I always believed in the slightly-altered Alchemist quote, “When you truly want something and heartfully work towards it, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
I was born in Andhra Pradesh and brought up in Himachal Pradesh, as my dad works in one of Asia’s biggest hydroelectric projects. I have lived a dream childhood amidst the scenic mountains.
Since childhood, I aspired to be a doctor which is why I pursued Bachelor Of Dental Surgery. Honestly, I wanted to be a doctor. But handling hectic emergencies and night duties was not my cup of tea, and that’s when I decided to chose dentistry. I feel dentistry is more of an art, and given my interest in art, I had a natural inclination towards it. And the pleasure of creating beautiful smiles and improving the quality of people’s life with a good oral health were the thoughts that strengthened my choice.
My aspiration to learn advanced oral technologies and be an implant surgeon took me to Manipal College Of Dental Sciences, where I pursued post graduation in Advanced Oral Implantology.
Bringing smiles along the way
I practised as a consultant in a corporate dental setup and a few individual dental clinics in Bengaluru for three years; I have been successful in completing several oral implant surgeries and bringing smiles to thousands of patients.
My parents have always set my heart to doing things for myself, building something of my own. When I met Srinath Akula, my better half, we realised how alike we and our thoughts are. This made me quit my job as a dentist and co-found elth.care with Srinath.
The Eureka moment!
Once, when Srinath was unwell with a bad nose and was sneezing for a long time, he was trying to search for a good E.N.T specialist. I intervened to ask him his symptoms and realized that he should consult a pulmonologist and not an ENT specialist.
So, I felt that if a well-educated person like him is not aware of these medical specialties, then a common person from a Tier II or III city will never be able to understand that without guidance.
Another incident that strengthened our resolve was when one of our friends was missing a tooth and he went to a corporate clinic for a solution, which made him more confused on whether he should live without the tooth, or whether he should close all his fixed deposits to get the treatment done! He went for second and third opinions and was still not clear, after which he reached out to me. I took the time to explain to him the various treatment options, and the pros and cons of each.
What’s required and what can we do?
Then, we realised that people need a trusted guide like a doctor, accessible 24x7, to point towards the right specialist / doctor, and evaluate the pros and cons of each option etc. That was the Eureka moment; we started working on a healthcare problem discovery app that can diagnose people’s problems.
We planned to build this technology which is infinitely scalable and reaches everyone who seeks solutions to medical queries--be it primary care, knowledge of treatment process, which super speciality, what cost, etc.
Our Artificial Intelligence-based diagnosis engine that can probe just like an expert doctor. Unique treatment cost estimator that helps people make the right choice based on their affordability and availability. People can also book an appointment if the doctor is enrolled on our platform.
Unlike an eCommerce Retail which is more of selling products online, eCommerce in Healthcare has a plethora of sub divisions which vary from selling medicines online to tele-consultation of a patient with the doctor. Each of these services are in different stages of evolution and people are fortunately adapting to these trends faster than one expected.
Just like eCommerce in its early years focused on one single objective--of making things convenient to customer--most of the digital health initiatives which are currently running are centered on convenience in form of online pharmacies, purchase of medical supplies by hospitals, consulting expert doctors through chat/video for queries, searching doctors around them and booking appointment etc.,
But these portals and solutions have to go a long way in solving the real problem of people i.e., problem discovery, doctor discovery, right doctor match, complete disease management, disease risk analysis.
We want to be a name that comes first to people’s mind when they have any health query. Every step we take would be in that direction.
So, we are working on launching an Artificial Intelligence bot that’s always there in people’s mobile, and not just makes them understand the problem and solution, but also guides them till the health issue is resolved and ensure it never occurs to them again.
I love each minute of the extra-long work days
Firstly, dream big, take risks and do whatever it takes to reach there. After all, even if you fail, you have nothing to lose. You’d be a much better person as you’ll get so much learning that you couldn’t even imagine if you didn’t take that risk in the first place.
I work twice the number of hours per day compared to my day job, for which I always used to crib, and yet I love each minute of working on my startup. I feel in full control of things and I recognize what needs to be done to make our business / product / service better. And this makes me not settle for less, keep improving every day which is making a better person every day.
As told to Paroma Sen