`Primary healthcare is a cottage industry'

bangalore: it''s the mother of brandsas far as healthcare goes. with 22 hospitals in india, the apollo hospitalsenterprise ltd is now eyeing primary healthcare with franchised apollo clinicsscheduled to roll out all over the country. ratan jalan, ceo, apollo health& lifestyle ltd explains why day-to-day health services need to get moreorganised and how quality can be maintained in a franchise model. apollo health and lifestyle was formed as a subsidiary ofapollo hospitals enterprise in november 2000 and the idea of apollo clinics wasborn because we sensed this was a sizeable business opportunity. we had a strongbrand name with 22 years of experience in the hospitals arena but we did notwant to get into the hassle of day-to-day management of these clinics since webelieved that a well-trained and equipped franchisee would be able to handle it.despite the doubts that some may have about franchising, retail experience hasshown that if the process of choosing a franchisee is foolproof, chances oflapses are minimal. franchising enjoys an 85 per cent success rate in india. butwe are being very cautious for we want to choose the right franchisees. theapollo team will train the staff at the clinics and also help franchiseesprocure equipment. periodical checks will be conducted by our team to ensure theclinic is working as per our specifications. the franchisee should becomfortable with the service industry and the concept of customer service. someof the biggest names in business like arthur andersen, ge medical systems andiim bangalore are associated with us in this venture. we have signed onfranchisees in chennai, delhi (which opens on april 26), jalandhar, ludhiana,kolkata, ahmedabad and in saudi arabia. in six months, we hope to be in allmajor cities in india. our target is 250 apollo clinics in three years includingsingapore, middle east, bangladesh, sri lanka and maybe even silicon valley inthe us. each city will have at least eight to 10 clinics. this is a seriousbusiness plan for the apollo group so we have invested rs 16 crore in the lasttwo years and will put in another rs 25 crore in the next two years. let me make it clear that we are not trying to replace the familyphysician but bring all primary healthcare services under one roof. an apolloclinic will have five or six consultant specialists as well as a doctorspecialised in internal medicine. a diagnostic laboratory for doing tests,24-hour pharmacy and a tele-medicine option to consult physicians in other partsof india or even abroad will be provided. we are focused on the middle classindian family so our rates are going to be compatible with those prevailing inthe market. this will be a volume and not margin-driven business.