4.

MARKET ANALYSIS SUMMARY

4.1 INTRODUCTION
2014 was a big year for the adoption of mobile medical applications by clinicians and
consumers. It also saw the beginning of convergence between devices and apps used by
clinicians and those used by consumers.
Still, industry experts say the widespread use of mobile apps and devices that are fully integrated
into a comprehensive healthcare and wellness information system remains a work in progress.
Authoritative curation of mobile apps is needed to ease physician uncertainty about adopting
apps more widely for clinical use, some experts say. And much more progress is needed in
developing and disseminating apps that enable healthcare providers to help patients manage their
medical conditions.
A recent report Aitken co-authored, based on a study of nearly 43,700 purported health or
medical apps available on Apple's iTunes app store, found that only 54% of them were genuine
healthcare apps. Of those, 69% targeted consumers and patients while 31% were built for use by
clinicians. Most of the consumer healthcare apps were simple in design and do little more than
provide information, according to the IMS report. Only 159 of the consumer apps could track or
capture user-entered data, and fewer than 50 relate to condition management or provide tools and
calculators for users to measure their vitals. That leaves considerable room for growth in this
sector, the report said.
4.2 INDUSTRY ANALYSIS
Since 2000 the promise of reduced healthcare
costs and improved patient outcomes has
inspired many to build their business models
around e.g. remote patient monitoring, mobile
alerts and reminders. These early movers
entered the market too early as its conditions
did not support scalability of the existing
solutions.
There are more than 1,00,000 apps which are
listed in the Healthcare sections of major
platform operators: Apple and Android. Both
platforms are by far the leading mobile
operating systems for Healthcare apps today.
Over the last two years Android, similarly to the
total app count, has seen a tremendous growth
of the number of apps which are listed in the
Health & Fitness and Medical sections in
Google Play.

BS u by es tri Puotw se r

Figure (1): Porters five force

analysis

4.3 MARKET NEEDS AND TRENDS

The need for affordable medical services and a growing market for tech-based applications are
driving patients towards healthcare applications in India. Especially, the more elite section of the
society has developed special keenness towards it. They need an app described as Easy, quick
and handy to get drug and dosing information quickly if you're not familiar with the product
Healthcare apps could be lifesavers for millions in the developing world, according to a report by
the mobile industry association GSMA and global consultants PwC. Africa's 1bn inhabitants are
amongst the world's least connected online, yet more than a third already own a mobile phone
and much the same is true in Asian countries such as India. In richer countries, money is pouring
into mobile health. One of the main aims is to let people with chronic illnesses better manage
their conditions day to day and reduce time spent in hospital. According to PwC, by 2017 mobile
health services could save $400bn a year out of a total annual health expenditure of $6trillion in
the leading industrialized nations of the OECD.
4.4 MARKET GROWTH
25% yearly growth
A recent policy brief on mobile health by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, published in the
journal Health Affairs, cited industry experts who predict the number of mobile health apps will
increase by a rate of 25% a year for the foreseeable future. Globally, 500 million consumers and
healthcare providers will use a mobile health app within the next two years. By 2018, half of the
3.4 billion mobile device users worldwide will download a health app, according to the brief.
Consumer pressure from these legions of smart-device owners is expected to drive
healthcare
system
change,
according
to
industry
experts.
Meanwhile, the regulatory picture for mobile health apps cleared up a bit in 2013. In September,
the Food and Drug Administration signaled a limited approach to regulating medical mobile app
developers. It said it would focus only on those products that pose the most potential risk to
patients and consumers, while exercising enforcement discretion over medical devices that pose
minimal risk to people. We're not expanding our universe at all, said Dr. Jeffrey Shuren,
director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, in announcing the agency's
Mobile Applications Guidance for Industry and Food and Drug Administration Staff. The FDA
has cleared about 100 mobile medical apps, such as mobile electrocardiographs, including about
40 in the past two years, via a regulatory process averaging 67 days.
4.5 COMPETITORS
When it comes to Indian Market, there are no major competitors. Though Epocrates is the top
choice worldwide (especially is US) as the most sought after healthcare app, followed by
Medscape, Micromedex and WebMD. These top four clinician-oriented mobile medical apps
and seven in the top 10were launched by companies founded in the 1990s or earlier. Other
venerable apps in the top 10 were Lexicomp, started on paper in 1978; UpToDate, whose

