As part of our quest to identify and share some of the compelling startup stories with our community, we invited Amit Bansal this weekend for an exclusive interview with us. Amit is the Co-founder and CEO at MediGence – A health-tech startup that aims at simplifying medical travel, streamlining the whole process and integrating technology to enhance user experience.
Amit has spent close to 20 years in the technology industry and managed some of the largest healthcare customers. Working closely with customers across the world from Europe, Australia, South Africa, South East Asia, Amit realized that there is a significant gap between patient expectations and the patient experience actually provided to them. This is what inspired him to pursue Medical Travel as a niche to start his entrepreneurial journey and launch MediGence. Let’s hear his compelling story and find out more about Medigence:
Excerpts from our exclusive interview podcast with him:
Tell us a little about yourself and your startup please:
I am Amit Bansal, CEO & co-founder at MediGence. I’ve spent close to 20 years in the technology industry and managed some of the largest healthcare customers. Working closely with customers across the world from Europe, Australia, South Africa, South East Asia, I realized that there is a significant gap between patient expectations and the patient experience actually provided to them. Healthcare fraternity has been doing some tremendous work that should be appreciated. Having said that, there are certain areas that I identified which I believe can be simplified, and hence MediGence.
Why did you choose medical travel as a niche to pursue your entrepreneurial journey? Talk us through the industry size, competition as well.
After spending close to 2 decades in the technology industry and having worked closely with international clients and customers across the world, I wanted to do something on my own within the Healthcare niche using technology to help in improving people’s lives. I am not into this just to make money, obviously, I don’t intend to do charity but the idea is to add value to the lives of people. We picked up medical travel because we realized that there is huge scope of implementing technology and improve the patient experience. Right from day 1, we are working on innovation and building technology.
MediGence helps patients at each stage, from diagnosis to treatment until their recovery. We have multiple checkpoints to ensure a smooth, seamless and hassle-free experience for our patients.
Healthcare is one of the largest industries yet one of the most untapped space. With the advent of AI/ML, it is getting more interesting and exciting.
Does your startup also solve some of the problems faced by people when it comes to seeking the second opinion?
Oh yes, I mean – we have a very strong technology interface in place with multiple checkpoints enabled to ensure a seamless patient experience. You can only imagine what someone, who has been diagnosed with a life-threatening disease, has to go through. We help them explore all the best possible treatment options, be it- hospitals or treatment facilities, doctors, healthcare experts for their treatment. So, it is important to provide that level of comfort to the patient, to empower them with the missing piece of information, to share unbiased advice/opinion and to give them all the support they need. So, to answer your question, yes we do facilitate the second opinion and it is something we have been doing for a very long time.
Elaborate a bit on the role of technology in creating a better user/patient experience!
Alright, probably I will go back and explain it in a little different approach so that our users tuned in to the podcast or reading this interview know the context and the approach where I am coming from. What we are working upon as an organization- if you look at the customer experience – I would look at it from a consumer’s point of view. So, somebody who is booking a cab can do it at the click of a button. A decade ago, it wasn’t possible, but now in 10 minutes, you have that service available. Likewise, we can look at online shopping as an example. Similarly, in medical travel, let’s say some travel overseas for treatment. They have to go to multiple stages and checkpoints, they are bombarded with billing, questions and other processes.
We, at MediGence, have carefully assessed those stages and integrated tech to streamline and simplify it. So, technology has a major role to play. We have launched an app called CURED that does exactly the same. We are not just focused around selling healthcare services – you can’t sell healthcare services; you are not in the business of selling bikes or shoes – you are in the business of assisting patients, of providing the comfort to the people who are fighting for their lives. Our latest product is doing exactly the same.
What are the biggest challenges that you foresee or you have already encountered in the journey with MediGence so far?
The challenges continue, the problems continue. If you look at medical travel industry – it is a highly agent-driven industry where you would find anybody and everybody claiming to be a medical service provider, claiming to be offering 24×7 patient services, having sophisticated websites, investing in PPCs and doing digital marketing. This has been the trend, I really want to talk positive so the biggest challenge we had in this industry is the transformation from offline to online or I would say customer taking decision by using technology. There has been a major shift. We have been working in the right direction, So we are good. We want to be the best tech-integrated company and have our strategy in place.
What advice would you give to someone starting out, particularly to aspiring entrepreneurs?
For a young budding entrepreneur, my advice would be to stick to your goals no matter what roadblocks comes on your path. Don’t focus much on getting funded. Instead, focus on the execution part, focus on the revenue model and let your customers help you take your vision to the next level.
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem. Stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
