Startup Promoting Affordable and Quality Healthcare in Semi-urban and Rural India

"Irrespective of income class, one episode of hospitalization is estimated to account for 58% of per capita annual expenditure, pushing 2.2% of the population below the poverty line. Even more disconcerting is the fact that 40% of those hospitalized had to borrow money or sell off assets." (The World Bank Report in 2002)

“66 out of every 1000 babies born dies as infants in our country, due to lack of efficient healthcare systems.” (ICRA report Indian Healthcare sector February 2005, Confederation of Indian industry)

The primary reason for the high cost of healthcare is limited access to health services in non-urban/non-metro areas. 60% of the cost of medical care in India is indirect - travel and stay, loss of wages and incorrect diagnosis, follow-up care etc. In addition, lack of preventive care at primary and secondary level leads to higher cost per episode of treatment. Moreover, most healthcare facilities are located in urban areas or metros, whereas nearly 70% of the population of India lives in semi-urban and rural areas.

Vaatsalya Healthcare: Affordable and Quality healthcare in rural and semi urban India

Vaatsalya Healthcare, founded by two doctors, Ashwin Naik and Veerendra Hiremath, is addressing this gap by creating a network of hospitals in semi-urban and rural India with emphasis on preventive care. We believe that it is possible to create universal access to affordable, efficient and sustainable healthcare in India and at the same time make an honorable profit while doing social good.

Vaatsalya currently manages three hospitals in North Karnataka and intends to build a network, which will be spread across 100 districts. The hospitals offer primary and secondary care services in pediatrics, gynecology, surgery and medicine, with special emphasis on prevention and rehabilitation.

Vaatsalya is funded by seed investment from individual NRI investors and Aaavishaar Microventure Capital Fund.

Website: http://www.vaatsalya.com

Why Vaatsalya is hot?

The vision of building a socially responsible and profitable health care business is unique to Vaatsalya. The goal is to spread the network of hospitals across the country and revolutionize healthcare in India.

The culture at Vaatsalya is what makes it tick. The company culture is extremely informal and non-hierarchical with no special emphasis on education and background. There is emphasis on participatory decision-making and meetings are open to every member of the hospital, from the director to the cleaning lady.

Above all, what makes Vaatsalya hot is the group of young, driven and passionate people who, on a daily basis, make lives better for people in need.

About the Writer
Ashwin Naik is a founder member of Vaatsalya with interests in social entrepreneurship, technology and ideas. He has worked closely with startups in India since the past four years. Prior to that, he was working on the Human Genome Project and Mouse Genome Project at Celera Genomics, Maryland. As a graduate student at University of Houston, he published a book chapter on origin of life.