Dr Akshay Parmar, Founder & Managing Director and Dr Anurag Shah, Founder & Executive Director, Unihealth Consultancy Limited, highlight how replicating the Indian healthcare model and inter-linking of different healthcare verticals have redefined the healthcare paradigm and helped develop health infrastructure in countries where UniHealth has established its presence
Over the last 2 decades, the Indian healthcare Industry has witnessed tectonic shifts across all verticals of the sector and achieved global repute as a reliable partner, be it in provision of healthcare services at its technologically advanced hospitals or the supply of high quality and cost-effective healthcare products manufactured in factories across the country. India has been the preferred choice for medical tourists from countries world over since the beginning of the century. The manufacturing and global supply of the COVID-19 vaccines by Indian companies further reaffirmed the country’s position as a trusted partner to be at the forefront of the industry globally. The role of private Indian companies in replicating the Indian model to help develop the healthcare infrastructure in underdeveloped countries and make services accessible to the under-served populations can be contributory in redefining the global world order and strengthen India’s position as a nation to reckon with in the coming decades.
Founded in 2010, Unihealth Consultancy Limited has been at the forefront of globalising the Indian healthcare model. Backed by the vision to provide ‘Healthcare for All’, the Company, in its initial days, redefined the medical tourism industry by challenging status quo and forging alliances on innovative models with an aim to streamline processes for both, patients and providers.
“Facilitating services for medical tourists was a competitive space by 2012. For us at UniHealth, the aim was to make these services accessible to a larger population in a cost-effective manner. With this vision, in early 2013, we entered into a unique collaboration with Ethiopian Air, to launch the ‘UniHealth – Ethiopian Air Medical Travel Program’, an initiative that allowed UniHealth to expand its footprint across the African continent and provide patients traveling to India a single-point access for the entire range of services required to plan their treatment in addition to allowing them avail 25 per cent discount on their travel tickets”, highlights Dr Parmar.
Dr Shah adds, “By 2015, after having travelled to more than 25 countries on the African continent and closely studying their healthcare requirements, we resolved to take an important step forward in redefining UniHealth’s business model and put in place ‘Vision 2025’ for the company, a decision that gave birth to Unihealth Medical Centres and UMC Hospitals, and have eventually contributed in reshaping health infrastructure in Uganda, Nigeria and Tanzania.”
Starting 2015, UniHealth has established a network of hospitals and medical centres in Uganda, Nigeria and Tanzania. The Group, under its flagship ‘UMC Hospitals’ brand, operates 200 tertiary care beds and 3 medical centres in these countries and provides medical services to 100,000+ patients annually.
“We have designed our facilities in line with Indian hospitals and installed equipment sourced from leading Indian manufacturers, replicating the Indian model and ensuring that the required capex and recurring operational costs are minimised. This ensured the profitability of our units and gave us the opportunity to scale up services by continually adding newer specialties. UMC Victoria Hospital, our flagship facility in Uganda, is the country’s only hospital to have modular OTs and centralised medical gas systems. The facility has been accredited by United Nations to provide services to the beneficiaries of multiple UN Agencies in the region”, mentions Dr Shah.
In 2019, UniHealth ventured into healthcare consultancy services, an important vertical focussed on assisting upcoming healthcare projects with turn-key solutions to plan, design, equip and commission their facilities.
“We have developed an in-house team specialising in all segments of a project cycle, from planners and architects to designers and engineers, all having relevant experience of working on healthcare projects. The idea is to integrate all services to provide comprehensive solutions and ensure that designs take into consideration important aspects related to the functionality and operative challenges witnessed in such projects. This is an important factor for our clients in underdeveloped countries where accessibility to consultants having the desired skillsets is both, limited and expensive,” outlines Dr Parmar.
This vertical of the company is presently working on projects with a cumulative bed capacity of more than 1,000 beds across Asia and Africa.
Taking a step further in the inter-linking of different verticals of the industry, in 2020, UniHealth aggressively expanded its export and distribution division. It is the authorised distributor in multiple African countries for a wide range of pharma and medical consumables manufactured by leading Indian companies.
“Inter-linking of various verticals of the industry, from consultancy services and distribution to operations and management, have allowed us to redefine the industry in countries like Uganda, Nigeria and Tanzania and aid in the development of their healthcare infrastructure, making specialised services accessible to the underserved populations. By 2025, we aim to have an operational capacity of 1,000 beds under UMC Hospitals”, emphasises Dr Parmar.