Devi Shetty to leverage frugal engineering for medical fraternity

Strikes JV with US-based TriMedx to take costs out of healthcare centres in India

The frugal engineering on which reputed cardiologist Dr Devi Shetty has made healthcare accessible at 14 of his hospitals across India, would now be available for the healthcare fraternity to tap into.

In a move to make healthcare accessible for many more, Dr Shetty is set to institutionalise many of his innovations into a separate company, in which US-based TriMedx, a subsidiary of multi-billion dollar Ascension Health will be a joint venture partner. TriMedx specialises in reducing expenses, maximise utilisation and drive profitability through innovative management programs centered on medical technology assets.

Speaking to Business Standard, Dr Shetty, chairman and founder, Narayana Hrudayalaya, said there are immense possibilities through this joint venture, all aimed at taking healthcare to every nook and corner of the country. Many medical equipment companies start to offer an upgrade once every five-seven years to the hospitals and many of them may not be in a position to go in for upgrades for many a reason. “What we intend to offer is how we can extend the lifecycle of a costly MRI or any other major equipment and almost double the life of the equipment with our joint expertise,” Dr Shetty detailed.

While Dr Shetty has been at this mission of making healthcare accessible to one and all, TriMedx has helped more than 1,000 healthcare providers reduce expenses, increase patient throughput and profitability through in-sourced health technology management programs. Delivering 99 per cent uptime, round-the-clock response and unbiased, total-cost-of-ownership equipment data, TriMedx has saved its clients $166 million to date.

From thermometers to MRIs, TriMedx manages over 750,000 devices across every modality —biomedical, imaging, laboratory and offers expert consulting for comprehensive lifecycle management, such as capital equipment and technology planning, capital equipment selection and procurement, inventory validation and management, patient safety assessment, asset investment recovery and total cost of ownership analysis.

This new joint venture is one of the many the two major healthcare providers — Narayana Hrudayalaya and Ascension Healthcare are planning. They have already come together to set up an expansive healthcare city in the Cayman Islands in an equal joint venture, which would have about 2,000 beds over a period of time at an initial cost of $60 million.