Transition from PSU research scientist to corporate leader

In an inspiring session, Dr A Velumani, Founder, CEO and MD, Thyrocare, shared the story of his rise from a PSU scientist to a corporate leader, without losing the values of social good. He gave a stirring account of his glorious journey from a government employee at BARC to build a successful business. Many of his success mantras like profit from volumes, making affordable care possible without compromising on quality, using technology to reach out to a large number of people etc carried valuable insights for public health professionals as well.

His inimitable style of speaking and interesting anecdotes kept the audience enthralled and entertained while offering significant lessons for success, and life in general. Citing his own struggles with poverty and other adversities, he asked the public health stakeholders to not get cowed down by challenges and look for out-of-the-box solutions to tackle them.

He also explained his volume-driven model of offering low-cost, high-quality diagnostics services with the help of people, technology and systems. If replicated, it could serve as a great model of services delivery for Indian healthcare which is currently plagued by concerns of affordability and accessibility. At the same time, he also highlighted how essential it was to bring in operational efficiencies through people and technology to provide effective services, especially in a sector like healthcare where lives of people are at stake.

His advice to turn adversities into opportunities, step out of your comfort zones, find courage to venture into new pathways of life etc, were well received by the audience. He also answered queries on how he handled various challenges in the course of building up his business.

Key highlights:

• Look for out-of-the-box solutions to tackle public health problems
• Volume-driven models are the way to go for public healthcare
• Human resources and technology can play pivotal roles in ushering efficiency in public health