In order to take telemedicine to the remotest corners of the country, Chandigarh-based startup Jiyyo Mitra e-Clinic through its smart health centre franchisee model has added more 200 clinics recently taking the total count to 1000 e-clinics in 180 plus rural districts. These Jiyyo health clinics have covered the entire north India belt and around 30% of central India through its network of e-clinics and pathology lab. The first e-Clinic was set up in April 2019 in Jalaun, Uttar Pradesh.
These clinics are a boon for people residing in the hinterland of the country especially in states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and the North East besides also some parts of Maharashtra who have to seek treatment for any kind of ailment in tertiary healthcare centres or hospitals in distant locations and cities.
Both the e-clinic and telemedicine franchise models are designed on a low-cost model and are aimed at eliminating the need for people to travel to bigger cities sometimes over a 100 km away seeking treatment for non-trivial problems.
Siddharth Angrish, co-founder and CEO at Jiyyo believes that while in urban areas, we have great doctors, world class doctors, they are only physically present in those areas. As such 70% of India, which is composed of rural and semi-urban places, have very little medical facilities on ground and the patient has to travel to city to seek treatment. In its attempt to resolve this issue and connecting doctors to the patients, Jiyyo came up with the idea to set up, low cost, telemedicine centers in such places, where the patients reside.
Jiyyo through its three-version franchisee model and one pathology lab is working towards creating a sustainable healthcare ecosystem centred around its e-clinics and pathology labs going forward. While one version of setting up its basic cost-efficient e-clinic costs Rs. 25,000, the much common version costs Rs. 40,000, with another one available for Rs. 80,000. This can be enhanced by adding a pathology lab franchisee, that costs Rs. 4.5 lakh and includes haematology and biochemistry lab machines.
Its e-clinic models, the company believes will help the stakeholders in creating a win-win situation for everyone. The three stakeholders as outlined by Jiyyo, are the patients themselves who now get to see an allopathic doctor earlier in their journey to seek treatment without leaving their village, the health partner who operates the e-Clinic locally and the company itself.
“What we are doing through the Jiyyo health centres is providing access of city-based doctors to village areas. By keeping a healthcare professional in the loop, we are only enhancing the medical experience to the rural population. Our model also ensures that telemedicine upgradation actually provides economic enhancement to these people,” said Angrish.
In order to expand its network, Jiyyo has also given preference to local youth, comprising of a sales team of 70 on ground working full time across 180 districts of Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Himachal and Maharashtra expanding the rural footprint of e-clinics and telemedicine centres meeting all required norms. Besides, expanding on ground and adding centres, Jiyyo has also created over 600 videos and released it online to spread information thus creating a community by connecting doctors and health partners through webinars, Q&A sessions, exchanging testimonials and such knowledge building exercises.
Source: financialexpress.com
