“We have developed Model H Operating System, a tool to design, develop, activate, operate and manage this network of healthcare assets”

Amber Malhotra, Founder, Managing Partner and CEO, Sam Circle Venture in an interaction with Express Healthcare discusses building a sustainable healthcare system with proper management of people and devices

Do you think promoting innovative educational centres is important for healthcare ecosystem? If yes, how will it help and endorse the entrepreneurship and innovation in healthcare segment in India? If not, why?

Higher education institutes should reflect the social and economic needs of the regions they are located in. Due to advancements in technology, there is a paradigm shift in the way information is shared or received, today. This requires higher educational institutes to be more dialogue-oriented rather than instructional. This is true for healthcare also, which is becoming technology-based and requires a collaborative approach. Especially in India, we need to make the educational and medical assets central to the economic development of regions they are located in, thereby by, making them catalysts for innovation and entrepreneurship. We need a programmatic approach by brining academic, industry, capital and government working around specific problem statements with defined timelines.

How many universities has Sam Circle Venture partnered with right now? What kind of customised solutions does your centre or institute offer?

Sam Circle has set up India International Innovation Institute (I4) in the US, which has 12 US universities and healthcare systems as partners engaged in design, development and delivery of research initiatives, faculty development and certificate programmes. We have set up an I4 lab at IIT Delhi and currently, have four affiliated I4 centres in leading private Indian universities. We plan to expand this to network of 100 universities in the next 10 years between India and the US. The objective of I4 is to act as a catalyst to develop an innovation, venture development and commercialisation ecosystem around geographical regions of these universities for entrepreneurship and employability.

Our collective I4 ecosystem currently has 100,000 students and 10,000 faculty members with an opportunity to participate in programmes, projects, and partnerships for venture development, commercialisation and training. It has provided Indian institutions access to the intellectual capital of US institutions and, to the latter, an opportunity to increase access of their products and services without any additional investment. The collective opportunity for these solutions presents a market opportunity of $50 billion between Indian and US Institutions in the field of housing, healthcare, energy, mobility and technology.

What is Model H programme? How will a customised solution as yours help to build a sustainable healthcare system in India?

Model H is designed and developed by Sam Circle Venture, in collaboration with leading health systems from the US. It will be a connected network of humans, homes and hospitals delivering preventive and emergency care to human population in India and the US through design and innovation in the field of medicine, technology, material, environment and behavioural science. We believe that the future lies in managing people and devices through data analytics, quality control, ethical practices and continuous training, thereby, creating a balance between art and science of human health and habitat.

We have developed Model H Operating System (MHOS), a tool to design, develop, activate, operate and manage this network of healthcare assets, in which we will also have facilities for clinical trials, second opinions and peer-to-peer consultation by between our partner institutions in India and the US.

Model H is creating a hub and spoke network comprising of 5000 beds in 10 super speciality hubs, 100 spokes, and 1000 virtual care points in the country in the next 10 years, with a capital outlay of $500 million. Model H through its alliance partners will bring standardisation in facility planning, clinical protocols, medical equipment and technology, electronic medical records and training programmes in executing this scale, thereby making healthcare trustworthy with quality outcomes at an affordable price and accessible to a large population.

We are also in the process of setting up our training programmes in partnership with existing medical schools in India and launching multidisciplinary research to find a cure for some of the most pressing medical problems through our I4 lab at IIT Delhi. Lastly, we are bringing in some cutting edge medical innovations in technology and devises to India from our university and healthcare system partners in the US with a plan to manufacture them in India.

We need to change how healthcare is designed and delivered in India and we believe there will also be learning’s for the US partners in adopting them back in the US, thereby making its healthcare delivery system more efficient and cost-effective. The US institutions will potentially earn more than $400 million from commercialisation of its IP in the next 20 years through Model H network in India.

While implementing your projects, what are the pain points you face? How do you overcome them?

Our biggest challenge in India is capacity building of quality manpower in clinical skills, supply chain and executive management. While technology is progressing and will keep improving, it will not substitute the role of human beings in the near future in healthcare. Having said that, while we will achieve standardisation in physical, medical equipment’s and technology, the variation is and will be human resources. Notably, we still do not have tools to measure the performance of healthcare services providers, nor do we have any regulatory requirements for continuous medical education and practice to maintain their licenses and standards.

For Model H network, our emphasis therefore is standardisation of protocols and continuous training. We have developed our clinical protocols and work flows for specific disease types and treatments. We will have training programmes based on these defined protocols, which will be mandatory for doctors, nurses and paramedics to undergo, to keep their skills upgraded, so that our quality is at par with the global standards. Model H – medical group will function as a group practice and we intend to link this network with our institution partners in the USA, thereby, providing access in tele-radiology, tele-pathology, remote ICH management, preventive and emergency management to under served population in India as well in the US.

Do you have any PPP with the state government or institutions in India?

We currently do not have PPP with the government or its institutions. Model H network ambition is to make the hospital closest to your home as the best place to go. Today due to advancement in the technology and clinical breakthrough, the healthcare system is moving towards prevention, whereas we will be managing the health of individuals during their life span, rather than, just treating people when they become sick.

Model H would be creating 10 super speciality hubs, 100 spokes and 1000 virtual care points in the country in the next 10 years. We are exploring ways to participate in Ayushman Bharat by equipping the vast network of primary health centres across the country through Model H virtual care solution We have run pilot programmes in more than 500 touch points in identifying pathways to create linkage between end user, provider and technology for preventive, emergency and ICU care.

Model H through our alliance partners will bring standardisation in a respective facility, planning, clinical protocols, medical equipment and technology, electronic medical records and training programmes (in executing this scale), thereby, making healthcare trustworthy with quality outcomes at an affordable price and accessible to a large population.

What are your expansion plans, revenue model and achievements so far in India?

Model H is developing a network of physical and virtual healthcare assets consisting of hospitals, wellness centres, electronic medical records, medical devices and training modules. We currently have 1400 beds at various stages of planning and development in north, south and east India and are looking to activate our first licensed hospital by third quarter of 2020, a 475 beds facility in South India. Apart from that, currently we are running pilots for our preventive care model at four locations and have surveyed 500 touch points in rural and semi urban areas for our virtual care network. Apart from this currently we are commercialising three innovative medical technologies from the US in diabetics care, diagnostic and data analytics in India and similarly taking frugal innovations from India in infectious diseases, predictive modelling to the US for commercialisation. We do not invest in physical infrastructure but equip, activate, operate, manage and monitor the healthcare assets through Model H Alliance.