Healthcare/Biotech

Crowdfunding, although at a very nascent stage in India, is already making it easy for the patients who are struggling between unforeseen medical emergencies and unaffordable healthcare costs. The 4-year-old medical crowdfunding platform ImpactGuru.com reaches out to such patients in need, having touched over 25000 lives so far. ${image_1} Does the figure on the hospital bills weigh you down? Is the medical bill amount piling over and above your capacity and your estimation? Bringing down the hospital bills is not possible due to rising healthcare costs. However, what’s possible is funding these bills, the smarter way, the easier way, the crowdfunding way! According to sources, 2.4 million Indians die of treatable conditions annually. Are these patients even able to access and afford healthcare in time? Crowdfunding could be the best way out and can help in funding their medical emergencies like accident & trauma, cancer, organ transplants, ICU, Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs) and other critical illnesses. In an attempt to make healthcare affordable and accessible to all, to bring down the mortality rate in medical emergencies, in the interest of popularising crowdfunding as a viable healthcare financing option in India, Piyush Jain and Khushboo Jain, the entrepreneur-couple co-founded ImpactGuru.com, the online medical fundraising platform in 2014. Today, the company stands tall, having impacted over 25000 patient-lives, with a donor-base of over 4,00,000 from 150+ countries. ImpactGuru partners with hospitals and clinics across the country to be able to reach out to the genuine causes and patients in need on time. ${image_2} Patients & families who have benefited from crowdfunding on ImpactGuru.com “I am still amazed that Rs. 11 lakh was arranged in just 3 days on ImpactGuru.com for my brother, who was admitted at Continental Hospital, Hyderabad. When insurance and medical loans didn’t seem to help, ImpactGuru and its donors helped me raise funds for my brother Praveen’s surgery expenses and a prosthetic hand after a traumatic road accident. ImpactGuru gave a second chance to my brother, to live life again,” shares patient’s brother Varaprasad Pudi. 15-year-old Deekshit, son of patient Sukanya, admitted to Apollo Hospitals, Bengaluru says, “Rs. 16 lakh in just an hour! ImpactGuru.com and its 1083 donors made even the impossible, possible for me and my mom. My mom knew about her rectal prolapse but chose to keep it a secret. Had I done the same thing, I couldn’t have gotten back my mom; walking, talking and playing with me like before. I chose to tell ImpactGuru and through them, everyone all over the world about the financial problem of funding my mom’s medical expenses. And I don’t regret my decision.” Surajit Roy Bardhan, father of patient Spandan Roy Bardhan who was admitted to CMC Vellore & Rela Institute of Medical Sciences for a liver transplant shares, “Initially, I did feel, why will any stranger donate for my son? I was wrong. ImpactGuru introduced me to a world of generous donors; 324 of them helped me with Rs. 30 lakh for his treatment. The whole team of ImpactGuru dealt with my case as though Spandan was theirs.” No payback liability in crowdfunding A little bit from everyone can be a lot for someone. The concept of crowdfunding is based on this maxim. Instead of burdening four members of the patient-family with Rs. 12 lakh bill, with each one having to contribute Rs. 3 lakh, crowdfunding makes it pretty simple by asking let's say 400 generous strangers worldwide for their support, by way of smaller contributions from each like Rs. 3000 on an average, to cite an example. What do the ImpactGuru donors have to say? “The best part about donating on ImpactGuru.com is, I know that my donations are going for the vetted causes and genuine patients in need. The very assurance that causes are chosen after enough checks, makes me hit the donate button, without having to think twice,” says Aadesh J., a proud ImpactGuru donor. “I have made it mandatory for my family members as well, to share the link once I have donated. And it gives me immense satisfaction to witness the magnitude of positive change that small, small contributions from all over the world can bring about in our community,” shares Ripple K., another donor on the platform. The medical fraternity on crowdfunding “Crowdfunding has become necessary for funding critical surgeries. As a doctor, I want to save as many lives and avoid casualties merely because of lack of funds. Hence, I recommend people to come forward and