In conversation with Chanakya Juneja, Promoter, Mankind Pharma

1. According to the survey, conducted by DrOnA Health in collaboration with Mankind Pharma. What % growth was seen in Telemedicine during the COVID period and preferred telemedicine platform for their safety?

Ans : The telehealth market is likely to experience a growth, resulting in a year-over-year increase of 64% approx. 3X growth has been seen in telemedicine adoption/usage post Covid-19 according to the survey conducted. 15-20 per cent of the healthcare ecosystem expected to shift to virtual care. Virtual care consists of tele-consult, tele-pathology, tele-radiology and e-pharmacy and is experiencing an encouraging stimulus in India due to the pandemic.

Patients adopt doctors’ preferred tech platform. A patient always follows what the doctor says, so it becomes of utmost importance for the doctor to set up his virtual clinic – so that his patients can consult him and stay connected with him.

Whatever is suggested and convenient for the doctor, he recommends the same to the patients and that is never ignored by the patients.

2. Tell us more about DrOnA Health and your business model

Ans: DrOnA Health has partnered with Mankind to create awareness about telemedicine.

DrOnA (Dr on App) is a dedicated virtual-consultation platform to connect patients with their known doctors for consultations through audio and video both. It is available both on iOS and android stores, and offers a user-friendly experience through an intuitive and easy-to-use interface.

The app is a virtual replica of an actual clinic – allowing doctors to manage both: in-clinic as well as online appointments. Like any other platform, the consultation fee is fixed by the doctor. Patients only have to pay a convenience fee of 7.5%, which is one of the lowest among the competitors. Further, payments are settled the next day giving the security of their respective fees to doctors.

3. What are the outcomes/findings of the survey?

Ans: According to the survey, conducted by DrOnA Health in collaboration with Mankind Pharma, 60% of respondents reported high satisfaction with telemedicine consultation and 54% of respondents expressed willingness to continue it in future too. The survey polled over 3000+ respondents across genders and age groups in over 250+ cities. We surveyed a question ‘would you consult the doctor in future?’ 23% responded NO (negatively), 36% YES (positively) and 41% MAYBE (tentative). Also, they highlighted the reason; 74% people perceived risk of getting infected at a clinic during COVID is a key reason for patients opting for online consultation, which is safer, convenient and comparatively more economical. They want to consult their known doctors but from the comfort of their homes.

It throws light on the patient’s perspective and acceptance about telemedicine. 70% of users do online consultation with known doctors while nearly 60 % use it for follow-up consultation.

Metro cities are always fast at adapting to newer means, but in this scenario Non-metros showed 3.6 x growth.

4. What was the method of conducting the survey, online or offline. Please elaborate?

Ans: The survey was conducted by DrOnA Health in collaboration with Mankind Pharma, across India with more than 3200 participants, 250+ cities were covered. It throws light on

the patient’s perspective and acceptance about telemedicine. Since everything is virtual & digital. A Quantitative survey was done PAN India , in 250+Cities & 25+ states. 24 in-depth interviews were also done with recent telemedicine users, they shared their experience with their teleconsultations.

5. Where do you see the telemedicine industry in India, in the next two years?

Ans: Telemedicine was always thought as a thing of future, but these unprecedented times changed the world, their opinions and perspectives. Things changed at a fast pace. Telemedicine is now the new normal, it is the present which is being accepted, and will stay.

Telemedicine market is expected to reach US$5.5 billion by 2025 in India , Source-as per EY-IPA study.

With the kind of lifestyle Indians have , convenience and saving time will play an important role in the growth of this model.

It will be a sustainable business model involving - Healthcare, Tech, Data

An ecosystem will be built involving all the important stakeholders-Doctors , patients , pharmacy , diagnostic centres , insurance companies too.

So there will be great shift to e-pharmacies , online maintenance of records , clinic management.

AI will play an important role. Everything will be available with the click of a button. The medical history of patients would be available and linked to their name . This will generate huge data base that can be further used in strategizing and implementation of policies and making the healthcare industry better.