India’s dynamic startup culture driven by technology has catapulted the growth of the digital healthcare ecosystem. Experts believe that the growth in the country’s healthcare system in the coming years will be accelerated by three crucial factors: awareness, demand and accessibility. Digital healthcare platforms are playing a pivotal role in creating awareness and providing the access to affordable care. They’re bridging the gap between awareness and treatment at a scale that is easier to achieve with the help of technology. Healthcare is the right space for women entrepreneurs to venture into, but ‘purpose’ is a crucial element for success and growth in this space.
In conversation with Her Circle, Sripriya Rao, Co-founder and COO of Karkinos Healthcare spoke about the purpose of her organisation and the objective she is driving for the growth of the platform. From research to testing and implementation, a healthcare startup has a long road ahead. But what makes it excel, she believes, is the intent. In her words, “Women as entrepreneurs must look at a purpose-driven program that can scale. The rest will fall in place.”
A Purpose-Driven Business Model
Karkinos is a purpose driven technology-led oncology platform that is focused on delivering quality healthcare for cancer. Karkinos believes no person should be deprived of care either by lack of access or affordability. By operating using a distributed cancer care network, the platform focuses on early detection and managed health care. From creating awareness to accessibility for early detection of common forms of cancers through affordable services, Karkinos is on a mission to build cancer centres without walls using a participatory model. “Our first step is to break this barrier and stigma about people not wanting to come out and talk about cancer. We want to bring awareness. A lot of things are due to perception of, 'I don't know what I don't know.' And because of this, I focus on prevention may not be sufficient to solve for early detection of cancer. At Karkinos, we are trying to bring a lot of awareness of benefits of early detection to the community. Technology, as a matter of fact, has in fact led to boundary-less, ecosystems that you can create,” explain Rao describing the most crucial step of the venture. The shift from getting oneself treated only during illness to focusing on overall wellness is crucial, and the awareness must be created to help achieve long-term goals of wellness among people, she believes.
The Right Entrepreneurial Mindset
Affordable cancer care accessibility to citizens is an objective that may appear challenging in a country that is yet to understand the importance of prevention, but according to Rao, the right strategy is crucial for driving such goals. “I am reading a book called Masters of Scale by Reid Hoffman. It has a quote that talks about how iconic leaders and organisations are created and the key to scaling isn’t really about talent, network or strategy, it’s the entrepreneurial mindset, one that has to be cultivated. Our founding team members have done tremendous work at scale and have brought in newer business ideas and innovations. At Karkinos, we keep the patients and the citizens at the heart of all the decisions that we make. We want to scale, but do it with quality care, ensuring we follow the right standards, the right patient navigation process and do the platform thinking,” explains Rao
The Role Of Pandemic In Shaping Healthcare Businesses
Pandemic has definitely accelerated the concept of technology in healthcare. It also made people aware of the concepts of mental wellness, work-life balance and self-care. But has it made any impact and boosted the purpose that Karkinos is driving? According to Rao, unfortunately, cancer awareness took a backseat during the pandemic. Since the focus was on Covid-19, several cancer patients struggled to get access to the right care. “We've adopted several techniques in terms of direct to consumer conversations, doing a lot of webinars, looking to primary healthcare providers who are already connected with the citizens. We even started a cancer care helpline during the pandemic to support patients. Several oncologists, both from Karkinos as well as others whom we knew of, joined hands in this journey, and came forward to be part of such initiatives,” she adds.
To know more about the potentiality of the healthcare space for women entrepreneurs and Sripriya’s entrepreneurial mantra, watch the video.