Singapore firm's subsidiary set to open clinics in state

Hyderabad-based Razi Healthcare, a subsidiary of Singapore-based Richard Chandler Corporation, is pla-nning to have 100 primary healthcare clinics by the end of this year.

Razi, started in 2009 with a low-cost, patient-centered approach for all primary healthcare treatment serv-ices, offers doctor consul-tations, diagnostic services, minor surgical procedures and products from an in-house dispensary.

It has 50 clinics across Andhra Pradesh. In its second phase, starting January, it plans to add another 50 in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka, N V Subba Rao, chief executive, Razi Healthcare, said.

To ensure that all its patients receive the same sta-ndard of medical services, Razi has opted for iON - a branded on-demand cloud computing offering from Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) — to digitise patient-care profiles that helps in easy access and more accurate treatment.

Each clinic costs between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 8 lakh, and employs a doctor, a pharmacist and a nurse. These are mainly company-owned.

So far, primary healthcare in India was mainly restricted to government hospitals. In the past three months, the acceptance of the clinics have gone up. Till date, 70,000 patients have walked into our clinics, and we expect to reach 100,000 by December end, he added.

Razi Healthcare is also planning to set up its clinic at gated communities and corporate houses.

“In India, only a few government organisations have healthcare units in their premises, whereas the private sector just has visiting a doctor’s facility. We are in discussions with various corporate houses including Microsoft and TCS to set up our unit inside their office premises,” he said.

It has sought space from these companies. The facil-ity will be applicable acr-oss employees and family members while individuals would be provided with a health pass.

Razi Healthcare is also planning to provide insurance facilities under the government’s Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana. RSBY has rolled out a pilot project in Odisha and Gujarat to provide insurance facilities for the lower section of society. “For AP, they have approached us to implement the insurance scheme under RSBY’s parameters and guidelines, but nothing has been finalised yet,” Rao said.