In an exclusive conversation with APAC News Network, Surjeet Thakur, Founder & CEO, TrioTree Technologies, describes the HIS and EHR solutions deployed in 150+ bed hospitals in both SaaS and on-premise modes.
What is the story behind the genesis of TrioTree Technologies?
I come from a technology background, but interestingly, my career began in healthcare. I was fortunate to be a founding member of Max HealthCare when it first started. This experience working in the IT department sparked a passion for the healthcare field. I subsequently went abroad to pursue healthcare further and worked at American Hospital, where I gained exposure to some of the best healthcare software available.
Throughout my career, I never compromised on quality, and witnessing the impact of well-designed healthcare technology firsthand solidified this belief. This is why, when evaluating various products, I always placed a strong emphasis on project value. For instance, I was involved in a significant healthcare project valued at $25 million around 2005-2006.
Following this experience, I returned to India and joined Dell Services, which is now NTT. There, I had the opportunity to lead the healthcare practice. This role involved working with the healthcare technology acquired by Dell through their takeover of HP Perot Systems.
Recognizing the vast difference in healthcare payment structures between the US and India was a key turning point. In the US, the system is almost entirely driven by insurance, which means patients typically receive care and then the provider bills the insurance company. In India, however, the traditional model involves patients paying upfront for services. This presented a challenge because in some complex cases, the time and resources required can vary significantly.
There was not a straightforward way to account for this under a pre-payment system. That is why we explored the concept of pre-billing and post-billing, a more flexible approach that could adapt to the specific needs of each case. This realization, driven by the contrasting healthcare landscapes of the US and India, ultimately led us to develop our own innovative solution.
Seeing the gaps and inefficiencies in healthcare technology deployment across India is what really motivated me to find TrioTree Technologies. We focus on serving a pan-India and even pan-Asian audience, and our mission is to address the technology needs of various sectors, including healthcare. We believe that by providing effective technology solutions, we can significantly improve healthcare outcomes.
What is the current portfolio of products and services in the TrioTree stable?
TrioTree’s current portfolio focuses on a single core product: a Hospital Information System (HIS), also known as a Hospital Management Information System (HMIS), Electronic Health Record (EHR), or Electronic Medical Record (EMR).
This system is designed to be implemented across various healthcare institutions, including hospitals, labs, medical colleges, and any healthcare facility. It essentially functions as a comprehensive management system for these institutions.
Here is a more detailed explanation of what our product entails:
Hospital Information System (HIS) & Hospital Management Information System (HMIS): This aspect of our product focuses on managing the administrative and logistical aspects of a healthcare facility. It likely includes features for managing patient information, appointments, scheduling, billing, and other operational tasks.
Electronic Health Record (EHR) & Electronic Medical Record (EMR): This component deals with creating and storing electronic versions of a patient’s medical history. This would likely include details about diagnoses, medications, allergies, treatment plans, and other vital health information.
To give you a better idea of how we operate, we have a dedicated development team that continuously works on improving and updating our core product. Our sales team then focuses on targeting hospitals, lab chains, clinic chains, and medical colleges to implement this solution within their institutions.
How would you classify the hospitals that are your customers and clients?
Our core business focuses on serving healthcare institutions, with hospitals forming the bedrock at roughly 95% of our client base. We primarily target large facilities with over 150 beds, though we do partner with a select few smaller hospitals with under 100 beds.
Beyond traditional hospitals, we extend our services to a broader spectrum of healthcare providers, including lab chains, clinic chains, and medical colleges. It is important to note that these other facilities make up a significantly smaller portion of our clientele compared to hospitals.
How is IoT impacting your healthcare solutions and what are their use cases?
Now with the internet being omnipresent and all devices having the ability to store data, IoT is revolutionizing by storing the data at the patient’s side (including bedside) and then transmitting it to relevant stakeholders to take appropriate action. For example, the vital monitoring of the admitted patients was a mundane and monotonous activity for the nurses. Now with IoT, there are devices that automatically connect with patients at the bedside, capture the vitals automatically, and send them to the central console as well as in EMR. This helps remove the mundane activity of record capture at the same time data is error-free which can be used to predict a patient’s condition. IoT is also becoming very prevalent in remote patient monitoring of care and planning relevant interventions.
What is the focus of TrioTree’s Saas Model in Tier 2 cities?
TrioTree’s SaaS model is a perfect fit for smaller hospitals, particularly those in the 50 to 70-bed range we discussed earlier. This model offers a lower barrier to entry for these facilities – they only pay a monthly fee and avoid the upfront costs and ongoing maintenance associated with traditional software solutions.
While our initial focus has been on metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Bangalore, there is significant potential in tier 2 cities. Here’s why:
Faster Sales Cycles: Selling to tier 2 hospitals typically involves fewer decision-makers and approvals compared to metros, where cycles can drag on for 3-6 months. Our 2-3 visit SaaS sales cycle is a major advantage in this environment.
Cost-Effective Acquisition: Hospitals in Tier 2 cities are often more receptive to new, cost-effective solutions, especially considering the success of TrioTree in similar-sized facilities (like yours with 50 beds!). This reduces the concern of a perceived “metro pricing” associated with our brand.