take help from platforms like ImpactGuru in funding their hospital bills. The internet has brought all of us closer today. So why not make use of it in saving lives by sharing, donating and supporting each other? Most doctors aren’t even aware that crowdfunding is a low-cost healthcare financing option available to their patients, especially for patients from the lower-economic background. Middle-class families too are financially drained by the time they sustain long-term conditions like cancer, cardiac care, premature childcare, organ transplants, etc. Once the doctors are aware, they can help their patients,” states Dr. Neville Solomon, Pediatric Cardiac Surgeon at the Apollo Children’s Hospitals, Chennai. Founders of ImpactGuru.com on ‘Crowdfunding in India’ Piyush Jain, Co-founder, and CEO of ImpactGuru Crowdfunding is a win-win scenario for all. For a patient suffering from some severe illness or struck with a medical emergency, funding a bill of Rs. 16 lakh in merely an hour seems impossible. With the help of our generous donors, we could pull it off for Sukanya, a single mother who was suffering from rectal prolapse. For donors, it’s the ‘Feel Good’ factor that makes them share, donate and support our causes. For us as a company, it’s the impact that our fundraisers create in the society, it’s the lives that we touch and it’s the patients and their families that get a new life from the funds raised on our platform. Khushboo Jain, Co-founder, and COO of ImpactGuru The thought that crowdfunding is a poor family’s financing option for medical expenses is a myth. Considering a family’s cost of living, bearing in mind their income levels, expenses and savings, it is not at all feasible for even the middle-class families, or individuals from a well-to-do background or in Indian parlance, people from ‘settled’ households to handle unplanned, unforeseen medical emergencies, especially when the bills shoot up to anything between Rs. 5 lakh and Rs. 60 lakh. Gopi Shenoy, one of our campaigners, while raising funds for her husband Amit’s cancer treatment shared that Amit couldn’t avail NGO support because he didn’t fall under the NGO’s criteria, therefore was put on a waiting list. That’s when she chose ImpactGuru.com and raised Rs. 45 lakh in just 7 days. How to crowdfund your hospital bills? Indian households resort to mortgaging their jewelry, pledging their property, to pay off their hospital bills. However medical crowdfunding is a low-cost, easy and viable healthcare financing option available without having to do any of the above. All that needs to be done is: ● Reach out to ImpactGuru.com ● Start a fundraising page on the platform ● Upload photos, videos, and medical documents ● Share this fundraiser with family, friends and generous strangers worldwide via WhatsApp and Facebook ● Raise money and get funds transferred directly to the hospital Want to know more about crowdfunding with ImpactGuru? Click here

${image_1} What is Meningitis? Meningitis is an inflammation (swelling) of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord (known as meninges). A bacterial or viral infection of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord usually causes the swelling1. However, this may be caused by other infections, drugs, and injury leading to meningitis. Meningococcal Meningitis – A Devastating Infection Invasive Meningococcal Disease (IMD) is a rare but potentially devastating bacterial infection caused by Neisseria meningitidis. It is commonly seen as an infection of the brain (meningitis) and/or infection of the blood (septicemia or blood poisoning)2. Despite advances in medical care, the disease may kill in a matter of hours or cause severe long-term sequelae with devastating effects on the individuals and their families2 with a significant lifelong economic impact on society3. It is highly unpredictable and can affect anyone, at any age, anywhere in the world, however, some people are at higher risk than others2. In some cases, the disease can claim a life within 24 hours after the first symptom appears.4 Over the last 10 years in India, more than 50,000 cases have been identified for Meningococcal Meningitis, with more than 3,000 deaths5. As per the reports, 1 in 10 people who develop the disease may die from it and up to 10-20% of survivors suffer from serious complications such as amputation, scars, deafness or brain damage6,7 ${image_2} Anyone can be at the risk of being infected While meningococcal meningitis mainly affects children below the age of five, adolescents and young adults, it can affect