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Indian Health Organisation (IHO), an arm of the US-based diversified healthcare company Aetna, has bagged nearly six lakh subscribers since the launch of its operations.
IHO, which calls itself as a healthcare benefits company, provides a range of healthcare services, including medical consultation over telephone and face to face meetings with doctors and other experts.
“Since our soft launch of the operations in December last year, we have reached 1,000 consultations per month from 5.7 lakh subscriber base,’’ Manasije Mishra, Managing Director, IHO and Aetna India told BusinessLine here.
IHO, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aetna, has begun its journey last year with an investment of ₹100 crore and is confident about its break-even. “We still have some funds out of the first round of funding and are actually close to break-even,’’ Mishra said.
Packages In the first year of its operations, by end of December 2017, it expects to achieve a turnover of ₹50 crore. The revenue stream is subscription income from members under its different packages including ‘vHealth’ and classic consultation packages.
These packages offer consultation with medical professionals for a family of four at a subscription of fee of ₹2,400 per annum. The fee, however, varies depending on the range of services under different plans.
“We already have 16,500 medical professionals as our partners who can be accessed by our subscribers by fixing an appointment on web or through a toll-free dial-in,’’ Mishra said.
When asked on the likely reservations in some patients for consulting doctors over phone, Mishra said IHO hopes to harness market potential in primary health care infrastructure in India. The eco system being offered will result in reduction in healthcare expenditure for patients.
It, however, also offers physical consultations and facilitates diagnostic and pharmacy services.
On the viability of the model, he said Indian population has been showing plasticity and adaptability for technological upgradation and remote healthcare and diagnostics with sound clinical protocols. These augur well for the Indian market.
IHO hopes to reach 4 million customer base by 2020 and a turnover of ₹300 crore.
Replication Encouraged by the response, Aetna is in the process of replicating the model in London, Dubai and Singapore with the help of IHO.
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