From Bareilly to Baghdad, Tattvan is using telemedicine to connect doctors and patients
Bootstrapped healthtech startup Tattvan E-Clinic brings doctors and specialists from reputed hospitals in big cities to the smaller regions using telemedicine.
In 2008, Ayush Mishra realised getting good health treatment at his home town Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, was next to impossible. He had met with a fatal accident and realised there was a huge demand and supply gap between doctors and patients, especially in Tier II and Tier III cities.
An engineer in Biotechnology, Ayush took a few years to understand the situation on ground. After working in healthcare for close to 10 years, and working for different startups, Ayush decided to start Tattvan E-Clinic in 2017, based out of Gurugram.
It is a telemedicine healthcare clinic that aims to transform healthcare services in remote regions across India and Asia. Tattvan E-Clinic brings doctors and specialists from reputed hospitals in big cities to the smaller regions, catering to their various medical requirements.
Ayush explains,
“With Tattvan, we are trying to bridge that gap with the help of telemedicine. We launched the first e-clinic in Bareilly in July 2018. This inspired me and my team to set the course of our future with an aim to disrupt the healthcare sector in India. We are also working in the international arena as we have set up a clinic in Kabul, Afghanistan, and the documentation process to set up an e-clinic in Baghdad, Iraq, has already been completed."
Ayush Mishra
Building the team
The e-clinics have a team of full-time doctors and nurses available to ensure quality consultations through video conferencing and telemedicine facility. The centres also host doctors of global repute to conduct one-on-one follow up of OPDs for better diagnosis and treatment.
With his past experience, hiring a team wasn’t difficult, but Ayush knew he had to create a medical affairs and patient engagement team. So, he met a select few experienced doctors and pitched his idea.
Dr Sanjay Sarup saw the value and potential in Tattvan, and came on board as the Co-founder and Chief Medical Officer. Sanjay is currently Head, Orthopaedics at Artemis Hospitals, and is well-known in India and the Middle East. Currently, Tattvan has a team of 15 members across Gurugram, Bareilly, Pilibhit, Kashipur, and Kabul.
Speaking about e-clinics, Ayush says:
“A standalone clinic with three OPD rooms and reception costs about Rs 10 to Rs 15 lakh, whereas a clinic within a hospital campus cost around Rs 2 to Rs 3 lakh. It takes roughly one week to set up a clinic.”
Currently bootstrapped, the team pooled in their savings, to build the clinics and expand their presence.
How it works?
Ayush explains, the patient saves both time and money for a simple doctor consultation through Tattvan. The patient will now need to visit a hospital only for the surgery, and for all other occasions, they can do a consultation from their city. Because of this, the patient saves up to 15 percent on their total treatment cost.
“Instead of paying for travel, boarding, and lodging, the patient now only pays for the consultation. A consultation from a reputed doctor in Delhi will cost around Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500, but with the same doctor, a consultation at Tattvan E-Clinic costs Rs 600,” says Ayush. Tattvan charges a percent commission from clinics and hospitals as well.
Ayush adds, it is a big opportunity for clinics to explore new markets and create a reputation for them in those markets by offering super quality healthcare to these patients.
The team collaborates with doctors and medical specialists from reputed hospitals at metros, and provides consultation to patients located in Tier II and Tier III cities by leveraging telemedicine and advanced technology.
“Our e-clinics have a team of full-time doctors and nurses ensuring consultation of patients in these cities with doctors from the multi-speciality hospitals of metro cities,” says Ayush.
Based on a patient's medical history, the clinicians assist them to choose the right doctor. The patients can then share their case reports and book an appointment. They go through live consultation through tele-medicine or satellite technology.
Basis this, the patient can then take an informed decision for advanced treatment and see if they need to go to a nearby metro city or can get treatment within their own city.
Sector and future
The healthtech space is fast growing. PolicyBazaar’s parent company, EtechAces Marketing and Consulting, launched its own online-to-offline healthcare venture, Docprime, in August 2018. These are modelled on the famous Chinese company - Ping An Good Doctor.
Docprime currently has two main verticals – online doctor consultations, and clinic management, which includes digitising of medical records. There also are the likes of Practo, Lybrate, DocsApp, and mfine fighting for a share of the same market.
Tattvan, however, is focussed on Tier II and Tier III markets. Speaking about their future, Ayush says,
“We are expanding Tattvan E-Clinic in various cities across Uttar Pradesh, including Pilibhit, Rudrapur, Haldwani, Shahjahanpur, and Aligarh. We are also planning to set up 50 more e-clinics across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand, and Jharkhand in 2019. On the global front, we are looking forward to expanding in Bangladesh, Tajikistan, and Uganda.”
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