The Questions at the start!!
It is often cited that people commence their entrepreneurial journey when they recognize a glaring need for something, maybe which they experienced themselves and for which they believe that users would find immediate value and embrace such idea. However, it is one thing to conjure up a solution in a boardroom or bedroom and a completely another thing to execute it and also be fortunate that users adopt it.
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| Personal Hospital Assistance |
We faced a similar situation when we started. We had the benefits of in-depth research, which was done by the team on the subject of access to and adoption of technology and its impact on health outcomes. Strangely enough (just like everyone says) it was also actually tempered by some personal experiences of the founding team members whereby they had a close interaction with hospitalization, which highlighted the obvious gaps, which a consumer faces in today’s healthcare delivery model in India.
What emerged was something which appeared so rudimentary but unfortunately completely true:
- There is abysmally low level of information regarding hospitals, doctors and facilities. This puts patients and caretakers (who are anyways reeling under medical duress) at a severe disadvantage. Information is too costly to gather during stressful times so they are forced to make sub-optimal decisions.
- In-patient admission: the patients and the caretakers are not given appropriate advice on the procedures involved. In the words of a doctor himself, undergoing an MRI scan is quite nerve wracking. The least that a patient expects is that he should be counseled about the process and the enigma that surrounds the 60-120 minutes inside a hollering machine. But such is the pre-occupation of the staff administering the machine, that rather than such counseling it is actually intimidating to even ask them for a glass of water. This heightens the level of stress.
- There is no one to manage anxiety for the patient. In a routine like fashion, all elective surgery cases for the day are asked to report almost at the same time and there is no one to manage expectations. Anxious patients arrive much earlier than slated and time to reach the bed takes up to 3 to 4 hours. Simple tasks like filling forms feel like a struggle and there is no help with navigating the system. It is not that the hospital has a complex system but just that it is a unique experience for the patient and she is not at her rational best.
- There is no one to explain the various parts of the bill (for example, doctor’s fees, procedure charges, consumables and medicines etc.) and as a result this leads to mistrust and misgivings.
As can be seen, there are minimal issues regarding medical care but most of the issues seem centered around administrative aspects. Can we not rid the patient of such woes at a time when she needs the highest comfort and care?
It is around these problems that we created the myCOL model. To do what the hospital fails to do today. Simply Manage Patient Expectations. It is not easy to build a people heavy people first business. Especially at times when hot money is chasing ‘non-linear technology’ companies. But did we set out to do easy stuff or solve a real problem. And that is what keeps motivating us to continue building myCOL.
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