Dr Priyanka Mathur is a visionary who wants to take the ‘Sick Care’ model to a data-driven ‘Predictive Model’ using the science of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning. She began her studies at Saint Petersburg State Medical Academy and at the SYMBIOSIS International University, where she received her MD in Internal Medicine and Clinical Research Certificate. She has practised medicine in three different countries—Russia, India and the United States. Last year she started MediPocket to help individuals worldwide take control of their health.

About Medipocket

Dr Mathur begins, "At Medipocket we believe that you can have control over something only when you are involved and informed about it. At Medipocket we empower our patients, our consumers, to get involved and informed about their healthcare needs. For this, we provide an accessible, affordable and transparent cross-border ecosystem where one can access the best healthcare in the USA without any border restrictions."

"This seems simple on the surface but we have it backed by artificial intelligence (AI) where we keep patient's security and privacy secured."

Medipocket's USP

Dr Mathur explains, "The first USP of Medipocket is that we are unrestricted by the border. We are a cross-border ecosystem where specialized and personalized care travels to the patient irrespective of their border and the patient gets access to specialists, borderless."

"The second USP of our venture is that the healthcare solution is not designed by engineers or medical outsiders but is designed by healthcare professionals and international care system experts. I, myself, am a trained physician with experience in 3 different countries, Russia, India and the USA."

"Our solution is not based on assumption but is based on the experience of the patients' needs and system's requirements." 

Expansion plans of Medipocket

She says, "Medipocket started in California, in the USA. We started out with the prescription vertical to provide transparency, accessibility and affordability in the medication. For this, the users come to our platform to compare the prices of prescription medicines through our partnered pharmacies. Here, they can use the Medipocket discount card within 70,000 partnered pharmacies across the USA."

"On the other hand, Medipocket cross border care is a global venture. Where patients outside the USA can access the best USA hospitals and specialists through our platform."

"We are now coming to India because it is my home country and I have worked in this system and understand how difficult it is for patients and caregivers to access good specialists. The USA, many times seems far. But with technology, we are bridging that gap."

Funding of Medipocket

Dr Mathur mentions, "Medipocket-Rx, the USA venture, received pre-Seed funding to build the platform. Since then we have been self-sustained. Medipocket Global venture, which is a cross-border care system, is looking for seed funding as we are aiming to have our growth in year one. We are aiming to achieve 200,000 users with 30,000 consultations. With the right funding and the right partners, our goal would be attainable."

"To expand to more territories like India, we are looking for 1 to 1.5 million in seed funding."

Patient and Healthcare Network of Medipocket

Dr Mathur says, "Medipocket-Rx has so far 80,000+ customers in the USA for the discount card. We have partnered with major pharmaceutical companies in the US."

"Medipocket cross-border care which we are launching in India is targeting 30,000 consultations and 200,000 users. We aim to have our patients involved and informed in their health. For this, we have DoctorAI, who matches the patient's symptoms to the right specialization and then to the right USA specialist."

*For the Rx we have partnered with various US pharmacies. For cross-border care, we have partnered with renowned hospitals like UCLA, Mayo Clinic and others. We have the best US super specialists on our platform. In India, we are partnering with hospitals, insurance companies and diagnostics partners."

Revenue of Medipocket

She says, “In 2021, our prescription discount card model showed very high growth. This is because the pandemic made affordability the main concern for many. We were able to see a 150x growth. For 2022, all our focus is on our cross-border global care venture where we are focusing on getting 30,000 consultations and 200,000 users in year one.”

Medipocket’s goals for 2022

"In India, we opened earlier this month and we did pre-sign ups. We have seen an overwhelming response from patients and caregivers who want to use our solutions. We are currently looking to take requests on consultations with US specialists in areas like cancer, cardiology, diabetes, neurology, infertility, mental wellbeing, plastic surgery and special LGBTQ help. These areas are super-specialized and many times people find it difficult to open up. Through our platform, we want to provide that privacy and safe space. This is where our main focus is in phase one. Down the line, we want to open up more and more specialities."

Medipocket in India’s healthcare system

She mentions, “The system in India is very different compared to the USA. We will bring the best of the West to our country and that is the structure. The healthcare structure in the USA is very well-defined and we will bring its key elements to India. As far as accessibility and affordability are concerned, in the USA we are moving towards value-based care. Previously it was a sick-care model. In India, we can bring accessibility and affordability with technology to more and more people. It would require some education and would require awareness. This is what we have taken admission to. We need to approach healthcare not when we are sick but when we are fine."

Message for fellow entrepreneurs

She advises, “Just get out of your comfort zone. Just do it. Don’t worry about how it would turn out and who would say what. All this doesn’t matter. Learn from my journey. When you become a doctor you have a comfortable cushion around you. But becoming an entrepreneur forces you into uncertainty. This will push you to do things. Remember you will not be able to solve every problem. Just wake up everyday and ask problems to come to you because you will eventually figure it all out.”

(Edited by Priyal Shah)