anyone, anywhere in the world. Most meningococcal meningitis occurs in otherwise healthy individuals without identifiable risk factors. Notably, a relatively large number of cases are also observed among older adults8 Increased risk factors include: Living in community settings (e.g. military and college students in dormitories) or participating in mass gathering events such as the Hajj, an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca9 Certain medical conditions, including HIV infection/asplenia/ a compromised immune system/deficiencies of either immunoglobulins or complement9 Traveling to endemic areas such as the meningitis belt in sub-Saharan Africa9 Provide comprehensive protection against all types of vaccine-preventable meningitis Meningitis is a serious disease, caused by bacteria, viral and/or other reasons. Unfortunately, vaccination is not available against all of them10. Vaccination is available against 3 major causes of bacterial meningitis. The causative agents being: Streptococcus pneumoniae, that causes Pneumococcal meningitis Haemophilus influenza type b, that causes of Haemophilus Meningitis Neisseria meningitides, that causes of Meningococcal Meningitis Discuss with your pediatrician on these 3 common causes of bacterial meningitis and ways to protect your child against them. ${image_3} Together Against Meningitis The threat of Meningococcal Meningitis is large, but awareness is low. Join the movement by spreading awareness of this potentially devastating disease. Share this article on your social media so we can all stand “Together Against Meningitis” Know more about Meningococcal Meningitis This article is issued in public interest by Sanofi Pasteur. SPIN.MENAC.19.04.0104b References: 1 Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Accessed on May 2019 https://www.cdc.gov/meningitis/index.html 2 Meningitis Research Foundation. What are meningitis and septicaemia? Accessed March 2019. https://www.meningitis.org/meningitis/what-is-meningitis. 3 Wright C, Wordsworth R, Glennie L. Counting the cost of meningococcal disease. Pediatric Drugs. Volume 15, Issue 1, January 2013. Pages 49-58. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40272-012-0006-0 4 Thompson MJ et al. Clinical recognition of meningococcal disease in children and adolescents. Lancet. 2006 Feb 4367(9508):397403 5 Data from national health profile report 2007 – 2018, confirmed cases: http://cbhidghs.nic.in/index.asp 6 Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Meningococcal disease – Diagnosis, Treatment, and Complications. Accessed February 2019. https://www.cdc.gov/meningococcal/about/diagnosis-treatment.html 7 Meningitis now. After-effects of septicaemia. Accessed February 2019. https://www.meningitisnow.org/meningitis-explained/after-meningitis/after-effects-of-septicaemia/ 8 Martinón-Torres, F. Deciphering the Burden of Meningococcal Disease: Conventional and Under-recognized Elements. Journal of Adolescent Health 59. Volume 59, Issue 1, March 2016. Pages 12-20. 9 CDC. Meningococcal disease – Medical conditions risk factors. Accessed February 2019. https://www.cdc.gov/meningococcal/about/risk-medical.html 10 Meningitis Research Foundation. What causes meningitis and septicaemia? Accessed on May 2019 https://www.meningitis.org/meningitis/what-is-meningitis/causes

${image_1} Dr. Sharan Shivraj Patil SPARSH group of hospitals was founded in 2006 by Dr. Sharan Shivraj Patil, with the aim of making quality medical care more accessible to the people. Built on the core values of Faith, Hope and Love, the group has been working tirelessly to provide comprehensive care to every patient. SPARSH has branches on Infantry Road, Yeshwanthpur, Hosur Road, Hassan, Davanagere Raichur, Kalaburagi and Vijayapura. The group has its presence and is growing and gaining popularity in different parts. SPARSH has indeed achieved much since its inception making a difference to many lives. SPARSH has always been associated with quality healthcare and has drawn local as well as international patients. Global recognition knocked its door when team of doctors, led by Dr. Sharan Patil, successfully conducted a 27-hour surgery on Lakshmi Tatma, born an anischiopagus conjoined twin with eight limbs. Teams of highly skilled doctors are supported by state-of-the-art facilities enhancing patient care delivery. Synonymously known for its world-class Orthopedic care, SPARSH hospitals now a Multi Speciality Hospital catering Neuro Surgery, Neurology, Cardiology, Cardiac Surgery, Nephrology, Urology, Medical & Surgical Gastroenterology, HPB