BWDisrupt interacted with Ravi Virmani, Founder & MD Credihealth to know more about his startup journey.How has been the startup journey so far? Inception to till now including Founding date, founders name?
Launched in Jan 2014, Credihealth is the India’s first online Medical Assistance company. Founded and led by a seasoned industry veteran Mr. Ravi Virmani – ex COO of Max Healthcare, Credihealth provides complete medical assistance for hospitalization needs.
Our medical experts are your family counsellors who help you understand, navigate, discover, and compare doctors and treatment plan. Ensure you receive the best treatment at the right price from the right doctor. Every Family has a healthcare need, and Credihealth is there to help you become healthy and safe
Anyone can avail Credihealth service FREE of cost by logging on www.credihealth.com or calling 1800-1022-733. Till date, Credihealth has assisted over 100,000 patients.
At launch, Credihealth had started its operations only in Delhi NCR. Now it is has the largest hospital network in India with over 630 hospitals and 30,000 doctors on-board across 10 cities - Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Ranchi, Jaipur and Indore.
How was it started?
While working at Max Hospital, Mr. Virmani felt there is a dire need in the Indian healthcare sector on giving guidance to people suffering from chronic diseases and serious medical problems. Trained management team, timely support, and a more personalized medical approach seemed like the need of the hour. In an effort to help others find a way to navigate through the complex healthcare system in India, the idea of Credihealth was conceptualised and the company was founded in late 2014.
The other reason to start Credihealth is bring transparency and access to the community for quality healthcare at the right price. We eliminate middle men and reach Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities population to access quality healthcare they deserve
Please elaborate about your startup?
Credihealth is India’s first and largest online network of medical resources, with over 630 hospitals and 30,000 doctors on-board across 10 cities - Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Ranchi, Jaipur and Indore, Credihealth has served over 1,00,000 patients till date. Credihealth plans to penetrate into the top 15 cities within 6 months.
Credihealth leverages technology to help patients navigate through the complex healthcare system. It allows a patient to compare and select doctors, hospitals, treatments on the basis of Quaility, Price and Location, from the comfort of their home. Process is backed by an extensive CRM team of in-house doctors and experts who perfectly manage and controls anxiety of the patients & family and ensure hassle free hospitalization process.
Dubbed ’The Google of Healthcare’ by The Economic Times, Credihealth was launched in Jan 2014 in New Delhi and has expanded to ten cities across India. This Frost & Sullivan 2014 Customer Value Leadership Award Winner for Online Healthcare Information Service Provider expands the healthcare boundaries, by enabling end to end solutions to patients. Credihealth offers an easy-to-use website with the options to search, compare and select doctors, hospitals and treatments providing the relevant solutions
1. Access to Healthcare - Information on Hospital and Doctor Credentials, Procedures, Treatments, Feedback, and healthcare content for the common man
2. Ensuring Delivery – Credible partner to support the patient through the entire experience of their hospital journey hand from admission to post discharge, pharmacy, and homecare
3. Transparency - Empower people to make informed healthcare decisions, by way of verified reviews, price comparisons, multiple treatment options and, a belief that now there’s a better way!
What are the unique key feature/service that your startup offers and how is it diff. from existing ones,?
Credihealth aims to support its users at the time of their medical need and ensure hassle free medical journey for patients & their family. On contacting Credihealth, a Medical Expert is assigned who will support in:
1. Searching for specialist doctors & hospitals for your treatment
2. Fetching detail credentials of doctors, OPD schedule & availability as well as hospital facilities and processes
3. Scheduling a consultationwith doctor & hospital of your choice, as per your convenience
4. Getting cost estimate from 3 hospitals for any treatment or surgery
5. Managing admission and discharge process at the hospital
Unlike many other websites in India, Credihealth isn’t just an appointment booking website. There is a plethora of players in the online healthcare industry focusing on preventive healthcare, tele-consult, booking clinic appointments and queue management.
Credihealth is the only significant Medical Assistance company - our medical experts hold the hand of the patient throughout the hospital need, from first consultation till discharge.
The competition is in different niche areas , there are companies in tele consult , doctor appointments, medicine supply, home care, international patients etc - the competition is trying to shape the consumer towards their model rather than understanding the consumer and serving the market need . This market adjustment will initially create confusion, quality issues, consumer perception issues, and over time, the wheat will be separated from the chaff and high quality players who are able to aptly match the demand and supply will be the winners
Please share your business model and funding status.
Our medical experts are your family counsellors who help you understand, navigate, discover, and compare doctors and treatment plan. Ensure you receive the best treatment at the right price from the right doctor. Every Family has a healthcare need, and Credihealth is there to help you become healthy and safe
Anyone can avail Credihealth service FREE of cost by logging on www.credihealth.com or calling 1800-1022-733. Till date, Credihealth has assisted over 100,000 patients.
At launch, Credihealth had started its operations only in Delhi NCR. Now it is has the largest hospital network in India with over 630 hospitals and 30,000 doctors on-board across 10 cities - Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Ranchi, Jaipur and Indore.
Majority of seed funding came from Mr. Virmani himself. A few friends and professionals chipped in .Total investment so far has been in excess of US $2 M
What are future and marketing plans?
Credihealth is planning to be present in 15 cities by the end of the year. In addition to expansion, the growth will be fueled by increasing the number of services in the current market. Credihealth launch Ambulance service via the Android app in May 2016.
Credi health is now growing by adjaceny
(i) Primary and Secondary Care
(ii) Additional services such as Ambulances, Medicine supply, preventive and wellness, and
(iii) Reaching out to more corporate users of healthcare. Employees of large enterprises
What were the major challenges faced?
Hospital owners and decision makers are extremely receptive and accept the disruptive business model as an additional channel for sourcing patients; however, the mindset of the middle-management professionals continues to be a challenge for Credihealth. Consequently, there is a time lag from decision to implementation.
Our health care value chain is so wide and diverse; our challenge is to increase our reach and awareness to the masses about our services. Even with 18% returning visitors and traffic increase by 120 % , we find it a challenge to reach 10% of population who have the need, lack of knowledge of ‘where to go’ , have a perception of being mis-guided or overcharged. Credi mission is to change that and make healthcare accessible to all
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Soumya is a young writer and journalist, with bachelors in Multimedia and Mass Communication. She is an alumini of the Asian College of Journalism, and finds politics and sustainability intriguing beats to work with.
