7/31/2019 Terri GEHC ETArticle

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/terri-gehc-etarticle 1/3

Date : 03-Feb-2012 Edition : Delhi Page No.: 13 Page Name: n.a. Size: 218.99 sq. cm

Sector: Pharma, Healthcare And Biotech Circulation: 19801 AVE: INR 352308.49 Frequency: Daily

News monitored for: GE Healthcare

Page 2/2

© Economic Times http://economictimes.indiatime

7/31/2019 Terri GEHC ETArticle

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/terri-gehc-etarticle 2/3

34 I February 2012

What has been your strategy for growthin India?

 Tere are two distinct segments in themarket. Tere is demand for premiumhealthcare products and these are asadvanced and good as anything we sellelsewhere in the world; and there is amarket that can afford these products. You will find these products in top tierhospitals in metro towns. We have spent alot of time advancing the search for thesepremium level products and sell it both in

India and other markets. Te second line of products are those

 which can create access for the underservedpopulations. oday, we may not have theability to diagnose or treat a particularcondition. It is more than just a cheaper version of the high-end products and itcan make a difference to the underservedpopulation. So that has been our strategy on both fronts; ie, on high-end premiumquality products as well as at the level where we can create access.

Which are the most promising segments

 for GE Healthcare in India?

In India, we are focused on four differentpromising segments and when we say promising we really focus on where theneed is. We are focussing on some of the promising segments in India, whichis infant and maternal mortality, baby  warmers, incubators and phototherapy devices, ultrasound devices to detectpregnancy problems in a mother in a way 

 where we are not waiting for it to becomean emergency, and cardiology.

Early diagnosis as well as affordabletreatment of cardiac diseases, and theproducts are ECG, or cardiac ultrasound,or affordable imaging through Computed omography (C), those are for detection.For interventional systems we haveplatforms to do things such as angioplasty,stents insertion or other equipment used

in an operating room or ICU where afteran operation a patient can recover faster.For that, we have our low cost ventilators. Te third one is cancer and breast imaging,etc, and basically all types of cancer in thebody so that we can detect them.

 Are you looking at just low cost products

in the Indian market or you plan to go in

 the APAC region?

Not really. We have learnt lessons inthe Indian market and those lessons

are applicable for the  MAC i  products worldwide. We sell MAC cardiology 

product in 65 countries in the worldincluding India. So even though thisproduct was developed in India this is an

opportunity for reverse innovation.

How do you decide on the investments to

be made in particular areas in India?

 We look at it from two perspectives.In India it is a little different from thedeveloped markets. Tere you can do amarket study and say this is my market,here is my product and this is my marketshare, which is growing so fast and if Ido this I will get there. A lot of Indianhealthcare market is untapped and there is

a huge opportunity to create a market. Wehave to look at it both qualitatively andquantitatively. We have to place our bets where the opportunity is. For example, we sell our portable ECG device not tocardiologists but to family physicians. Soit is about building the right product andreaching the right market. One challengethat we have in India is that the market is very fragmented at that level. We do notknow how to reach there, we do not know how they practice and they do not know 

 who we are. So innovation is not only in the product, it is in the distributionchannel; it is also in the business model,showing that a person buying the productfor ` 25,000 can actually find a way to pay for itself within nine months. Also, themore they practice more the patients they see and thus they can refer more patients.It is not only one product, one businessmodel and one investment. We have tolook at a diverse range of products.

 Te focus on Indian market in terms of 

investments has grown by 3-4 per cent overthe last several years and this will continueto grow. Tat is why we do what we do.

Who are your strongest competitors in

 these three segments?

 Te competitors fall in multiple categories. We have competitors such as large MNCsas well as local competitors. We havecompetition from low-cost destinationssuch as China and aiwan. What we try todo is stay true to our kind of products, viz,

no compromise on quality and product.Build products where the market is

“Making a difference to the

underserved population has beenGE’s strategy for growth in India”

...says Munesh Makhija, CTO, GE Healthcare India. He discusses GE’s

strategy on making healthcare more accessible; and the parameters

on which it measures itself.

