| | FEBRUARY 202019CEOs10BE S THEALTHCARE TECHNOLOGYFROMclient presentation, strategy & marketing planning, and strong team building skills, I have created a powerhouse of knowledge and expertise in just seven years of Galactic's establishment. What are your professional facets you are much proud of?Over the span of 25 years of my professional career, I have achieved a number of milestones. One of which I am really proud of is our product `GMDCLOUD', which won the Best Innovative Healthcare Product from Govt. of Karnataka in 2015. I am also proud of achieving the unexpected when with Infosys as part of the Pre-Sales team, I worked 16 hours/day including weekends for almost 10 months in 2012 towards responding to the RFPs to the US Government's Obama Care Healthcare projects across 40 US states. This won us the `District of Columbia' RFP of $100 million project in 2012. While at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, as the Chief of Telemedicine Technical Services, we were able to provide specialist tele-consultations to about 64 remote telemedicine centres across India. We also remotely provided tele-cardiology services to Sabarimala Cardio Intensive Care Unit from AIIMS, Kochi. As an industry veteran, your views, recommendations and suggestions have graced several eHealthcare Mag-azines. Do you think the Government of India has taken seriously your recommen-dations? Any more suggestions?Yes, the Government of India has taken our recommendations too seriously. AYUSH gets a separate Ministry and boost. 2.5 percent of the GDP is allocated to health; several AIIMS institutes are coming-up in several states of India. Healthcare policy 2017 is a big step towards healthcare reformation in the country and even healthcare standards guidelines were architected for our nation. However, we still need to implement the Health-care Policy 2017 effectively throughout our nation. Telemedicine & CME nees boost from the Govern-ment of India. Health Insurance needs to cover AYUSH too. Digital Health needs boost. Startups need support and help from Government and MNCs to be part of all government projects. Public Private Partnership (including NGOs) in healthcare sectors need boost in PHCs, SHCs, and THCs. What are the challenges that startup companies like yours face in India? Also, how did you manage to overcome? Right from the very beginning, challenges were at the door. We had to sell our properties to raise funds to start and maintain the company till date. On the other hand, several Healthcare Institutes want us to implement our product free since we are startup company. Government Healthcare Institutes have a lot of rules and regulations which prevent startups like us to implement our innovative product. We cannot enter Government Healthcare Institutes without knowing an influential person to talk about our product to the management. We are always thankful to our advisor V.V. Bhat (former secretary to Government of India) who was always guiding us throughout our journey.How do you ensure to update yourself with the latest trends and technologies in the field of healthcare?I always keep learning new technologies like AI & ML, Extended Reality, 5G in Telemedicine, Robotics, Computer & Machine Vision, Wearable Tech, Genomics, 3D Printing, Digital Twins, and more, and try to incorporate these new technologies into our product. Attending International Healthcare conferences helps me to know the current trends and technology advancements across the globe. How has been the support & inspiration from your family in your journey so far? I am always grateful and thankful to my family, relatives, and friends for the support and help they have provided to me in my professional life right from the beginning.Are you engaged in any sort of mentorship programs outside your organization to share your industry insights with peers?Yes, I am involved in PMI Volunteer program, providing mentorship to startups, NGOs, and schools. ?!?!?!?!?!?!
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