Surgeries, Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, Pediatrics, Gynaecology, Hematology, Oncology, Pulmonology, Emergency Medicine, Accident & Trauma Care, Critical Care, Endocrinology, ENT & Dental Sciences. We also have Interventional Radiology (stroke intervention) & Organ transplantation (liver, kidney, pancreas). The recent milestones of SPARSH in this year include SPARSH Infantry road becoming a super-speciality unit having highly advanced Emergency and ICU Care, Liver Transplantation Unit, Medical and Surgical Gastroenterology as well as advanced center for cardiac care with state of the art cath lab. SPARSH Infantry road is the only hospital in Karnataka to offer hand transplantation services. Also, SPORTHO a dedicated sports medicine unit to cater to the needs of the sporting fraternity. Our Yeshwanthpur centre has a state-of-the-art Bone Marrow Transplant Unit and offers Hematopoietic stem cells and blood transfusion services. SPARSH stands for achieving Clinical Excellence with Social Relevance; SPARSH Vachana is conducted each year on Children's Day, where surgeries are performed on children with low economic background who have complex orthopedic deformities completely free of cost. “Guru Namana” which is again held every year on Teacher's Day, where joint replacement surgeries are performed on retired teachers in rural areas, again completely free of cost. These initiatives have touched the lives of many. SPARSH strives for the same level of commitment, access to resources extending healthcare to as many people as possible. SPARSH is known for pushing the limits for excellence in medical care and challenges the status quo in achieving the best for its patients. SPARSH has come a long way from humble beginnings yet keep its sight fixed on the future to achieve more in terms of reaching out to more and more people throughout the state. SPARSH endeavours to keep growing and providing clinical excellence everywhere they go. SPARSH Hospital, Infantry Road l Yeshwanthpur l Hosur Road l Hassan l Davanagere l Raichur l Kalaburagi l Vijayapura For more informations, call 080 61 222 000 or visit sparshhospital.com

${image_1} Josh Billings rightly said, “Health is like money. We never have a true idea of its value until we lose it.” Health is the most rudimentary and deciding factor of our lives which has a major impact on all our life decisions. No matter how big one’s bank balance figures are, one needs fit and fine health in order to cherish the comforts of life. With increased inculcation of negative lifestyle changes and health imbalances, human bodies have adapted and adjusted themselves to a shoddy way of living which mostly involves absence of activity and workout, inadequate diet intake, lethargic routines, etc. in order to balance out such modern deficiencies, it is the need of the modern human body to be catered with dietary supplements and rigorous workout routines in order to ensure a longer and healthier life. Looking For Tasty, Organic and Premium Protein Supplements? Let the nature power you naturally with DREXSPORT. Customers Worldwide are likely to recommend - DREXSPORT, Made World's First Formula, Wild Whey & Wild Muscle! DREXSPORT is a professional precisionist in the field of health and fitness. It possesses a composed team of encouraging fitness enthusiasts, qualified nutritionists, experienced coaches and trainers, and exemplary bodybuilders and sportsmen. With the unified wit and shrewdness of all these fitness advocates, DREXSPORT aims at constant development of natural, unique and cost-effective ways of boosting your health results. ${image_2} Found and developed in USA, DREXSPORT has already established a positive network of clientage in India on various online portals like Amazon and Flipkart, where after Amazon awarded DREXSPORT in 2018 for its brilliant sales performance. With its manufacturing and trading procedures being carried on in India, the team at DREXSPORT has now undertaken to resolve the obstacles faced in the Indian market by the general public which pushes them away from achieving their fitness goals. The brainstorming team at DREXSPORT has recently noted a surge in people’s reluctance to consumption of health and dietary supplements due to variety of reasons like side-effects causing digestive problems, insomnia, allergies, depression, followed by many other health hazards. However, the importance of these health and dietary supplements is inarguably doubtless due to the modern lifestyle changes of people. The commonly available and dietary supplements in the Indian market