Saral Health launches online medical supermart

Mumbai-based startup Saral Health has launched its online portal, which aims to become a supermarket for health services by offering patients services from booking doctors’ appointments to selling health products and insurance policies. The company was founded in July 2012,by Sonal Sachdev, former executive editor of NDTV-Profit, and Nandita Datta, who has been tracking healthcare for publications like Outlook Business and Business Standard. The startup is initially focusing on the Bangalore market, tying up with hospitals, such as Apollo, Fortis, Manipal, Nova Specialty and Sparsh, to help set up doctors appointments.

Customers can also book diagnostic tests and home healthcare through the website in the city. Saral Health also offers 5,000 health and wellness products, which are shipped across the country. Besides the portal has tools to store and manage health records as well as alerts reminding of medication. Launched about a week ago, Saral Health is seeing 200 visitors a day and has clocked over three dozen transactions for its e-commerce business. Going ahead, Saral Health will expand into other metros and small towns where it can serve as a feeder to hospitals in its network. The startup will also look at corporate engagement programmes.

“We are looking at a universal healthcare model from a customers point of view,” said Sachdev. His firm will look to build traction over the next six months and then approach VCs for funding. “The engagement with the health portals like Saral addresses a gap, which is now getting filled, whereby the patient can get easy access to health care services,” said Ravindra Pai, senior vicepresident at Apollo Hospitals.