company was launched in 1992; and PatientKeeper, whose company was founded in 1998, with
the
app
launched
in
1999
for
the
Palm
Pilot.
4.6 TARGET MARKET
The biggest group of Healthcare apps
could be categorized as fitness apps
followed by Medical reference apps.
More than 30% of all apps that are listed
in the Health & fitness and Medical app
sections of Apple App Store, Google
Play,
BlackBerry
Appworld
and
Windows Phone Store are fitness trackers
or exercise guides.
The second and third largest groups are
Medical reference (16.6%) and Wellness
apps (15.5%). Hellodoctor as a Medical
Figure (2): Healthcare market
reference app will provide information
breakdown
about drugs, diseases, symptoms and
give advice on how to take drugs or what to do in case of experiencing pain. They also show
locations of pharmacies and medical centers/doctors.
Reference
1. http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20131214/MAGAZINE/312149983
2. http://www.epocrates.com/who/media/news/press-releases/epocrates-top-medical-referenceapp-among-us-physicians-fifth-consecut
3. mHealth App developer Economics 2014 research paper

2.0 COMPANY SUMMARY

Hellodoctor headquarters is located in Bangalore that can provide access to a large pool of hightech labor force and current e-commerce intelligence. The location also ensures the best available
healthcare professionals and medical representatives (doctors). These medical representatives are
Indian Medical Association (IMA) certified and are an outsourced entity to the company. The
headquarters will initially host the entire executive team, and staff. As company progresses
through its growth stages, branch offices will be setup in other parts of the country.
The company will initially be a Professional Limited Liability Company (PLLC). Professional
Limited Liability Company (PLLC) are the formations of choice for many business owners who
work in accounting, law, medicine, architecture, engineering and related fields. These business
entities can help licensed professionals protect their personal assets against lawsuits brought
against their practices.
Hellodoctor fulfills all the requirements to be a PLLC. These requirements are:

Company is generally required to be licensed in the same profession. Thereby,

Hellodoctor is licensed by Indian Medical Association (IMA) and outsources IMA
approved medical representatives.

Industry-specific regulations may apply to your company name.

States may require entity-specific endings for your company name ("PLLC" for a
Professional Limited Liability Company, for example).

It is also to be noted that by forming a Professional Limited Liability Company, owners are not
free from personal liability for malpractice or other suits brought against them. However, these
formation types do protect owners from the malpractice of other owners within the company.
PLLCs are also taxed differently. They are taxed like LLCs, which generally have pass-through
taxation of the members.
2.1 ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
Below are brief summaries of major responsibilities for corporate officers:

Director of Technology and

Business
Development
(Managing Director): He
oversees the overall strategic
direction and progress of the
company.
Specific
areas
include the technological
aspects of the app and the

overall business development. This is mainly due to the fact the company is quite new
and still in the growing phases.

Business Development: The responsibilities include strategic guidance of the enterprise,

exploration of expansion opportunities, and strategic alliance facilitation and
management, especially with IMA certified medical representatives.

Patent and Licensing Group: This department mainly deals with the legal work of the
company. It includes the license approval and continuous renewal from IMA. Also the
patenting of the available and regularly increasing features is done by this department.

Technology development: This departments responsibilities include

technological development, efficiency, software development of the app.

Clinical Trials Office: This is the department where the testing of medical referrals
happens before suggesting them to customers. Each medical representatives referrals are
tested and verified by a Hellodoctor medical official (certified IMA doctor employed by
the company).

Marketing: The responsibilities include sales generation, marketing programs

development, and public relations via use of social media and medical clinics and
hospitals.

Business administration: The department deals with all the paper works of the company
such as the salaries, scheduling of work etc.

overall