TrioTree acknowledges that our current approach of relying on word-of-mouth and integrator partnerships hasn’t fully captured the tier-2 market. While these methods generate some awareness, integrator markups and project management complexities can create hurdles. To overcome this, we have two key strengths to leverage.
Firstly, showcasing successful implementations from similar-sized hospitals through powerful client references creates a strong connection with potential tier-2 clients.
Secondly, partnering with local IT firms or healthcare providers allows us to expand our reach, establish a trusted local presence, and better serve the vast number of hospitals in these regions. This is particularly important considering 80% of our market potential currently resides outside major metropolitan areas.
By focusing on these strategies, TrioTree can unlock the significant potential of tier 2 cities and expand our reach to a wider range of hospitals that would benefit from our SaaS solution.
How is TrioTree currently looking to venture into geographies outside India?
TrioTree is setting its sights beyond India and actively expanding into Africa and the Middle East. We’ve already established a presence in Kenya, Mauritius, Oman, Bahrain, and Kuwait, with a particular focus on Kenya. To minimize initial costs, we leverage partnerships with established local companies for introductions and product demos.
While cost-effective, this approach acknowledges a potential limitation on maximizing growth. To address this and gain greater control over sales, we’re taking a more direct approach by setting up a local subsidiary in Bahrain. This direct presence allows us to tailor our offerings to the specific needs of the region.
We believe our Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model is a perfect fit for the numerous smaller hospitals prevalent in these new markets, similar to our success in tier-2 cities across India. The low entry barrier and minimal infrastructure requirements of SaaS resonate with these markets, as evidenced by hospitals like Bliss Healthcare in Kenya with its vast network of 65 centers.
Building on this success, we plan to leverage our existing partnerships and the reputation of clients like Bliss Healthcare to expand our reach into neighboring African countries like Uganda, Zambia, and Namibia. By combining strategic partnerships with a direct presence, TrioTree is well-positioned to effectively serve the specific needs of smaller hospitals across Africa and the Middle East.
What are the relative advantages of the on-premise vs cloud-based model?
TrioTree understands that hospitals have varying needs when it comes to data security and infrastructure management. That’s why we offer our product in both on-premise and cloud-based deployment models. On-premise deployment provides hospitals with full control over their data, ideal for institutions with strict data privacy regulations.
Cloud-based deployment, on the other hand, offers scalability and flexibility, allowing hospitals to adjust resource usage based on their needs without worrying about hardware maintenance. We can also provide our own secure cloud environment or integrate with a public or private cloud of the client’s choosing. While our initial focus was on larger hospitals (150+ beds) during a time when cloud adoption wasn’t as widespread, we’ve adapted our offerings to include cloud options as technology has evolved. This ensures our clients have the flexibility to choose the model that best suits their specific requirements.
How was the pace of technology adoption by the healthcare sector Influenced by COVID?
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted healthcare delivery and adoption of technologies like ours. Here’s how it played out:
Pre-COVID, our core clientele consisted of larger hospitals (150+ beds). While we offered cloud deployment, it wasn’t as widely adopted at that time. Additionally, there was resistance among doctors to using digital tools.
Post-COVID, several things changed. Smaller hospitals became more receptive to automation solutions, including our EMR-EHR system. This shift likely stemmed from a need to improve efficiency and potentially accommodate a new patient dynamic. Furthermore, the pandemic highlighted the importance of telemedicine. While telemedicine had been around for years, limited network infrastructure restricted its reach. Thankfully, India had a strong mobile phone presence, which facilitated the rapid adoption of telemedicine during COVID-19.
This period also nudged doctors towards using digital tools. With limited in-person consultations, many doctors had to embrace technologies like telemedicine teleconsultation, video consultation, and e-prescriptions. This exposure likely increased their comfort level with digital healthcare solutions in general.
To capitalize on clinical implementation post-COVID, TrioTree leveraged our existing cloud infrastructure and expertise in developing mobile apps for doctors that too in 2015-16. While the mobile app market has certainly become more fluid in recent years, we actually developed our app back in 2016. This combination made our solutions more appealing to smaller hospitals looking to automate their workflows and encourage doctor engagement with digital tools.
How is TrioTree leveraging technology to influence oncology treatment in India?
TrioTree is proud to play a role in advancing oncology care in India. Here’s a specific example of our impact. We were selected by the National Cancer Grid (NCG) and Tata Memorial Hospital, a leading cancer care institution, as one of six software solutions following a rigorous evaluation process. The NCG and Tata Memorial Hospital play a vital role in establishing standard treatment protocols for oncology across India.
Traditionally, these institutions might recommend protocols but leave the implementation up to individual hospitals. However, they recognized the challenge – how can hospitals ensure they effectively capture and implement these protocols without the right software tools?
That’s where TrioTree comes in. We were chosen because our software facilitates the capture and execution of these standardized oncology treatment protocols. This ensures a more consistent and guideline-driven approach to patient care across different hospitals.
While some of our competitors might have a lower price point, we believe the value we deliver through our implementation services and ongoing support is crucial. After all, the best software is only effective if it’s properly implemented and used. Our focus on exceptional service ensures our clients can maximize the benefits of our oncology-specific software.
