The recent COVID-19 pandemic has vastly impacted the healthcare systems all over the world. It also put forth the 70% dependency of our country on imported medical devices making it difficult healthcare centers across India to access these expensive high-end technologies. It is a standard affair in developed countries to carryout computer-assisted surgeries and yet only limited hospitals in India could afford it. While managing the navigation business for one of the biggest medical device companies in the world, Arpit Paliwal realized the need of affordable high-quality medical solutions in India and came with the idea of Happy Reliable Surgeries. As the Founder of Happy Reliable Surgeries, Arpit Paliwal aims to provide affordable, accessible, and highquality medical healthcare by reducing the dependency of healthcare systems on foreign product.
“Our system works on a unique optical pattern recognition technology which gives the 3D tracking, sub-millimetre accuracy, and does not require infrared emitters”
Read the following interview to know more about Arpit Paliwal’s ambitious move and the impactful journey of Happy Reliable Surgeries.
What makes your company a preferred choice over your competitors? List the products and expertise that you want to highlight in this article.
Initially, when easyNav was introduced into the healthcare market as India’s first surgical navigation system, our system was labelled as a local product due to which it couldn’t create enough excitement in the industry as consumers had a fixed conclusion that global standards can’t be met by local companies. However, we started gaining recognition among the reputed neurosurgeons for being at par with other imported navigation technologies in the market.
Within 5years of its inception our flagship product, easyNav is now applauded as one of the globally acclaimed surgical guidance technologies and credited as a better, simpler, easier, and compatible navigation system. easyNav™ is an all-round solution for Neuro, Spine, and ENT Surgeries. The easyNav™ Navigation system has checklist-based simple navigation software. The navigation system comes with the 3rd generation optical camera which provides submillimetre accuracy, intuitive user interface designed in accordance with surgical workflow, and a simple trolley design that provides the best utilization of OT space.
easyNav has proved to be a game changer in Neurosurgical setup compared to the bulky, sophisticated, and expensive imported systems. Most of our happy users are promoting the product in webinars and online sessions. easyNav is among the top navigation systems growing at a faster pace and being recognised for making local surgical setups accessible to the world-class technology.
Brief us about Mr. Arpit Paliwal and his journey in the healthcare industry.
Arpit Paliwal, Founder of HRS Navigation, is known as a challenge-seeker. Arpit has more than a decade of cumulative experience in surgical navigation system R&D as well as clinical and sales and marketing. He has done executive program in sales and marketing from IIM Calcutta. While managing the navigation business for Indian region as a part of one of the world’s biggest medical device companies, Arpit came across the high requirement of computer-assisted surgeries by various hospitals and realized the need for simple, affordable navigation solution. Arpit has been awarded with the Annual Product Performance Award for navigation and for bringing around the navigation business in India.
Being in a leadership position, what is your opinion on the impact of current pandemic on the healthcare industry and related HealthTech market?
Hospitals and healthcare sectors are facing catastrophic financial challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, to contain the spread further, stringent public policies were implemented which in turn resulted in operational disruption for many healthcare companies across India. A significant drop in inpatient consultations, decreased levels of medical tourism, and cash flow have impacted the financial stability of healthcare centres.
To reserve cash and sustain stability, healthcare systems have taken measures to reduce or defer costs by supplier consolidation for better rates, renegotiation of credit periods, and cutting down the use of consumables in the best possible way. Small Indian firms have risen to the occasion as the demand for life-saving ventilators were high.
This pandemic was also a wakeup call for the healthcare industry to reduce dependency on imported products and be self-sufficient aiding to the development of our nation’s economic stability by using more Make in India products.
What kind of challenges has your company faced being in the medical devices business?
Every hospital needs a precision in a surgical procedure. However, expensive foreign products have made it costly making it difficult for the normal setups to access the latest technologies for better patient outcome. Hence, we started the venture started with an idea of developing India’s first surgical Neuro navigation system.
