Health-tech startup My Family First to open 500 digitally-enabled clinics in rural areas
Talks already on with angel investors and CSR wing of corporates for investments
Delhi-based health-tech startup My Family First intends to open 500 Digitally Enabled Smart Health (DESH) clinics in rural areas across the country in the next two years to connect patients in remote villages and towns with medical specialists in the metro cites. The company has opened 30 DESH clinics across Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Madya Pradesh through the franchising route.
The DESH Clinics comprise India’s first integrated telehealth service. These use digital technology and IoT-based devices to directly connect doctors in cities with patients in the rural hinterland, solving the problem of scarcity of qualified doctors in villages and semi-urban regions. Patients can benefit from the best medical advice right at their doorsteps at affordable prices and do not need to travel to cities.
Said Dr (Maj) Harshita Surange, Founder & CEO, DESH Clinics, “Teleconsultation is the key to rural healthcare. DESH clinics are equipped with diagnostic equipment and IoT-based PoC devices. They are specially designed to provide audio-video consultation, conduct pathology tests, and dispense medicines. These offer an integrated solution that includes teleconsultation, pharmacy, diagnostics, and daycare facilities. The clinics connect patients with specialists in areas like ENT, fertility, skin diseases, heart diseases, back pain, chronic pain, and cancer. Child specialists, gynaecologists and obstetricians are also available for tele-consultation.”
Said Ajay Sharma, Co-founder and COO, DESH Clinics, “We are on an aggressive growth path and have chosen the franchise model for rapid expansion. We would be opening 500 DESH clinics by the end of 2023 at the rate of 15-20 new clinics each month. Anyone with qualifications in pharmacy, medical lab technology, GNM, ANM, and trained health workers can own and run a DESH clinic with an investment of only Rs 2 lakhs. We have also launched a starter pack for new entrepreneurs. Anyone having a suitable space for consultation and a smartphone can start DESH Sahyogi clinics with an investment of only Rs 5,000. They can upgrade to a higher level of clinic infrastructure later.”
The DESH Clinics are physical-digital hybrid clinics with the required physical infrastructure and support systems, combined with smart, connected diagnostic devices and an app to support video/audio consultation with doctors who may be located hundreds of miles away. The company has created a customised solution with PoC devices that can perform almost all the basic tests required on a patient.
