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# **Applications of Platform Business Models in Healthcare – Case for revolutionary Impact in Ambulance Services Market in India**

In India, patients and customers often face challenges to avail ambulance transport services during medical emergencies. These challenges invariably relate to access, affordability, and real-time availability. The ambulance services market in India can be bucketed into four segments based on urgency to reach a tertiary care centre and medical support required as illustrated below.

**_Patient's "Job-To-Be-Done"_** in the context of Ambulance services

-  **_Urgent transport requiring advance medical support_**: _"Reach a hospital within a golden hour / ASAP." This is serviced by Advanced Life support Ambulances._
- **_Non-urgent transport requiring advanced medical support_**_: "Reach a tertiary care hospital without disruption in medical care." This segment is also serviced by Advanced Life support Ambulances._
- **_Urgent transport requiring essential medical support:_** _"Make my journey to tertiary care centre risk-free and fast."  It is serviced by Basic life support Ambulances._
- **_Non-Urgent transport requiring Basic medical support_**_: "Help me reach a medical facility risk-free." This segment is serviced through personal/public transport._

In this emergency transportation market, the National Health Mission in India supports twenty-four thousand emergency vehicles. In addition, private sector hospitals, NGOs, local bodies, and other state bodies provide approximately one lakh ambulances. This falls short of the WHO benchmark of one basic life support ambulance per lakh population and one advanced life support ambulance per five lakh population. On the other hand, the available ambulances need to be more utilized. This creates a perfect scenario for platform models to come in and solve this double conundrum.

Multiple startups have attempted to create an online model that qualifies as the shared economy platform business model. While some business models lease ambulances owned by private hospitals, others have aggregated ambulances owned by various private sector bodies and created an app-based front end like ride hailing services, where users can find and book ambulances available near them. These startups have the following features of the shared economy-based business model:  

1. Aggregate underutilized ambulances by listing them on their platform.
2. Tech facilitation to share the underutilized capacity via a customer-facing front-end app where consumers/patients can discover the ambulance nearby and book and pay for travel to the destination hospital. All vehicles are GPS-enabled and provide end-to-end emergency response services.
3. Digitization of information/goods at scale—Platforms have digitized the information on ambulance availability by pooling them on an app, enabling the scaling up of the physical presence to multiple cities.
4. Mediating between patients on one side and hospitals/ambulance services providers on the other creates a resource circulation system – a characteristic of the shared economy model.
5. Gaining trust via user ratings and review systems on the App Store, Google Play Store, or their website. CRM system builds on a unique mobile number or 1800 number with functionality to connect over WhatsApp and provides a superior customer service experience while availing ambulance services within 15-20 minutes.
6. Use of data analytics for selling subscription services to regular clients and building customer retention processes
7. Customers now desire convenience like ride-hailing services and expect the same service levels as other services.

Platform business models in the ambulance services market have adopted the following strategies to create a thriving sharing economy business model:

1. Mobilizing the network of ambulance providers on their platforms in eight big metros, tier-one towns, and other smaller cities
2. Subsidizing the provider side of the network and charging the patient side.
3. Adopting a revenue-sharing model for the owners of the ambulance service providers.
4. Adopting a lease rental-based model to tap into unutilized ambulances of private hospitals.
5. Pricing competitively vis-à-vis other providers by becoming part of accidental insurance schemes provided by the health insurance providers.
6. Alternatively, launching their ambulance subscription plans to patients who need such services regularly.
7. Create awareness among the target audience with innovative go-to-market strategies, such as hyper-local digital marketing, tie-ups with hospitals, NGOs, and other players, and emergency communication platforms in the emergency services ecosystem.

**Patients and service providers' performance criteria from online platforms**: To truly disrupt the Ambulance services market, such startups must build a superior consumer experience that meets patients' and users' performance criteria.

**Criteria of performance for patients**

1. A reliable front-end App/Web app with zero downtime
2. View the types of ambulances available near the pat, along with photos, videos, and information about the availability of paramedics, medical professionals, and drivers.
3. Ability to assess the total time Vs golden hour (Time to reach patient's location plus time to reach destination hospital)
4. Price information of each available ambulance near them.
5. Aggregated service ratings by previous customers that build trust.
6. Ability to share the ride with other emergency contacts via WhatsApp and live tracking.
7. Pre-arrival notification to the hospital for readiness of early medical intervention.

**Criteria of performance for Ambulance service providers**

1. Ease in getting onboarded on the platform.
2. Transparent platform listing fees/ any referral fees as applicable.
3. Ease of payment collected from patients.
4. GPS tracking.
5. Live information will be sent to the platform if engaged via other sources.
6. Ability to accept or reject the booking.

While significant traction exists in creating successful shared economy platform business models in the ambulance services market, such aggregators still face substantial operational challenges. To scale their services and bridge the patient need vs supply gap, platform business models must overcome the following three main challenges**:**

1. **Accessibility: Building access to all types of ambulances at scale**: Ability to provide all kinds of ambulances on the platform to serve a large pool of patients accessing emergency ambulance services in 600+ districts of India. The availability of trained paramedics, Drs, and drivers **at** close to 100% booking and high service levels ensure adherence to golden hour. Superior coordination and communication system among patients, caregivers, drivers of ambulances, paramedics, and destination hospital staff.
2. **Building patient trust** by delivering on the promised "value offering."
    1. Arrival within minutes (within 15-20 minutes).
    2. Ensuring paramedic support for carrying patients.
    3. 24x7 access to the availability of ambulances supported by live tracking.
    4. Ease of booking for patients and coordination with partner hospitals.
    5. Near 100% arrival time accuracy – reliability.
3. **Affordability:** Competitive pricing that patients can trust to be fair and transparent.

Applications of Platform Business Models in Healthcare – Case for revolutionary Impact in Ambulance Services Market in India.

Applications of Platform Business Models in Healthcare – Case for revolutionary Impact in Ambulance Services Market in India

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