Given the fact only few companies across the world were able to achieve this, we still wanted to take this challenge. The goal was to make an accurate, easy-to-use, and affordable system for India and other emerging economies. We faced the challenges initially for getting right manufacturing infrastructure and skilled resources for system development. We had imported critical hardware to start with.
All this involved significant investment. It was a learning curve for the team but with extensive efforts our team mastered it all. It took years of R&D and efforts to make the final product. Now it gives a strong competition to similar imported system in terms of accuracy, simplicity, and affordability.
Extending the boundaries of surgical navigation to every field under consistent R&D, easyNav is focussing at providing world-class surgical accuracy and precision accessible to every patient across the globe. Being an affordable Indian brand with a globally acclaimed technology and user-friendly interface, our overseas users are applauding and promoting easyNav in developing countries for a premium surgical platform.
Being in the medical devices space, how necessary do you think it is to align one’s business with the latest technological developments?
Technology improves patient’s safety, reduces medication errors, and assures simpler, faster, convenient, and effective solutions on healthcare treatments and diagnosis. Medical devices aligning to the global technological standards and latest developments stand out from the crowd as it assures a certain value in healthcare market.
Adhering to the measures for simple and consistent technological developments in a medical device product are necessary to give the best product outcome available across the world while staying competent. Also, better technology or an advanced feature always excites the user since developments make everything simpler.
As one of the prominent medical device enablers, what steps have you taken towards tackling the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact, all the while safeguarding your employees and taking care of your clientele’s needs?
HRS navigation has taken steps to ensure high-quality services adhering to COVID-19 protocol and safety guidelines prioritising the safety of our team members, customers, and community. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, our professionals are actively operating across the country to support and resolve complex surgeries that require immediate surgical intervention.
The company equipped every frontline employee in the company with a kit of immunity booster, masks, gloves, hand sanitizers, and surface disinfectants that ensured none of the employees were affected so far and could help in breaking the chain to a certain extend.
Updated strategies and communication have also helped the team to mitigate the impacts of the virus and overcome the unprecedented challenges effectively. We take this opportunity to acknowledge and salute the spirit of our fellow citizens and the unflagging work of our doctors, nurses, and paramedics.
What advice would you like to give to the young entrepreneurs who are looking to enter in the medical devices and healthcare space?
Many things can be done to build a vast infrastructure and make India self-sufficient in medical devices sector. Indian government has framed policies to incentivize local manufacturing of raw materials, bulk drugs, and medical devices to ensure that we invest and develop in our country contributing to the financial stability and less dependency on foreign goods.
Entrepreneurs need to investigate the technological developments in medical sector across the globe and analyse what hinders the effective evolution of an Indian product with a similar technology. Our country is rich in all types of raw materials, resources, skilled labourers, and opportunistic government policies. The only hurdle we need to surpass is the mindset of common users of owning a local make in India product.
How do you envision on sustaining your company’s competency in this ever-cutthroat business ecosystem? Where do you see your company in the next five years?
HRS Navigation is the only company currently that provides totally consumable-less tracking devices significantly reducing the operational cost of Cranial surgeries. This precise and unique technology makes it consumable less navigation system in the market suitable for Indian healthcare infrastructure. Currently the compact easyNav™ system can be used in Cranial, ENT, Spine 2D, and Spine 3D and will soon be released for Knee.
With an ergonomically designed tool for different types of cases, HRS navigation also provides frameless biopsy which eliminates the need of bulky stereotactic frames. With aim to reduce dependency on imported devices and making India self-reliant in the sophisticated market of surgical navigation system, the management at HRS Navigation is constantly carrying out innovation for more navigation products like Knee and Robotics.
They also have affordable robotic surgeries in the product pipeline. In next 5 years, HRS Navigation aims at providing world-class precision to every surgical setup in the most affordable and accessible manner. By keeping things simple and focusing on customer satisfaction, HRS will progress through hardcore innovation.
