April 7th, 2008
- By: Jason Ye
- Originally posted on: thinkchangeindia.org
The following is a guest post by Jason Ye, a MD/MBA student at Columbia University and an InSITE fellow alongside yours truly. Jason visited India during his spring break on a project organized by Columbia’s International Development Club and worked on pro bono consulting project with LifeSpring Hospitals. Go here for a post on this venture to provide affordable medical care to women and children. While Jason’s work must remain confidential, he was able to reflect on his experience during his work with this great organization.
I had always wanted to visit India, but never thought that I would go for at least another 15 years. When I fortuitously stumbled upon the opportunity to work with LifeSpring, a maternity hospital in Hyderabad, I jumped on the opportunity. It would seem that the entire trip accidentally fell into place. I was able to speak to the client for the first time only a week before I left, just barely got an appointment to get travel vaccinations, got my tourist visa the day before I traveled and bought my plane ticket on the morning my plane left. When I finally arrived in Hyderabad, I still had no idea what to expect. But my experience in India far exceeded any expectation that I could have had.
The first thing that I noticed was the famous Indian hospitality, which was so sincere and gracious that it sometimes made you feel uncomfortable. But besides kind, my hosts at LifeSpring Hospital, a niche provider of low cost, high quality obstetric care, were some of the most passionate and resourceful individuals I have met. Driven by their mission to bring quality health care to patients regardless of their income levels, they are testing the lower limits of low cost health care. A normal delivery costs only $38 USD and a caesarian section costs only $150 USD, a stark contrast to about $6,000 USD and $13,000 USD respectively at a US hospital. Despite the discrepancy in prices, the Indian doctors were as good as any American one; I verified this personally after scrubbing into a caesarian section. Although the facilities cannot compare to a US hospital or the elite private Indian hospitals, it was still much better and safer than the government hospitals.
After days of observations, research and interviews, I arrived at a set of recommendations which I hope will help LifeSpring continue its noble mission. But to some extent, I was the one who benefited most from this pro bono consulting project. LifeSpring’s vision of helping those who are most in need has reaffirmed the reason why I wanted to be a doctor. Its clever business model has taught me that success in entrepreneurship is not determined by capital, but by passion.
Of this I am certain: I will return to India and I will return to LifeSpring.
Posted in Corporate | 2 Comments »
February 9th, 2008
Found out Wednesday that my Grandad had been diagnosed with cancer. Being separated from family during these times is definitely something I considered before coming over here, but it doesn’t lesson the feeling of just wanting a hug from my dad. Between abbreviated phone calls with family at home it has been a rough few days.
My first recourse is to start pounding away on the excel models, maybe microfinance can buy me a bit of karma. Then Thursday I got to trek across town for a different type of coping. LifeSpring maternity hospitals run perhaps one of the most innovative and inspiring socail enterprises I have seen; top quality, no frills, extremely affordable health care ($35/ delivery, inclusive of all consultations and medicines) done at the only level feasible in India- massive scale.
LifeSpring succeeds in offering a valuable service to those at the bottom of the pyramid by being led by a passionate, energetic entrepreneur; a rockstar core management team and a blushingly proud hospital staff “we wouldn’t work anywhere else.”
Being at the hospital and seeing the new parents, seeing their optimism- they are going to raise their children in an India where literally anything is possible. Absolute emotional high.
And this is one of the reasons it is so exhilarating working at Spandana- getting to partner with organizations like LifeSpring. We are placed at the nexus- a huge customer base that we touch every week; to the extent we are able channel meaningful products like maternity health to them- we can go far beyond credit in the impact we make. It helps you remember what can get lost in the maze of conference calls, models and business planning. At the end of this chain, we may have just given that little boy or girl a better chance to succeed.
Start timing us, lets see how fast we can scale this.
Tyler Bolender (Spandana)
Saturday, February 09, 2008 4:29 PM
Posted in Family Planning, Health Tips, Laboratory, LifeSpring Offers, Maternity, Women's Health | No Comments »
December 4th, 2007
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Hindustan Latex Ltd (HLL), a leading contraceptive manufacturer, plans to set up 100 speciality hospitals and 700 franchises in the reproductive and child healthcare (RCH) segment across the country in the next three years.
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| This is the first time a major public sector company is entering the booming hospital business in the country. |
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While 30 hospitals, planned in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, are to come under the brand Life Spring, the rest of the hospitals, being set up in Uttar Pradesh, will be promoted as Merigold Hospitals.
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| The franchises, also in Uttar Pradesh, will be branded as Merisilver, M Ayyappan, managing director of HLL, told Business Standard. |
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The company is set to announce a 50:50 joint venture with a leading US-based venture capital player to set up a standalone entity LifeSpring Hospitals Ltd to promote its LifeSpring hospital business. Marigold and Marisilver will be promoted by Hindustan Latex Family Planning Promotion Trust with funds from the USAID and the UP government.
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While the private players in the hospital chain business are targetting the urban centres, HLL plans to serve the rural segment with 20-25 bedded hospitals that provide affordable RCH services like deliveries, pre- and post-natal care.
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We are already running three LifeSpring hospitals in Hyderabad, Kanpur and Agra. The success of this innovative model has prompted us to go for large scale expansions. We intend to transform ourselves from a contraceptive player to an integrated healthcare service provider in the next three years, Ayyappan said.
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| While Marigold hospitals will replicate the Life Spring model, Marisilver will find HLL training private players to offer similar services for similar rates. |
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Interestingly, HLL is a major partner of the central government in its prestigious hospital modernisation programme called the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY).
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The company is the project consultant to the PMSSY programmes in Bangalore, Trivandrum, Salem and Puducherry. HLL is also into equipment leasing business where high-end diagnostic equipment are installed and, if needed, managed by the company for the hospitals.
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It should be noted that dozens of Indian corporate majors including Reliance, Ambuja, Apollo, Fortis, Wockhardt, Paras, Max and international hospital chains like Columbia Asia are in various phases of expanding their hospital chain businesses in the country.
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Tags: LifeSpring, Maternity and Children Hospitals
Posted in Corporate | No Comments »
July 15th, 2007
- By: Anant Kumar
- Originally posted on: changemakers.com
Define the innovation
LifeSpring hospitals are a chain of small sized private hospitals providing services to its customers which are : (a) Efficient (because of better management system/processes) (b) Fair & affordable Price of services ( no ambiguity/surprises in the prices of the services) (c) Better Outcome (because of focus on clinical quality) (d) Personalized service (because we treat our “patients” as customers/guests and not as patients.) LifeSpring hospitals primary customers are women from the working poor class.
Click here to read more
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