are saturated with artificial sweeteners, flavors, colors, preservatives and chemicals which shall offer a long list of side effects along with causal of heinous and life-taking health hazards like cancer, kidney failure and heart diseases. It’s a rare sight to find organic health supplements in the Indian market which come with extensive drawbacks like extremely high costs, appalling taste and low solubility. ${image_3} To tackle this rising issue of sole availability of artificial and harmful health supplements in the Indian market, with exercise of its meticulous cognition and comprehension, DREXSPORT has come up with a 100% natural and clinically tested All Organic Protein Powder which shall not only ensure boosted performance and fitness but comes with other differentiated attractions like cost-effectiveness, delicious taste and premium quality. Committing itself to this challenge of inventing a formula unknown to the world, DREXSPORT offers two varieties of health supplements by the name “WILD MUSCLE”- An All Natural Muscle Builder and “WILD WHEY”- An All Natural Whey Protein Powder. Unlike the commonly available yet harmful health supplements in the market, the unique selling proposition of these patented and trademark registered products offered by DREXSPORT is its utmost naturalness and organic composition which leads to zero side-effects while adding to the quality and output of your workout regime. The team at DREXSPORT strives consistently to help you in achieving better health results and accomplish your fitness goals in the well-dedicated time by taking all modern concerns into consideration so as to come up with a product that helps you live well and perform better in life. The offerings of DREXSPORT are a result of their due perusal, survey and scrutiny which will certainly leave you with commendable and noteworthy results.

${image_1} Every other week, it seems, there is a new story of someone alleging their hospital of overcharging. There have been so many jokes on patients suffering a heart attack after receiving their hospital bill, that it has become a cliche. But for the countless families which have burned up their savings and fallen into debt trying to save their family member, it is not a joke ! News articles have popped up revealing hospitals having profit margins of 1700% on consumables and 900% on some medicines. The (misplaced) anger on receiving a whopping hospital bill is mostly taken out on doctors as they are on the front lines. Articles have shown that doctors’ fee constitute only 10-20% of a hospital bill, the rest is medicines, diagnostics, room rent and consumables. But as a common man what can you do to reduce your family’s health care costs? Here are 5 simple ways. 1) Compare costs online The Internet is a great leveller. Do a little research on Google, ask a question in Quora and you would be surprised at how much content already exists online about healthcare prices. Go on, do a search for “how much does appendix operation cost in India” and find out yourself. Always know the price of a particular blood test or scan test before even going to the lab. Get the contact number in google or their website, call up their reception and find their rates. Being proactive and comparing prices across hospitals and diagnostic centers can save you loads of cash. 2) Ask for generic medicines There are generic medicines and combination medicines. Generic medicines are off-patent drugs, which can be manufactured by any pharmaceutical company without any licence from the original founder. For example, Paracetamol is a generic name. Combination medicines have two or more drugs in a single pill and are protected by a patent by the manufacturer, hence can be sold only by them. Generic drugs have the same active ingredient, are just as effective as branded combination drugs and cost way less! 3) Know Central government’s price list for >1700 tests and procedures Even though a Google search can show prices of many of the common tests and hospital procedures, some may be difficult to find. The central government has released its price list for more than 1700 tests and procedures for its empaneled hospitals. Link for price list - https://cghs.gov.in/index1.php?lang=1&level=1&sublinkid=6760&lid=3704 Of course the central government rates are extremely low, but it can serve as a reference point. Treatment or testing in a private hospital or lab can cost approximately 30-60% above the central government prices, but if it is double or triple the price - Think before you leap! 4) Ask for a discount What? I can do that? Yes. It never hurts to ask. “Can I speak to your manager about getting a discount?” - 10 words, which take less than 5 seconds to ask, can save you 10-15% of the total bill. Be it a hospital or diagnostic center, they want to keep their customer (patient / relative) happy and will be willing to give a reasonable discount to gain your loyalty. Bargaining tips - Know the price of a competitor, be courteous, give compliments about their service. The billing department and managerial staff are humans too, appeal to their nobler motives. 