Heart disease is a common issue in India. In fact, studies showed that the country may now account for 60 percent of the world’s cases. A small minority of the popluation can afford proper cardiac care.
Medtronic, the world’s leading maker of medical devices, has decided to act positively on this problem by creating a new business model that would expand access to technologies such as implantable pacemakers. The company found that four key barriers were preventing patients from receiving much-needed cardiac care Firstl, the lack of patient awareness of health and medical needs, second the lack of proper diagnostics, thirdl the inability of patients to navigate the care pathway, and fourthl the affordability.
Medtronic launched a new “Healthy Heart for All” initiative in India:
- Go direct-to-patient: reach out through a toll-free hotline posted on billboards, ads on trucks, in social media and text messaging, inviting patients to free diagnostic events.
- Develop the ecosystem: engage industry stakeholders to raise awareness and drive participation in the program.
- Manage the pipeline: set up screening camps leveraging telemedicine technologies such as wireless relay of ECG results and other tools that directly identify patients.
- Ensure affordability: create the first-ever consumer financing plan for pacemakers.
A 44-year-old mother and widow named Angurbala was first implanted in September 2010. She was suffering from blackouts and other symptoms of acute heart disease. A monthly payment was set to fit her monthly income of $65. Though the total number of implants is still relatively small compared to the total unserved market, the pilots have demonstrated the model’s promise. In 2012, the Healthy Heart for All venture screened 2,000 people and implanted pacemakers in 200 of those patients.
Medtronic is now expanding “Healthy Heart for All” to hundreds of additional sites across India and then to other emerging economies. According to CEO Omar Ishrak. they are scaling it up very rapidly to the point where this becomes the default business model, the core of how we deploy cardiac therapies in India.”
