Welcome to the Syncremedies blog. We’re kicking off our series with Founder & CEO, Arjun Rao, as he takes us through his journey to realizing his vision for the future of telemedicine in India.
Q: Give us a background of what you were doing before Syncremedies and how the idea for this startup came about?
Arjun: I have always been in Healthcare. I started off a doctor in India and later decided to get my MBA that led me to launch a career in driving clinical outcomes and reducing cost of care delivery in the US. I worked at major academic medical institutions like MGH and Stanford and at startups in the US before launching Syncremedies Healthcare in Bangalore, India.
Q: The name Syncremedies it’s kind of perfect for what the company stands for and all your services. Can you expand upon that for our readers?
Arjun: We came up with Syncremedies as we launched India’s first online Integrated Medicine service where we got doctors from Allopathy (Modern Medicine), Ayurveda and Homeopathy to collaborate together to address patient’s ailments.
Over time, we not only provide Integrated Medicine but we have now become a “one stop” for any healthcare service that patients require outside the hospital. All services are provided at the convenience of your home. Online or Offline
Q: Obviously the telemedicine scene across the globe has changed significantly since COVID 19 but can you talk through what Syncremedies experience has been since the pandemic hit?
Arjun: COVID-19 clearly changed the landscape in healthcare delivery. Syncremedies was able to provide our teleconsultation and home care service to patients who approached us directly. We also provided our service to Insurance companies and Corporates who wanted a service where their employees could call to speak with a doctor about any concerns they experienced.
We look to expand our services to other corporates and insurance companies in the coming months
Q: Say there is someone out there in their mid-40’s fairly healthy and wants to use a service like Syncremedies to bring in an element of Holistic living. What services do you have to offer?
Arjun: Syncremedies provides a comprehensive suite of services that an individual in their mid 40s can opt for, such as
- Disease Management Programs for obesity, hypertension or diabetes
- Yoga classes
- Nutritionist consultation
- Doctor consultation online or at home
- Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Allopathy or Integrated Medicine
There are a variety of other support services we offer as well
- Nursing
- Caretaker
- Physiotherapy
- Medicine Delivery
- Lab tests at home
- Medical Equipment
Q: Among the several Telemedicine portals and services out there, what makes Syncremedies unique? Why should someone come to you?
Arjun: The telemedicine portals in India are mainly aggregators who provide easy access to doctors for patients. They are not necessarily vested in the clinical outcome of the patient.
Syncremedies on the other hand is vested in the clinical outcome. We ensure our doctors are well trained, we follow up with patient within 24hrs to get their feedback on the consultation, follow up with the patient again within 20 days to find out how they are doing and see if they need any assistance.
Syncremedies is a beyond an aggregator, we are a health and wellness service company.
Q: Can you elaborate a little on your Home Care Subscription model?
Arjun: Syncremedies has been doing Home care for a while now. We realized that creating a subscription for patients to opt into will help them avail our services either FREE or at Discounted prices enabling them to get a comprehensive suite of services to help support their needs.
The highlight of the subscription model is an initial health assessment by a nurse who comes to the patient’s house and assesses the physical and emotional state of the patient and records it. This will create a good baseline for us to evaluate whether our interventions have helped the patient get better.
Q: How does a service like Syncremedies work if say a family consists of a young couple and elderly parents living with them – can they combine your elder care service with say yoga classes and a Ayurvedic consultation?
Arjun: As our home care program provides a suite of services keeping patients of every age in mind, Individuals can opt for any service they need and avail the service.
The benefit of the subscription model is that people get
- Free health Assessment by a Nurse
- Free Electronic Medical Record to keep their medical documents online and get access from anywhere
- Free Teleconsultations — 12 per year
- Free Concierge Support 12 hours per day to help answer any queries or arrange any service
- ALL our services are at discounted Prices– Minimum of 10%
Q: Teleconsultation is the big buzz word now – from a patient’s perspective how can one make the most out of a teleconsultation and what do you think can better this experience as building a relationship between doctor and patient is definitely more challenging.
Arjun: The biggest challenge we face with teleconsultation is that patient’s come online for an episodic intervention rather than for a longterm relationship with the doctor.
Syncremedies is trying to change the dynamic by enabling patients to come online for an issue they face but also have the option for a in-house consultation where they have an opportunity to spend time with the doctor and build a rapport.
We hope that the combination of in-home and on-line consultation can help bridge the gap in the industry and help in the longitudinal care of patients.
Q: From Allopathy to Homeopathy and Ayurveda; Syncremedies offers the whole range of options to patients and caregivers but what a lot of people don’t know is that instead of picking 1, they can opt for your Integrated services which makes you one of a kind. Can you elaborate on that?
Arjun: Integrated Medicine consultation provides patients an opportunity to speak with doctors from Allopathy, Ayurveda and Homeopathy TOGETHER. This enables them to discuss their medical concerns with all of them at the same time.
The advantage of this type of consultation is that the decision on the best way to treat the medical ailment rests on the 3 doctors and not with the patient which is what is happening currently where patients jump between various forms of medicine without knowing which “form of medicine” or the right combination would help them.
Once the consultation is done, the 3 doctors discuss the best course of action and collaborate to provide the best possible outcome for the patient.
The treatment plan is written up and the appropriate prescriptions are provided to the patient. Syncremedies helps to home deliver the medicines if needed.
Q: What next for Syncremedies, as Employee Wellness has taken in backseat since everyone is working from home?
Arjun: Employee wellness programs took a back seat since March and has been very slow in getting back to normalcy. We have noticed that many corporates are opting for teleconsultations as an option to help their employees address any medical concerns they have.
The other service we are providing corporates that are opening their office is sending our doctors on-site at their office to be there physically to answer any questions they employees have about their health.
Lastly, we are providing fitness certificates for restaurant employees. After a diagnostic test, our doctors review their results and have a teleconsultation with employees to assess if they are fit to be at work and provide a fitness certificate.
I believe it will take a while before corporates get back to their offices. The best way to engage with them is via an online platform. Thus, we are providing a variety of services online:
- Doctor consultation
- Yoga classes
- Mental Health counseling
- Fitness Certificates
- Doctor On-site at the office
Thank you so much for sharing your vision with us Arjun. Syncremedies is looking forward to bringing you more content that you can use for a healthier lifestyle.
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