Apatient-centric, educational, equitable and evidence based approach with the right telemedicine platform to empower patients in making the right choices and decisions for their healthcare needs is the need of the hour. With changing consumer behavior and active patient engagement in medical decision making, there is an opportunity to provide a high quality telemedicine platform in India, for increased patient experience. IMAS Healthcare under the leadership of Deepika Grandhi is endeavoring to empower patients in India and access a platform to actively take part in their healthcare journey while they consult the best of the medical practitioners both from India and abroad.

Deepika, since the beginning of her career has worked with one of the world’s top most healthcare providers and aims to transform the healthcare services in India. Her aim is to empower Indian patients and offer them a platform where they can consult international medical practitioners in the hours of need. In conversation with Deepika Gandhi, Founder & Director, IMAS Healthcare.

Give Us A Brief Overview Of IMAS Healthcare And A Few Important Facts About Your Expertise As A Leader In The Healthcare Industry
With the vision to enable better health, we offer a cutting-edge decision-making advisory telemedicine platform. No it is not powered by Artificial Intelligence and new-age 3D technology. Rather we offer a simple patient-centric solution that allows patients to ask questions and understand the clinical evidence for their recommended treatment plan. In case they are not comfortable with their diagnosis, we encourage patients to seek a second opinion and therefore play an active role for themselves or their loved ones in their healthcare journey.

We work in collaboration with the world's top 2 ranked hospital [World’s Best Hospitals 2021 by Newsweek] Cleveland Clinic, and through this esteemed collaboration, we offer unmatched medical advice through our physician to physician telemedicine platform. We take pride in having established a collaboration platform where patients feel safe and comfortable to discuss their concerns and ask questions. IMAS’s three way platform engages patients, medical experts from the Cleveland Clinic, and the local registered medical practitioners in India. They collaborate and dynamically discuss the key concerns identified by either the Indian patient or the Indian physician. Cleveland Clinic specialists are able to offer appropriate suggestions and guidance, based on evidence based guidelines. Medical decision making has never been such a collaborated effort.

"We take pride in having established a collaboration platform where patients feel safe and comfortable to discuss their concerns and ask questions"

Healthcare industry is different from other business verticals. The relationship between a physician and patient is not that of a typical buyer-seller. Rather, there is a relationship of trust as people's lives are at stake and one should be cognizant of every little detail in the offering. In addition to being the founder and director of IMAS Healthcare, I am the Business Development Head for Cleveland Clinic in India. I strive to uphold Cleveland Clinic’s mission to put patients first at all times.

Take Us Through Your Prior Industry Experience Before Founding IMAS Healthcare?
As a part of an internship program, I got directly recruited by Cleveland Clinic. Having a background in technology gave me an edge because the skillset I had was attractive and sought after back in the era when all the hospitals in the United States were trying to go paperless. Integrating technology within clinical practice areas was at the forefront of healthcare organizational goals and with my background in technology and sig sigma, I was able to develop robust clinical informatics infrastructure for several hospital departments. Having a strong work ethic and being goal-oriented, I could build trust, the result of which is the long-term and strong association I still hold with the Clinic.

What Different Roles And Responsibilities Do You Have At IMAS Healthcare?
IMAS healthcare has been operational since 2019. Like with any start-up, it has taken significant effort to get IMAS up and successfully running. I have been handling and overseeing multiple aspects of establishing a company in the areas including but not limited to legal compliance, marketing, clinical coordination, accounting, human resource management, accreditation, technology etc. I have been on top of most of the functions. I strongly believe that the true strength of IMAS is in the outstanding team that we have built. I am supported by an excellent operations team in India and an army of 3500 specialist physicians as well as outstanding leaders from Global Patient Services Department & International Operations at Cleveland Clinic, USA. As the Founder and Director of IMAS Healthcare, it is my responsibility to make sure I co-ordinate efforts between our India office team members, Cleveland Clinic, USA team and our clients to render high quality second opinions to all our patients (and their Indian physicians) with an ultimate goal to improve patient’s health.

How Did You Lead IMAS Healthcare To Deal With The Various Challenges Brought About By The Pandemic?
We all have witnessed the telemedicine boom during this pandemic. The pandemic affected medical tourism and unfortunately, several patients were left with limited options to travel. They started embracing telemedicine platforms. I feel fortunate that we were able to help these patients by bridging the gap by offering key services from the comfort of their homes through our seamless consultation process. We could add immense value to their lives when they needed the most. We also offered peer-to-peer Covid consultations and helped several patients stay informed and recover.

As A Business Leader In Healthcare How Do You Keep Yourself Aligned With The Periodic Evolutions Occurring In The Industry?
We are in an era where most business leaders are flooded with information and if leaders are interested in learning and evolving, there are numerous tools out there. I have always believed in mentor-ship through interpersonal relationship building and often look forward to meeting with other industry leaders and entrepreneurs on various networking platforms and business meetings. I am an active participant in various leadership forums, which motivates me to increase my subject matter expertise and to take intelligent risks when needed. I am an avid reader. I keep myself updated with industry innovations and new technologies as I am always inspired to create out of the box and practical solutions for our clients.

What would your words of advice be to young women aspiring to foray become leaders in the corporate world?
Women usually don't take the credit that they rightly deserve and tend to be hard on them. Women also refrain from voicing their opinions, sometimes for the fear of rejection. I would request every woman to take the credit where it's due, give themselves wiggle room to falter and succeed, and to raise their voice.

Deepika Grandhi, Founder And Director, IMAS Healthcare
Deepika was born and raised in Hyderabad, India. She received her undergraduate degrees in law as well as foreign trade. She went on to complete a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from Cleveland State University, USA. After working in the US for more than a decade, Deepika decided to return to India with a goal to make a positive contribution to the Indian healthcare eco system. Deepika leveraged her background in technology and law, combined with her experience in the healthcare industry, to lead IMAS Healthcare with a mission to transform healthcare delivery practices in India.