5) Choose an ‘Affordable Diagnostic Center’ Scans and blood tests costs can amount to more than 50% of out-patient expenses and more than 25% of inpatient expenses. That is where we (Aarthi Scans and Labs) help save your money! Yes, this is an advertorial post, but do read on to know about our “Why Pay More?” initiative and it might just make you more prudent and wise on your diagnostics spends. Aarthi Scans and Labs has been trying to bring about a cost-transparency revolution in the Indian diagnostics sector. Our MRI scan prices are Rs 3500 in day time and Rs 2500 in night time (Market price 7000-8000 Rs). CT scan prices are Rs 1500-3500 in day time and Rs 1000-2000 in night time (Market price 2500-6000 Rs). All our blood tests cost upto 50% lesser. Why separate pricing for day and night time? Why are our prices lower than the competitors? Read on.. ${image_2} Why do diagnostic tests (scans and blood tests) cost very high? A few reasons are:-, ⦁ The cost to purchase CT, MRI machines and Automated lab testing equipment are way high with ever increasing maintenance costs. ⦁ A short supply of radiologists in India, leading to increased demand and higher salaries ⦁ High salary of managerial staff who have the niche knowledge of the workings of a diagnostic center or chain of centers. ⦁ High profit margins fixed by the labs. Here is what we do at Aarthi Scans and Labs to reduce the effect of above-mentioned factors:-, ⦁ While there is no absolute way to reduce the scan and lab machine costs, unless the Government brings a price cap, we try to reduce its weight falling on patients’ shoulders by utilising the machines as long as possible in a day (and so we have a special price scheme in nights to encourage more people to get scanned in night time). The more time we operate these machines, the more patients we can scan and so the machine cost as a factor in bill gets spread out to more patients and hence gets reduced. ⦁ Once again, the number of Radiologists passing out per year is Government’s decision. But we as a family owned business having a long term outlook, encouraged our family members to learn radiology and so now we have 7 radiologists within our own family. Many of the radiologists working in our organisation know about our ‘low cost patient friendly ethical practice’ and give their best support. ⦁ High salaried managerial or corporate staff? Who are they? We don’t have any. We are a family owned business and we are proud to say that we have no MBAs working in our managerial positions. All our department chiefs are ‘home grown’ and many of the operations are handled directly by family members. ⦁ Finally the most important thing - Profit margins! With 4 doctors in our 5 member board, we decided to keep our profit margins as low as possible (<20% in every blood or scan test) to continue providing value to every patient, yet still survive long term as a company. So, we are good in cost control. But what about quality? - We are one of the very few diagnostic centers to have both NABH, NABL and ISO accreditation. We are the only company in India to have 3 fully automated robotic labs to reduce testing errors and we are the only company in India to have 22 imported Siemens 1.5 Tesla MRI machines offering excellent image quality. Did we mention that we have 7 radiologists within our own family and they oversee radiology reporting quality? So that is all we have to say. The rest is upto you to decide. We hope we made you more aware and knowledgeable about health care pricing via this article. We have branches in multiple locations in Chennai, Tamilnadu, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pondicherry. We will be opening more branches in Mumbai and Delhi within a year’s time. Here are our call center numbers - Tamil Nadu - 75500 75500 Bangalore - 70224 70224 Hyderabad - 76699 76699 All our scans and lab test prices are transparently available on our website https://aarthiscan.com - Go through it and find out more about us. 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