With a growing awareness of orthotics and its advantages, the field is slowly but gradually gaining importance in the healthcare scenario. Orthofit is one the leading players in this segment. Chaitanya Shah, Founder, Orthofit and a practicing podiatrist as well as mobility consultant takes about his company, its offerings, the market for orthotics and more, in conversation with Lakshmipriya Nair
What is your share in India’s orthotics products market?
| Chaitanya Shah |
India is a market where orthotics are practically inaccessible except to high end performers in sports or to the rich and famous. A lot of this neglect can also be attributed to the non-existence of podiatry (medical branch that centres around the treatment and study of ailments regarding the foot and leg and treatment thereof) in India.
Patients come to us when they have any pain relating to mobility. Depending on the specific problem, we dispense the following products post detailed bio-mechanical evaluation
- Braces and supports
- Diabetic Footwear
- Diabetic Accessories
- Orthotics
- Thermal Products
- Accessories
- Custom made footwear
How do you plan to augment growth in 2013?
At the studio, we focus on:
- Evaluation of lower limb biomechanics to develop a correct posture and gait for promoting energetic life style.
- Sports specific exercise training.
- Enhancing performance in physical and athletic activities.
We hope to double our dispensing units this year across all categories.
The physiotherapists in the studio help patients to help themselves by designing appropriate exercise programmes in a graduated manner so it not only helps them to return to their previous activity level but also to enhance their performance.
This studio is well equipped to fulfill the need of lower limb rehabilitation programme with respect to improving strength, flexibility, proprioception and agility and also to prevent recurrences.
What is the revenue model for your business?
The key concept at Orthofit is to evaluate the mobility related problem and recommend orthotics. We do not charge for the consultation but we have a revenue share for the orthotics that are procured via tie ups with Dr Comfort, Vasyli Medical, McDavid etc; the worlds finest performance orthotics companies.
We charge for the in-clinic therapy, focus on providing solution in the least number of exercise sessions and concentrate more on self- conducted home exercise programme.
We ensure ongoing periodic evaluation to monitor the strength, stability and performance.
The physiotherapists treat the cause and not just symptoms. Proper alignment of biomechanical issues is the crux to good posture, energetic and healthy living and enhancing physical performance in any sports.
Target Population:
- Young age growing kids
- Active age adults
How is it effective in comparison with other models?
Over the last 16 years, Orthofit has been evaluating the specific problems, going into the details of patient history before prescribing footwear and orthotics.
Indians have absolutely no love affair with their feet- the human foot which consists of 26 bones, 33 joints and more than 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments is an engineering masterpiece!
Over time, orthopaedic surgeons and physiotherapists have realised this and seen how we treat people. 100 per cent of our clientele is through word of mouth and referrals.
What is the USP of your business?
Number one is the free evaluation. Over time, people are realising that an early visit to a podiatrist can save lakhs of money in later stages where the pain takes serious form. We do a detailed foot evaluation at Orthofit. We look for leg length discrepancy, pressure points below the feet, at the sole, the ankle and the toes.
We go to the root of the problem, provide physiotherapy, orthotics and even custom-made footwear if needed, especially for diabetics, amputees and people who’ve undergone some kind of orthopaedic surgery.