Ethon Healthcare Solutions: Providing End-to-End Healthcare Solutions Date:   Friday , December 05, 2014 A lot can happen over a cup of coffee. When Srikanth Solipuram and a few friends met Dr. Shashidhar Kamineni, MD, Kamineni Hospitals, their conversation turned towards the software challenges that Dr. Shashidhar was facing at his hospitals. Inspired by the conversation, Srikanth decided to start a company dedicated to provide world class IT solutions to healthcare organizations to equip them with the required information for providing better quality of care to the patient. This occurred during the tenure of his relocation to India from the U.S., Srikanth thought that it was the right time to enter the realm of healthcare to provide unique and innovative software products and services by leveraging Indian talent. Thus, in 2010, Srikanth and his wife Rishmita Solipuram started \'Ethon Healthcare Solutions\'from their home. In spite of lacking healthcare knowledge, Srikanth and Rishmita managed to get the company off the ground by consulting with experts within the healthcare domain; Ethon got the much needed boost from Kamineni Hospitals. Today Ethon has successfully incorporated 27 modules into it\'s HIS (Hospital Information System) within 14 months of its inception, an incredible achievement within a short span of time. Ethon started with one employee and currently, this Hyderabad based company provides end-to-end healthcare services to organizations including medical offices, medical groups, hospitals, medical colleges and other healthcare facilities. With a mission to be a \'One-stop for all healthcare IT solutions needs\', Ethon has created its competitive advantage by understanding the industry and bringing the right combination of product and service expertise to create valuable solutions. The company provides a plethora of business and technology services such as HIS, patient management, medical records management, EMR implementations, coding, IT, and revenue cycle services to deliver business value. Ethon\'s primary focus is on creating enterprise solutions that are built on an open source, functioning on any OS or database. Their HIS is a highly secured, robust, sustainable and cloud compliant enterprise solution that runs multiple hospitals with single installation. This top-notch product has the potential to compete with any HIS in the international market. Apart from being HIPAA, HL7 compliant & ICD coding incorporated, the company has a smart card that enables retrieval of patient records electronically, using a barcode or biometrically. Thus, Ethon\'s products are technologically unique helping the customers to move away from inefficient systems and paper-based processes. Hurdles in the Path Akin to startups in every vertical, Ethon Healthcare Solutions too faced the initial crunches of funds and resources, despite having technical talent. Thus, the goal of the company was to recruit people from remote areas who have strong technical skills even if they had poor communication skills and to bridge this gap, the company voluntarily trained students for a period of time. Till date, they have trained over 300 such students who are performing well within the industry. Some of the other challenges that Ethon faced was finding the right developers; establishing a good team in respect to development, database and networking. There were also many implementation hurdles such as understanding the need of the customers and dealing with them adequately; training nurses on the use of technology and so on. \"Once the product was ready, we didn\'t even know how to raise a purchase order or publish a proposal for a client. For a startup, all these issues will always be there,\" says Srikanth. But, by constant learning and hiring experts from the industry, Ethon not only overcame these glitches but entered the international market within a year without any external funding. The company has now spread its wings to market its products to medical colleges and general hospitals, and now has over 50 clients. Ethon also caters to software services internationally with clients in Nepal, Indonesia and Malaysia as well. With an open and flexible work culture, Ethon follows continuous hiring and training. Since its inception, the company has always focused on commitment to quality, compliance, accountability and personal services for each of its clients. In spite, of strong competitors in the healthcare sector, Ethon has created a significant impact and is geared up to enter international markets in Africa, Middle East & USA. Panel: Office: Hyderabad, India Clients: Multiple clients in India & Abroad Products: HOPE, MRM, Smart Card, EMR, ePrescription, Appointment Scheduler, Practice Management Services: Software Development, Web Development, Revenue Cycle Management, Domestic Medical Billing, Medical Record Management, Staffing, Medical Processing, e-Commerce, NABH Accreditation, NABL Accreditation Key Management: Srikanth Solipuram, Managing Director- Prior to setting up Ethon Healthcare Solutions, Srikanth held Key roles in various Fortune 500 companies in the USA for more than a decade.