   Arshia Khan

 Special Focus: Interface - Munesh Makhija

7/31/2019 Terri GEHC ETArticle

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/terri-gehc-etarticle 3/3

Munesh Makhija

35February 2012 I

such that you can learn the lessonsstraight away; and that is how wedifferentiate ourselves.

How have the developments at GE

been accelerated?

GE has been in the medical devicesegment for decades and we have beenmanufacturing devices in India since 1989. We have been on this campus since 2001.GE invented X-rays. More recently weare concentrating on the miniaturisationof products such as the miniaturisationof ultrasound, ECG, etc are some of theproducts that we got to market first. Tere

is a lot of focus on innovation but it is not just for the sake of being first but actually making a difference and that is basically  where the impact of GE is. 

What are your most profitable ventures?

All our products are profitable otherwise we would not be dealing with them. With costpressures in India the profitability wouldbe low not just for us but for everybody else. But inspite of all this I think there is

a huge opportunity to learn and to developtechnologies that would benefit India.

It is often believed that the risingcost of healthcare has been the rising

cost of medical equipment.  How is GE

maintaining affordability and accessibility

of healthcare?

 Te examples speak for themselves in termsof the products that we have developedand invested in developing over the lastfew years. aking down the cost of ECG

machine by a factor of 10; cost of ventilatordown by a factor of 5 and keeping themas effective as required. Tese are areas where we have a commitment and infactour strategy of ‘Healthyimagination’ is how  we evaluate some of our products that we

 work on. We look at how we are reducingthe cost not only for ourselves but alsofor the procedure, for the patient and for

the doctor. Are we improving quality, arethe outcomes better in terms of what waspracticed and what can be practiced? Isthere an ability to create access to morepeople? Tat is how we measure ourselves.

What are your plans for the next

 five years?

 We are optimistic with regard to India. Weare investing $ 200 million in a factory inPune, across GE India including energy andaviation. We see that the challenge is not just

market share but creating a market, and weare committed to go after that challenge.

 Targets you have set for yourself

It is not about setting targets for oneself.It is about how far you go in innovation. When we are connected to the marketplace there are examples of innovationevery year. And we are making a0meaningful difference. 

(arshia.khan@infomedia18.in)

Manas Bastia

Senior Editor

Infomedia 18 Limited

‘A’Wing, Ruby House,

J K Sawant Marg,Dadar (W)Mumbai 400 028

India

T +91 22 3024 5000

F +91 22 3003 4499E manas@infomedia18.in

W www.modernmedicare.in

D +91 22 3003 4669

Dear Reader,

‘Modern Medicare’ solicits original, well-written, application-oriented, unpublished articles that reflect your valuable experience and expertise in the

pharmaceutical industry.

You can send us Technical Articles, Case Studies and Product Write-ups. The length of the article should not exceed 1,500 words, while that of a product

write-up should not exceed 100 words.

 The articles should preferably reach us in soft copy (either E-mail or a CD). The text should be in MS Word format and images in 300 DPI resolution &

JPG format.

 The final decision regarding the selection and publication of the articles shall rest solely with ‘Modern Medicare’. Authors whose articles are published

will be sent a complimentary copy of that particular edition.

Published by Infomedia 18 Ltd, ‘Modern Medicare’ is one of the leading monthly magazines on healthcare, and related equipment & technologies. This

monthly magazine was launched in December 2004 and provides the latest and most apt updates exclusively for the medical fraternity. Moreover,‘Modern Medicare’ acts as a sourcebook that facilitates buying decisions for this key sector - hospitals, specialty clinics, pathology labs, nursing homes

and doctors - and brings out highly useful business information on various healthcare facets such as surgeries, procedures, technologies, equipment

et al. So get going and rush your articles, write-ups, etc…

 Thanking you,

Yours sincerely,

An invite that rewards as well...

We look at how we are reducing

 the cost not only for ourselves

but also for the procedure, for

 the patient and for the doctor.