to bridge the gap between Doctor and the Patient. Looking at the mobile penetration rate which has crossed over 800 Million today, I personally see that technology can help bridge the gap.
What we need at this time is the education of the consumer on how to use the services.

What can Big Data do for Healthcare?

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The population is increasing everywhere and this is driving every country in the world to focus on providing better Healthcare to its citizens and also Healthcare has become one of the top discussed agenda items in any International forum. Innovations in Healthcare are gaining much attention and Healthcare startup’s are on the rise in every part of the word.
Big Data has been playing a pivotal role in Healthcare since the beginning. With the increase in focus on Healthcare, Big Data and Predictive analysis are playing a crucial role in enhancing the quality of care.
Here are few areas where Big Data will continue to focus:
  • Personalized Medication – Big Data can help save patient’s previous data on the cloud which can be easily accessed anywhere and anytime required. This will allow Doctors to see the kind of medications which have been used by the patient and he can continue to do so with similar medicines. This helps in personalized care and better quality of care.
  • Diagnosis Patterns – When your medical history is stored in a central place, it becomes easier to access and also run patterns on the medical reports to have a better understanding of the patterns of care.
  • Faster turn around time for Medical Practitioners – New innovations in medicine can be easily deployed to Doctor’s offices using Big Data. Using Medicine Management tools Doctors can now not only consult with patient’s in their office but can also focus on delivering care remotely.
  • Predicting and fighting diseases – The most important aspect of Big Data. Having access to quite a lot of information, analysis can be performed to predict and fight diseases well in advance.

Where is our Creativity?

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Creativity is almost lost from our lives. We live in an era where everything is turning mechanical. Right from the alarm in the morning to tracking your sleep, everything is automated. Earlier, we need to set the alarm on the clock each night before we sleep (because we would have switched it off in the morning), but today, your phone can set the alarm for each day of the week at the same time or different times.
When you get up in the morning, some days you feel tired (because you might not have got a complete 8-hour sleep or you were disturbed. But, today, your phone will tell you what quality of sleep you had and how long have you slept and how many times you woke up.
What this is doing to us is killing our ability to think. Every aspect of life is taken care and in the coming decades we will also stop driving and let the automatic cars do the job.
Creativity is not a switch which you can switch on/off when you need. It is the ability to see, feel and communicate with the world around you. The next time you are doing something brings on the creativity by being present in the situation. Think differently about the same problem which you solved yesterday. Change the way you communicate and see which is the best way of communication you can build on.

Position

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In the army, the Commander of the force should and must understand his position in relation to the enemy. Else, he will not be able to make the most efficient use of his army and his efforts will go in vein.
In the similar way, when you are out to sell your idea, you should be equipped to understand where you stand in regards to your competition. Else, you will make the wrong efforts which will only give you heart burn and end up in no or less results.
In developing our thinking skills, we need to understand what position we are in, accept our competitors positioning and then derive a step-by-step strategy to address what we need to achieve.
This comes with a holistic view of what you have available for yourself and how you position your skills to gain the advantage. For this, the first skill you need to embrace is visibility. As the Commander has a map of his battle field and identifies his and his team’s positioning, in the similar way, you will need to draw out a map of your competition and where you are in the competition. Only then you can have a realistic approach to how to tackle the market.
As an entrepreneur, along with giving wings to your idea, have a visible and realistic preposition of the market. This effort will give you unprecedented advantage to make your first win.

The Perception Problem

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Let us accept that we do not have answers to all the questions. But, we do not want to accept the reality. It is generally more difficult to not know answers to questions. We try and avoid to say ‘I don’t know’.
What happens when you are thinking of bigger problems like the Economy in the country, or the Healthcare system or Politics? We will go with what the majority of people are saying about the issue and if it matches with our thinking, we go with them. We perceive that what the majority are saying is correct. But, we do not spend time to think if this is the truth or not. If the issue is supported with data, then there is a little support to the bias, but if it does not, then there is a bigger problem. Without understanding the actual facts, we also tend to solve the problem with everyone else.
Apply this to your startup. When you have an idea to solve a problem, doing a market research and evaluating the market potential might give you a certain way to address the problem. But, what really makes the cut is the ability for you to think and solve it the best way which seems possible.
Henry Ford once said “If I ask people what they want, they would ask for faster horses”, he identified the problem and solved it by building a car. He did not go with what the majority said.
When Apple brought out the iPad, there was no competition for them. They were the first. Steve Jobs identified the problem of bringing computers to your hand and the iPad rolled out which not only created history, but the entire pace of computing changed overnight. There is enough competition today and this competition is creating more innovative products.
So the next time you wish to solve a problem, do look at what the majority are thinking, but adapt to your ability to think and address the problem.

