THE FAMILY DOCTORS
After a five-year stint at village primary health centres in Kerala, four young doctors decided to quit their jobs. The four friends—Mohamed Shamnad, D.S. Midhun, Rojan Joseph and Prasoon Prakasan—decided to reinvent the ‘family doctor’ concept, offer quality service at an affordable cost in rural and semi-urban areas through a chain of Our Family Clinics (OFCs). They set up Satkriya Healthcare Innovations Private Limited in March 2015 to operate as a social service/ business venture with an authorised capital of Rs 89.25 lakh.
Today, OFC has 11 centres in Kerala with specialty clinics, pharmacies, diagnostic labs and 24x7 doctors on call. “We have designed an innovative family- and patient-centred healthcare model delivered through a chain of family clinics. It’s an attempt to revolutionise the private healthcare system in India, bring in a more organised delivery model with quality healthcare services at an affordable cost,” says Dr Shamnad, CEO.
All OFCs offer doctor consultations including medicines at a fee of less than Rs 250 in semi-urban areas and less than Rs 200 in remote villages. They get around 1,000 patients at the clinics daily. OFC has a standardised patient-centric treatment protocol in place and staff, including doctors, are inducted only after a 10-day training programme. “We have built our brand by creating trust among the local community. The clinics are in the black within three months of starting operations,” says Dr Rojan Joseph, CFO and one of the co-founders.
In Vypin, a coastal area in Ernakulam district, the local fisherfolk community are quite happy with OFC’s services. “We get quality service at a minimum cost. Earlier, we had to go to the private hospital and spend over Rs 500 even for a minor illness. It is much less here,” says Thomas Vincent, a local fisherman. ■
“WE’RE NOT BOTHERED ABOUT OUR BOTTOMLINE. WE WANT OUR PATIENTS TO LEAVE WITH A SMILE ON THEIR FACE,” SAYS DR SHAMNAD