Noticeably, a huge challenge that delays the Small-to-Medium-sized-Doctor-Owned hospitals (SMH) segment is the lack of organized mechanism to search, discover and transact for affordable new and preowned medical equipment in a trustworthy manner and the absence of reliable service support. Those doctors who wish to sell used equipment have limited options and in rare cases get offers like 20-25 per cent of the original price. When comes the requirement of buying used/refurbished equipment, they have to shell-out close to 60-65 percent of the original price. In such situations, e-Marketplaces such as PrimedeQ connect hospitals to other hospitals and help generate multiple options and get a better price for both buyers and sellers. PrimedeQ not only play the role of an intermediary but also provide technical expertise for decommissioning and recommissioning and any other related services.

An e-Marketplace for new and preowned medical equipment & related services, PrimedeQ addresses a huge gap by providing expertise by bringing together buyers, sellers and service providers on one integrated platform. "Unlike e-commerce platforms that only facilitate buying & selling, we are partners to hospitals in the entire life-cycle of the medical equipment at every stage, starting from purchase, maintenance, sale to disposal. From "cradle to grave" so to say - we have multiple touch-points with our

customers," says Dr Sakshi Khandelwal, Co-founder, PrimedeQ.

The Idea
It was the mid of 2016 when Shanthi Mathur, Achudhan Mani and Dr Sakshi Khandelwal noticed the lack of platforms for medical equipment and started conceptualizing PrimedeQ. "Between us we have close to 70 years of experience in healthcare and medical equipment industry. Our experiences especially in smaller towns with doctor-owned small hospitals, which constantly face challenges with affordable medical equipment and their maintenance, led to establishment of PrimedeQ," mentions Shanthi Mathur, Founder, PrimedeQ.

Today, PrimedeQ has more than 4500 products and Spares across more than 30 different categories. Its target segment is small-medium hospitals which operates under budgetary constraints and have inclination towards affordable and used/refurbished medical equipment from good brands. "We not only cover all the basic requirements of SMHs, but also specialties like Ophthalmology, ENT, IVF, Physiotherapy and others," avers Shanthi.

PrimedeQ also offers NABH compliant medical equipment maintenance services on part-time or full-time basis to these hospitals who find it uneconomical to hire engineers on their rolls. "We help hospitals with all types of spares & accessories, even hard-to-find used spares for very old equipment no longer supported by Original Equipment Manufacturers," adds Dr Sakshi.

The Journey
Initially, it was quite a task to sell the concept of eMarketplace ­ a one-stop-destination for medical equipment. Most of the early on customers started with sale of their unwanted, idle medical equipment or repair of equipment under breakdown for months. After their first positive experience they came for more of other services. "We have already transacted on all types of medical equipment ranging from ECG machine or oxygen concentrator to X-Ray or ultrasound, fetal doppler to anaesthesia machine, ophthalmology or physiotherapy to even high-end radiology equipment such as MRI machine," she informs.

Starting from Bangalore, today, it has served customers across 50+ locations in 8+ states across India and also overseas. PrimedeQ has over 8000 customers in its network and more than 4500 product listings. They get enquiries from all over India. Presently boot-strapped with investment from founders, it is looking to raise Seed Capital for expansion. "In the coming times, we envision becoming Go-to-expert-Marketplace for everything related to medical equipment in India/South Asia. Our short-medium term plan is to grow our geographic presence to five additional regions, further development of technical expertise and upgrade technology to use Analytics in our work," she concludes.