‘‘HCL Healthcare intends to provide patient-cantered care for over 20 million people by 2020’’

HCL has a rich history in the technology segment. How did healthcare happen?

Harish Natarajan

Over the last 38 years, HCL has been at the forefront of the Indian technology industry. With a very strong entrepreneurial character, HCL has always made daring forays while being constantly innovative and reinventing itself at every stage. We believe that technology, education and healthcare are the three pillars of nation building. Given our strong presence in the technology space and the significant work that the Shiv Nadar Foundation has done in the education space over the last two decades, it was the next logical step for HCL to enter healthcare. Also, the technology expertise of HCL in the healthcare vertical was definitely a contributing factor in our decision to enter healthcare. We work with some of the leading names globally in healthcare and have developed tremendous domain capabilities. For a few years, HCL had been seeking adjacent businesses and the team has been working in this space for the last two years and has grown to be passionate about healthcare. Innovation is our DNA and we have the expertise in technology to make a difference.

What does affiliation with Johns Hopkins mean? What do they bring to the table?

Our association with Johns Hopkins Medicine International (JHI) will help us marry the technology expertise of HCL and the clinical expertise of Johns Hopkins to be able to deliver our vision of providing best-in-class patient-centric healthcare experience. The partnership will bring in global best practices and the best in evidence-based medicine. Experts from JHI will also advise us on facility design. We will be drawing heavily on their expertise for training and developing clinical processes. JHI will play a very large role in training and clinical processes, which will be absolutely important for us in developing our patient-centric approach.

There are a number of players in healthcare delivery market, what are your differentiators?

At the onset, we are setting up India’s first and largest chain of networked multi-speciality clinics with strong focus on patient-centricity. We have borrowed a concept largely used in the west called the ‘patient-centred medical home’. The patients will be treated not by a doctor but by a team of our specialists and they will be helped to take informed treatment decision. So they can intelligently participate in the process of deciding what would be the best for them. Every patient will be treated with empathy and respect. HCL’s strong technology backbone will help establish a new paradigm in patient experience through video-consulting; evidence-based care through tools like electronic medical records (EMR), mobile applications etc. Our association with JHI will also serve to provide our patients with best clinical experience as all our medical professionals will be trained by JHI in evidence-based system.

What was the investment in this venture and the source of investment?

At present, HCL Corporation would be committing Rs1,000 crores in equity towards HCL Healthcare, to be invested as found appropriate over the next few years.

What are your expectations on this investment?

We plan to be India’s first and largest chain of networked multi-speciality clinics focused on patient centricity. The largest portion of our investments will go towards establishing the clinics because we do not want to compromise on patient care and experience. The second largest investment will be towards establishing the technology backbone as technology will play a large part in our offerings. The remaining would be invested in setting up the clinical development programmes and in training.

What are your expansion plans?

We are commencing with country’s first nation-wide networked multi-speciality clinics through HCL Avitas, in affiliation with JHI. HCL Avitas is the first subsidiary and healthcare delivery arm of HCL Healthcare. Our aim is to provide patient-centric care to over 20 million people by 2020. The long-term vision of HCL Healthcare is to be the nation’s leading healthcare company by addressing the entire spectrum of healthcare needs; providing healthcare delivery, innovative medical services, products and training to meet the growing need for quality healthcare.

Would you be partnering with existing players? If yes, what kind of partnership are you looking for?

We have chosen to collaborate with JHI, acknowledged as a one of the best in healthcare globally, to begin with. We would leverage the most in every aspect of clinical expertise and global best practices in healthcare from JHI. However, in the other business domains we may seek partners in order to become the long-term care partners of our patients and their families.

What will be your growth strategy?

It is early days to speak about growth and numbers but we hope to scale up to a considerable size. Creating an organised technology-led health system that will be the long-term care partner is our immediate goal. HCL Healthcare intends to be that partner and provide patient-centred care for over 20 million people by 2020. What is more important for us at this stage is to set the right standards to create a healthcare system that is aligned our focus and goal of patient-centricity.

[email protected]