New Delhi : The Healthcare Franchise Knowledge Series, organized by Indian franchise association, was a successful congregation of Healthcare experts, doctors and entrepreneurs seeking new business models in the world of Healthcare. Held at Le Meridian hotel, New Delhi, on 30th and 31st August, the event focussed on the best practices for integrating business interests with the highest degree of quality and sincere service that the industry commands.

Some of the prominent speakers at the conference were Sanjeev K Chaudhry, Managing Director, SRL Limited; Om Manchanda, CEO, Dr Lalpath Labs; Sandeep Ahuja, MD, VLCC Healthcare Ltd; Narendra Saini, Secy General, Indian Medical Association; Visham Sikand, Founder & CEO, Indian Health Organisation; Dr Girdhar Gyani, DG, Association of Healthcare Providers among others.

The Franchise Knowledge Series is especially designed for people looking at exploring growth opportunities for businesses in healthcare, wellness or alternative therapies. It was formulated keeping in mind current and prospective franchisors and suppliers to the franchise and health care industries, prospective investors and entrepreneurs, and health care and medical professionals interested in learning more about the opportunities presented by franchising.

Eminent speakers who threw light on the various fine points of being in the Healthcare industry were Dr. Sandeep Sharma, Promoter & Director of Axiss Dental; Shakun Rai, Chief Executive Officer Peridot Life Sciences; Ravi Gupta, Editor- in- Chief eHealth magazine amongst others. Some of the critical areas discussed were re-franchising, PPP in healthcare, the correct organisational moment to enter into a franchising model, building the retail franchise brand, executing corporate aspirations at the franchisee level etc.

Mr. Gaurav Marya, Chairman, Indian franchise association , said, “The Healthcare industry is that unique platform where one’s will to do good can be combined with business interests if planned carefully. The franchising model makes immense sense in this context as the successful players can ensure high standards of service to a larger market through their franchises.”

While addressing the first day of the event, Dr. Praneet Kumar, CEO, Radiant Life Care Pvt ltd., said “Opportunities in the arena of health sector in India are enormous. And I believe that a judicious analysis of such opportunities will offer a decent value preposition for entrepreneurs or investors. I congratulate the Indian franchise association for organizing Healthcare Franchise Knowledge Series and hope this will formulate robust & pragmatic Public-private partnership (PPP) model for the franchise industry.”

Dr Mukesh Aggarwal, Managing Director, VHCA Hair & Skin Clinic said “Healthcare Franchise Knowledge Series organised by Indian Franchise Association is a highly valuable conference with great speakers and panelists. It has real provided a platform for the emerging Entrepreneur seeking scaling up of their Healthcare Unit/Idea. I appreciate & salute the dedicated efforts of Indian Franchise Association in organizing such an excellent, informative and needed conference on such a burning topic i.e Franchise in Healthcare.”

Mr. Sanjeev Chaudhary, MD, SRL discussed “the feasibility of a franchise business model for healthcare laboratories. He further shared that SRL has got into setting up stat-lab format (a concept similar to kiosks) to reach out to far and wide population of India. These stat-labs are 500 sq ft in size and conduct almost all the 5,000 medical tests that SRL is equipped to conduct on patients.”

 

Mr. OP Manchanda, CEO, Dr. Lal path Labs stated, “By 2021 India will have 600 million people in the emerging middle class segment which is huge opportunity for healthcare sector.” While Lal Path Labs has still refrained from expanding through the franchise model of expansion, Manchanda insists on increasing use of ICT (Information and Communication technology) in standardizing healthcare procedures and scaling up plans.”

Mr. Visham Sikand,  Founder & Director ,Indian Health Organisation  added “HealthCare Franchise by IFA allowed the focused entrepreneurs to understand the most critical success factors needed to succeed in this evergreen industry. It well conveyed to them that Quality focus, Joint efforts by different stake holders and Long gestation period are the focus areas for a successful business model. The scope of health care stays huge in our country and with limited entrepreneurs focusing on it, the space is wide open!”

The two-day event proved to be a competitive space for stakeholders from across sectors like hospital chains, senior healthcare centres, slimming and fitness centres, pathological labs, spas, wellness service providers etc. Some of the important takeaways for participants were regarding the questions of how franchising helps doctors to focus on patient care as opposed to administrative issues and how developing businesses and cultivating leadership for the next generation of medical professionals is important for healthcare franchises. Insights were also shared on the best practices on technology, marketing, legal, construction, supply chain and vendor tie-ups with product manufacturers and distributors.

Source : Priyanka Sharma