TAKING DIABETES CARE TO THE REMOTE MILLIONS

BeatO Founder Gautam Chopra wants to turn diabetes care low-cost, high-quality and universally affordable. Going by the relentless zeal of his team, he’ll get there sooner than later.

MEET THE LEADER 

Gautam Chopra is the Founder and CEO of BeatO, a platform that provides comprehensive and clinically proven care programs to prevent, control and reverse diabetes. 

We initiate this tribute session with a probe into the essence of Gautam’s persona and professional identity, briefly for our readers. The idea champion recounts… “In 2015, I left my comfortable job as Head of Business Development and Sales Steering with Lufthansa in Europe to embark on my entrepreneurial journey. Backed with 6 years of international experience in business strategy and an MBA from the prestigious ISB, Hyderabad, I wanted to do something for the people of my country. I started BeatO in 2015 with my co-founder Yash Sehgal. Today, BeatO has become India’s largest app-based platform to prevent, control and reverse diabetes with over 1 million members.”

THE DISRUPTION 

The BeatO team – headed by Gautam – builds truly scalable products and services using Gandhian engineering and innovation. The idea visionary clarifies…
“Our BeatO CURV glucometer converts any smartphone into a blood-sugar testing device and the BeatO App provides a complete diabetes management ecosystem that runs on AI. It provides real-time virtual remote care through automated nudges and calls from our diabetes experts and doctors. It’s like having a doctor in your pocket.” 

THE BIG IDEA 

All driven souls are propelled by the pull of a bigger idea. What is Gautam’s big motivation? What is the one grand philosophy that makes him get up in the morning.. his success mantra, as it were? The idea champion elucidates…

“My big passion is Democratizing healthcare – i.e; making healthcare easy, accessible and affordable by leveraging technology for millions of people in ‘Bharat’. Now 80 million Indians who have diabetes, and have a smartphone, can easily access BeatO’s low-cost high-quality expert care irrespective of their location or economic propensity. BeatO’s current 1.5 million+ App users are mostly from Tier 2, 3 and 4 cities/towns of India. BeatO has already made a huge impact on the health of thousands of BeatO members and can potentially help millions of more people living with diabetes in remote places of India. And this massive potential motivates me every day.”

GENESIS AND EVOLUTION

We move on to the progression of his idea. How did it gradually pick up the force and momentum it possesses today? Was there a tipping point or turning point that moulded it? Gautam turns the clock back…

“In 2015 when I met Yash, my co-founder, I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes and Yash too was already struggling to manage his diabetic condition. In spite of being in Delhi, the experience of managing diabetes was very fragmented and disjointed with overflowing OPD’s and several other young people grappling with the same problem. We soon realized this situation was even more amplified in smaller towns. .There are over 80 million diabetics in India and a large number of these diabetics live in remote areas where access to good quality healthcare and specialist doctors is not available. Additionally, even in areas where healthcare is available it is difficult to find everything in one place. Thus, BeatO was born to make diabetes and chronic condition management accessible, affordable and extremely simple for people with diabetes in India.”

THE NEXT SOLUTION

So what is the big goal or problem that Gautam and his team is fixated on next? The idea leader switches gear, ushering us into the future now…

“Out-patient care in India is out-of-pocket, hence our healthcare system is not incentivised to keep people out of hospital. I wanted to solve this large problem creating affordable access to good quality care for all. Our relentless focus in making a digital diabetes care ecosystem for India has resulted in BeatO becoming the world’s largest diabetes platform with solid clinical results. Annually, healthcare costs push 55 million Indian households to bankruptcy; with BeatO, I am determined to take this to 0.”

A WORD ABOUT VOH

We wish Gautam the best for his noble venture and we seek his opinion on the Voice of Healthcare platform. How, according to him, can tribute profiles such as Idea Leaders, add direction, inspiration and positive energy to the healthcare community? Gautam is generous in his sign-off: 

“Idea leaders first and foremost raise awareness amongst the masses around the massive healthcare problems we face as a nation. They come up with innovative, modern ideas and technology and apply them to solve the big problems. Idea leaders can ensure better solutions and care regimens for chronic conditions like diabetes reach the population and alleviate the burden on the public healthcare system. VOH can play a big role in bringing together thought leaders, think tanks and medical bodies to accelerate such solutions and shine a spotlight on the flag bearers.”

*This story has been published by the VOH team.*