Articulating the why

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You can be successful today only if you know what you’re doing and why
 
The most important part of being successful is understanding why you are able to be successful. Success comes with lot of factors – Luck, Connections, Knowledge and being at the right place and at the right time. Apart from all these factors, there is one key ingredient for success – your ability and passion to perform.
I read a fascinating book quite sometime ago – What got you here won’t get you there. It is a fascinating read. At each phase of our life we need to understand that expectations change and it becomes very important.
When you start your company, expectation is that you bring your product to market. When you bring your product to market, the expectation is to expand, after your expand, expectation is to increase market share and when you increase market share, expectation is to keep the company at the top and derive value to share holders.
Each of these phases come with different expectations and you need to constantly monitor these expectations from each stakeholder and this will help you to be where you wish to be.
For all this to happen, the underlying question is how to articulate the why of what you are doing and how you are doing. You can be an entrepreneur or an employee in a organisation. Understanding what the market or your company needs and developing the why in you to deliver accordingly is what makes you successful.

Attitude towards Error

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We all make mistakes and we learn from them. Only when you understand and analyze the error can you incorporate into your life and the mistake never comes up again. But, if it is a one off fix, be rest assured that it will come back.
Toyota is quite famous for their Quality and how they incorporate their learning’s back into the system without it occurring back. This is the reason they are epitome of success and many organisations try to incorporate this style into their organisations.
On the Toyota Production Floor, when there is flaw in the production, the employee immediately switches off his machine and all the other machines come to a halt. Managers and other personal gather at where the production stopped, analyze the error and incorporate their learning’s into the system so that they are prepared for it the next time.
As entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs what we need to develop is the attitude towards the error. When we find a flaw, how do we react to it? How do we incorporate our learning’s into our system is the most important aspect of execution.
When there is an error next time, don’t ignore, but study and incorporate into your framework.

The last mile

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Knowledge does not progress merely by gathering data, but by looking for contradictory data. 
 
Many a times we like to make decisions based on available data. You want to buy a car and you start looking out based on your budget and interest. In the process we ask our friends as to what their recommendation is and take in their suggestions. We go with the popular choice and then make our own decision.
In this process, we usually would like to hear only the positives of the observations and do not ask what the potential problems might be in the maintenance of the car.
Five years ago, when I was looking to change my car, I walked up to the Honda show room. The Civic was one of the possible product I was looking for, but I did hear about the low ground clearance and the problems it might give over the period of time when the chases keeps hitting the ground at Speed breakers and bad roads. I shared with the sales person about this observation which I found to be disturbing. The sales person immediately took me to his desk, and told me “I will give you contacts of 20 people who own this car across various regions in the state. Call them from here and even if 1 person says that they faced problems because of this, I suggest you don’t buy this car.” I really liked the confidence of him and chose to call few numbers. I did call and no one gave me any negative answer.
My impression on the car and the reviews changed completely and I was ready to buy. I never picked it up for other reasons, but was completely convinced with the car.
Knowingly or unknowingly I used contradictory data to challenge my assumptions and today, I can correlate to this aspect.
When you are working on an idea, help identify the contradictory data – what if this does not happen, what if this market analysis does not work etc. This gives the power for you to be prepared in case if things don’t go as expected.

Contradictory Data

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Knowledge does not progress merely by gathering data, but by looking for contradictory data. 
 
Many a times we like to make decisions based on available data. You want to buy a car and you start looking out based on your budget and interest. In the process we ask our friends as to what their recommendation is and take in their suggestions. We go with the popular choice and then make our own decision.
In this process, we usually would like to hear only the positives of the observations and do not ask what the potential problems might be in the maintenance of the car.
Five years ago, when I was looking to change my car, I walked up to the Honda show room. The Civic was one of the possible product I was looking for, but I did hear about the low ground clearance and the problems it might give over the period of time when the chases keeps hitting the ground at Speed breakers and bad roads. I shared with the sales person about this observation which I found to be disturbing. The sales person immediately took me to his desk, and told me “I will give you contacts of 20 people who own this car across various regions in the state. Call them from here and even if 1 person says that they faced problems because of this, I suggest you don’t buy this car.” I really liked the confidence of him and chose to call few numbers. I did call and no one gave me any negative answer.
My impression on the car and the reviews changed completely and I was ready to buy. I never picked it up for other reasons, but was completely convinced with the car.
Knowingly or unknowingly I used contradictory data to challenge my assumptions and today, I can correlate to this aspect.
When you are working on an idea, help identify the contradictory data – what if this does not happen, what if this market analysis does not work etc. This gives the power for you to be prepared in case if things don’t go as expected.