Exclusive:Practo's Shashank ND says technology startups can solve the country’s biggest healthcare challenges

Yesterday, Loop- Practo’s annual conference took place in Delhi where healthcare stakeholders got together to discuss and try to solve the biggest challenges in healthcare.

The key discussions at Loop revolved around ‘creating a successful tele-health network’, ‘bridging the gap between payers and providers’, and medical regulations.

Business Insider caught up with Shashank ND, CEO & Co-founder, Practo to find out how the sector is evolving; especially after the start-ups have come in.

Shashank highlighted some of the conversations,’ We got together India’s Top hospitals, Insurance providers, and healthcare companies on the same platform to discuss how technology can solve the healthcare problems in the country namely, affordable & quality care.’

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He also elaborated on the discussions, ’Dr. Velumani, CEO, Thyrocare shared some insights on innovations pertaining to standardization of cost structures. Mr. Ramachandran , Deputy CEO, Apollo Munich talked about standardisation of medical supplies.’
Shashank lamented that many regulatory frameworks need to be thought out internally for the internet companies in this space. ‘We need to self-regularize so that we can help the government understand how we work. Loop was an attempt in that direction’

Shashank agrees that healthcare is a hot sector for start-ups, ’Medical devices start-ups in India are creating good quality, low-cost devices for the masses. We are excited to integrate with a lot of Patent-pending technology start-ups.’

’Telemedicine is also coming up in a big way; many patients don’t mind a new way of interaction with their doctors, they are already using social networks like Facebook and Whatsapp to get consultation.’

Our biggest challenge is to allay the fears related to technology platforms. Adoption of tech is a problem, still, a lot of hospitals are not open to changing their processes to accommodate technology.

Practo has been at it for 8 years; trying to use technology to solve the biggest problems in terms of mobility and reach in the healthcare sector, but there’s a long way to go to reach a billion lives.