Affordplan to tie up with hospitals in Telangana

Patients get discounts, cashbacks and insurance for using the platform

Hyderabad: Affordplan, a platform that partners with hospitals to reduce the cost of OPD as well IPD procedures for patients, has plans to expand its footprint in Telangana by tying up with about 60 hospitals. It already has partnered with select hospitals in Hyderabad and now the focus is on other cities, said Aditya Sharma, Chief Operating Officer, Affordplan.

“The platform allows patients to save up to 15 per cent on their out-of-pocket expenses at the OPD visits including doctor consultations, lab tests, and medicine purchases,” said Sharma. Patients also get access to a bank-backed pre-paid card and digital wallet. The solution also gives the consumers complimentary accidental insurance and medical loans for emergency procedures, and goal-based savings for elective procedures, he said.

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Sharma said a large part of the population still is not under the health insurance fold. “The medical expenses are on the rise. Many families are forced to dig into their personal savings or borrow to meet the medical expenses. Our effort is to reduce the expenditure for patients,” he said. “There are some procedures that can be planned in advance. In such cases, the patients can pay the agreed amount in a staggered way. Since the hospitals get the amount in advance, they will offer a discount to the patients,” he said.

The medical loans, offered by its NBFC partners, range from Rs 10,000 to Rs 1 lakh with tenures up to 12 months, he said. It now has tied up with six such players. “The risk assessment is done by the lenders. The loan will not burden the patients as corresponding interest is borne by partner hospitals,” said Sharma.

Hospitals, according to him, are under pressure due to competition among themselves, high real estate costs, rising salaries of staff, and the need to upgrade the medical infrastructure. All these mean higher capital costs for the hospitals, he said. AffordPlan has so far tied up with over 100 plus hospitals across the country.

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