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Shivaji Patil is pucca his ailing wife
will not get the specialised medical attention
she is in dire need of in his
hometown. Hope says the local practitioner, lies
a few miles away
in the city. Reassuring words indeed, but a million
thoughts cross Patil's mind. Travel? Accommodation?
Expenditure? Food? Reluctant wife? "If
only there was the Bada Doctor Sahib closer to
home," he sighs. Wishful thinking perhaps,
but if Chetan Shetty and his team at
doctoranywhere.com have their way, Bada Doctor
Sahibs may be far yet so near for Shivaji Patil
and millions like him concentrated in the smaller
towns across the country.
For a country with a population of more than one
billion, the number of Doctors is a mere one million.
Roughly 50 % of them are in the main Allopathic
stream while practitioners of alternative Medicine
account for the rest. Of the half a million doctors
in the allopathic stream, there are approximately
40,000 specialists, almost all of them located
in the top 25 cities in the country. The abysmally
low statistic of one Doctor per thousand persons
of the country's population does not present a
pretty picture. And it this bleak scenario that
Chetan is determined to alter with his latest
venture, doctoranywhere.com
Chetan, a BE from Pune's College of Engineering,
began his career with Thermax and after
an invigorating stint, quit to join his father
Mr Goverdhan Shetty, who set up business
to manufacture 'Tantalum Capacitors'. Mr
Shetty, essentially a Chartered Account with an
entrepreneurial streak moved from ' Capacitors'
an import substitute, to exports in the field
of software. Ruksun Technology was set
up in January 1993, with offices in Seattle and
Pune. Chetan officiated as President until doctoranywhere.com
beckoned.
"I was completely bowled over by the idea
when it was first put across to me" he
says. "We claim to be an IT Super power,
but where does it touch the common man?"
he queries. "Look at Japan," he
elucidates, "they have been able to change
mindsets completely. Today there is no stigma,
only pride attached to the 'Made in Japan ' label.
Besides, the Japanese products have a huge market
at home. Their products have the advantage of
being tried and tested on home ground; it is only
later that the overseas market is tapped."
he concludes with fervour.
An admirer of Akio Morita, Co-founder of
the Sony Empire, reputed for his creativity
and enterprise, it is hardly surprising that Chetan
felt instantly drawn to the idea behind doctoranywhere.com.
After all, here was a unique opportunity to test
a highly creative and useful product within the
country, where the user is located at home and
not 10,000 miles away and what's more, a product
that touches the common man and benefits him.
Doctoranywhere.com was launched in September 1999
as India's first Internet based doctor to specialist
consultation service. This revolutionary telemedicine
company is backed by a highly skilled team of
professionals. Milind Purandare is one
of them. A B.Tech from IIT Kanpur and an
M.Tech from IIT, Madras, Milind had a major
role in the development of this service. He has
done some highly innovative work in designing
and developing computer based medical equipment
for Cardiologists and Neurologists. Pradeep
Kumar, friend and teammate at doctoranywhere,
helped Milind market these indigenously manufactured
machines.
Together, they approached Dr Aniruddha Chandorkar;
eminent Pune based Cardiologist with the idea
of an online consulting service that enables consultation,
referral and interaction of doctors with specialists.
Enthused by Dr.Chandorkar'spositive feedback,
they sought out Ruksun Technology, confident that
the response would be encouraging. Their belief
in Ruksun was not unfounded. Ruksun, with its
background in Internet Technology and the innate
desire that it's products touch the common man,
ventured out to launch Ruksun doctoranywhere.com.
It's been an eventful 18 months, and the response
encouraging. 1,000 Doctors have already signed
up to avail of this revolutionary facility, considered
to be the first Internet based Tele Medicine Service
in the Country.
The idea behind doctoranwhere.com is to empower
both the family doctor and the patient to help
make access to medical treatment easier for both.
The family doctor is, well, almost family. His
approach to treatment is often holistic and rarely
clinical. However, he has his limitations and
may need to consult a specialist for expert advice
or simply a second opinion. This
is where doctoranywhere.com steps in. For an initial
enrollment fee of Rs 5000/- followed by an annual
subscription fee of Rs 2500/- General Practitioners
can now consult over the Internet with a panel
of specialists based across the country from the
convenience of their clinics or home. The service
enables the Doctor to upload relevant medical
reports in a structured format for the Specialist's
opinion. The company will render all possible
help to subscribers and assist them in setting
up the required infrastructure. A call centre
that operates round-the-clock also backs their
service.
The current software covers areas such as Cardiology,
Neurology, Nephrology and Gastroenterology and
the endeavour to add on new specialties continues.
So, Dear doctors, wouldn't it be nice to know
that Shivaji Patil is not just pucca but
confident too. All you'll need to do is subscribe
to doctoranywhere.com, log on to their server,
feed the required information and yes, lock your
computer for the desired results.
Text: Shabari Shetty
Photographs: Harikrishna
Address: Ruksun Doctor Anywhere.com Pvt.
Ltd., # A1, Hermes Vishal, Meera Nagar, Koregaon
Park, Pune - 411 001
Phone: 605 5393 / 605 5398, Fax: 605
5394
Email: info@doctoranywhere.com
URL: www.doctoranywhere.com
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