Entrepreneur twice over

Introducing Vijaya Verma of Yos Technologies 

She believes the IT industry is fairly gender neutral, so being a woman hasn't made a difference in running the company. 

‘Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur' - it would appear that once you've bitten the entrepreneurial bug, it's hard to let up innovating. Vijaya Verma, technologist and founder of Alopa Networks (1999) has done it again. She is now applying her 25 years of IT experience that includes a 13 year stint with Wipro, to lead Yos Technologies, a uniquely positioned healthcare IT company that aims to revolutionize the way healthcare is delivered.

New adventures of a serial entrepreneur

Verma boasts of a sound technology background, thanks to her Masters in Computer Communications from IIT Bombay and Bachelors Degree in Electronics and Communications from MS University, Baroda. However now, as CEO and chief evangelist of Yos Technologies, she is responsible for a lot more than just the technology vision of the company and that too, being a woman. Fortunately, she believes the IT industry is fairly gender neutral, so being a woman hasn't made a difference in running the company, building business relationships, formulating strategies, creating awareness of, and building the Yos brand in the healthcare market.

So what is Yos all about? In 2006, Verma and three senior colleagues - Suryaprakash Konanuru, Maniappan Rajagopalan and Harihara Vinayakaram - who were part of her core team in Alopa were fortunate to receive seed funding of 5 crores from Rajesh Jain, a well-known IT entrepreneur and Dr Anirudh Malpani, a reputed doctor in the IVF domain, to establish Yos Technologies. Yos' credo ‘Continuous Care' stands for its novel product - an application that uses Information and Communication (mobile) Technologies to ensure consumers of health services.

Why access to health records is such a big deal ?

More specifically, Yos Technologies has launched two beta versions of YosCare^TM - an e-health gateway that seamlessly inter-connects healthcare consumers and providers through a secure consumer-owned Personal Health Record (PHR) system.

Yos is driven by the idea that the consumer of health services, or patient, must be empowered to take responsibility for his/her well-being, as opposed to relying on providers of health services. The provider-centric nature of the current healthcare scenario breeds passive consumers of healthcare services who cannot even ensure the proper maintenance of their health records. Patients only have access to scattered, incomplete records from multiple providers, rendering disease management a nightmare in case of chronic ailments, when every bit of information is vital. Fact is - as long as multiple providers adhere to different health record formats, there is no way you can access all your health information from one entry point, whenever you desire.

A win-win situation

By bringing a host of providers - hospitals, doctors, diagnostic centres, insurance companies, third party administrators and pharmacists - on the same platform as patients, YosCare will generate synergy between providers, and among providers and consumers to share and thus maximize the value of information generated by each. YosCare steps beyond the current limited, insular inroads IT has made in the healthcare sector, by being crafted for inter-provider connectivity based on standard methods of information exchange.

The YosCare application integrates all a patients records and makes them accessible ‘Anywhere, Anytime' via pervasive Internet and mobile technologies. Although a patient-owned PHR is the core of this novel application, YosCare scores by effectively bringing providers into the picture to assure its subscribers of reliable ‘Continuous Care.' Providers also benefit from faster decision-making, and the resulting swift health interventions made possible by easy access to a patient's health records. In time, YosCare will yield a cost-effective, online mass marketing channel for providers to reach out to a wide consumer base.

A versatile team

Undoubtedly, Yos is a novel concept. It differs from its nearest competition offering typically standalone health record systems by being a solution that benefits both the providers and consumers of the healthcare sector. Verma credits the development of this integrated solution to "having the right mix of technologists and healthcare specialists."

The founding team of Yos Technologies has a 20-year proven track record of delivering world-class enterprise level software solutions, as well as varied business experience including capital raising, strategic and business planning, product architecture, development and delivery, pre and post sales and customer support. More importantly, as Verma opines, "We have all have been part of a successful start-up, and know what it takes to grow an idea into a successful revenue earning company." This core team is supported by technology-savvy doctors who share their vision of improving healthcare through the innovative use of technology.

It also helps that Verma herself is well-known in Bangalore circles, has been a key note speaker in various fora including IT and education, and has built good contacts in the healthcare industry over the past two decades. This has helped garner visibility and a healthy (pun intended!) early response.

Marketing a novel concept

YosCare's beta versions have primarily targeted a limited set of consumers. The solution will now be opened up to providers for which Verma's team has signed MOUs with a leading Bangalore hospital and an all-India pharmacy chain. They are also in talks with two specialty clinic-cum-labs for offering diabetes and IVF/pregnancy care packages.

On the one hand, it is essential for more consumers to subscribe to, and start benefiting from the solution. Simultaneously, providers need to be assured that YosCare will offer them long-term benefits, and hence be willing to act as a channel for Yos to get access to their customer base. This would help execute an early marketing strategy devised by Verma's team - acquisition of subscribers through healthcare providers. The team will subsequently implement other strategies to reach out to the target market - direct acquisition, through influencers and other players in the healthcare industry. Verma believes that "direct acquisition via corporates and indirect acquisition via hospitals and labs will be crucial in our first operational year."

Business methodology

YosCare's future success is also critically dependent on its business model. Verma has envisaged a simple, free (hence effective) model for consumers to sign up for Yos services as easily as they would for email. This free basic service will be complemented by optional value-added services requiring an annual fee. Providers will also not incur any upfront costs, rather will benefit from a pay-as-you-grow model, which would work for both small and large healthcare establishments.

This approach will ensure acceptance by all the key players in the ecosystem, following which proliferation of the solution will happen through the players themselves as they use and understand its benefits. The team plans to export YosCare to other Indian cities once it gains acceptance in Bangalore. Verma's drive and far-sightedness leaves us with no doubts that YosCare will go places, for the benefit of all.

Charu Bahri is a freelance writer and author of two books. She also writes funding grants and software for a charity working in the health sector. 

Issue BG79 Oct07