Save while you ail: Online portal reduces your medical

Gargi Banerjee

Gayatri Raman is in her 50s and has been suffering from cirrhosis of the liver for a few years. A year or so ago, Raman had one more thing to worry about – her medical expenses, which by then had amounted to a whopping Rs 12,000 a week. A month ago, Raman, who is active on various online forums and support groups, stumbled upon Medicash, an online healthcare rewards programme that offers discounts on her pharmacy bills and tests that she has to run weekly. Medicash was launched in March 2013 by Ravitej Yadlam, who also runs an online couponing and cashback platform in the US called Pennyful. Much to the delight of thousands of customers, Yadlam floated the start-up along with a partner with a seed capital of Rs 5 lakh. Discounts & Cashbacks The best part, say happy customers, is that all you have to do is register with the portal to avail the discounts and/or cashbacks on offer. The benefits, of course, can be availed only at pharmacies, diagnostic labs, hospitals etc, that partner with Medicash. While direct discounts are available on pharmacy bills and diagnostic tests, cashbacks are offered on surgical and other treatments at medical facilities that have tied up with the online portal. The Genesis With the e-commerce business gaining traction in India, Yadlam is pleasantly surprised by the participation he finds from Tier II cities in India. His research indicated that 70 per cent of Indians foot their medical bills from their own pocket, and even those who do have medical insurance are restricted by stringent regulations. With healthcare and the dynamics of performance marketing in mind, Yadlam got together with childhood friend Manu Swarup, who is based in Hyderabad, where he runs a free online database called that connects patients with doctors who are relevant to their kind of ailment. Swarup, who also runs an ophthalmology hospital in the city, was excited by Yadlam’s idea and they went in for a 50:50 partnership on Medicash with start-up capital that they both contributed. The partnership is working out well for both founders even though they are based in different cities (Yadlam is in Bangalore while Swarup is in Hyderabad) While Yadlam cashes in on his expertise in technology and the integration platforms that need to be synced with a client, Swarup makes the most of his network of doctors, hospitals, labs etc. The Opportunity Yadlam says, after making its debut in Bangalore and Hyderabad, Medicash is now present in six cities and 3,500 locations countrywide. It has tie-ups with 60 partners in the medical field that include pharmacies, hospitals, pathology labs etc. The start-up has drawn a healthy response in the South and from cities like Delhi and Pune. It is gearing up for a Mumbai launch soon. “Medical expenses are not a luxury but a necessity,” Yadlam points out. “To ensure that consumers are able to use our portal with minimum hassles, we are in the process of further simplifying the registration process for consumers, especially senior citizens who may not be all that net savvy. Thus, instead of online registration, consumers will soon be able to register with a missed call to a toll-free number. The consumer will then receive a text message that will provide a unique registration number for the consumer. Revenue Model While technology integration is a big challenge when it comes to smaller partners Yadlam says it has worked out better than he had expected with large hospitals, pharmacies etc. He claims that within three months of launch, Medicash is averaging a turnover of Rs 6 lakh and the month-on-month growth rate is as high as 85-100 per cent. Medicash follows the cost-per-sale model, a form of online marketing. Its success is based mainly on its tie-ups with partners in the medical field. The terms of partnership with a pharmacy, pathology lab or hospital are worked out on a case-to-case basis with each healthcare partner, depending on its size and scale and the kind of technology platform each client can provide. Each healthcare partner has a marketing budget margin on each transaction, which ranges from 50-80 per cent. Of this, depending on the size of healthcare partner, Medicash charges about 10 per cent on each transaction that takes place as a result of their advertising. Of this, typically 8 per cent is passed on to the customer in the form of a direct discount or cashback.  For instance, with pharmacies such as Apollo Pharmacy, the consumer gets a flat discount of 10 per cent on all his medical bills whereas if it is a surgery, he is eligible for a cashback of 5-10 per cent. The online healthcare rewards programme is in its early days still. At present restricted to a few well-known brands, Yadlam and Swarup are working on quickly expanding their network of partners. It’s a win-win for all. You can send your feedback on smementor@moneycontrol.com or simply post comments below