The Indian healthcare sector has been experiencing rapid growth over the years. Various factors, such as technological innovation, growing infrastructure, as well as various government initiatives, are helping the industry experience further growth. One of the major pillars of the Indian Healthcare industry, Clinic Management Software (CMS) helps automate operations, thereby streamlining operations and enhancing patient experiences. Keeping the growing industry opportunity in the CMS sector in mind, Shivakumara Bhujangappa started his clinic management software Click4appointment. Starting in 2019, the firm has experienced tremendous growth in terms of overall growth and expansion and currently has over 1,700 clinics and 7000 doctors on its platform.

In an exclusive interview with CIO Insider, Shivakumara Bhujangappa sheds light on the firm’s overall journey, the wide range of features offered to its clients, and much more.

Could you tell us about the journey of Click4appointment as a digital health startup?

I have always been interested in starting my entrepreneurial venture and have explored many options before starting this software. Initially, we started a website called Ask baba, where users can get their queries answered by experts in that particular field. Later, we also started a payroll software, which was developed for smaller organizations, especially for firms with an employee strength of around five to ten. While I was researching our next

prospective venture, I met a doctor who also happened to be one of my family doctor. He informed me about the huge opportunity in the appointment & clinic management software sector.

So, we did extensive research regarding the industry. Within three months, we developed the first version of Click4appointment, a complete clinic management software with various features, including appointment management, digital prescription, digital case sheet, medical record management, billing, and so on. Initially, we started with three clinics on a trial basis before experiencing a rise in the number of inquiries due to positive word-of mouth. During that time, I had a full-time job while simultaneously working on the software. Encouraged by the positive growth, I finally quit my job and joined the firm full-time. The overall organizational journey has been wonderful. Starting in 2019, we have onboarded around 1,700 clinics and 7000 doctors on our platform.

the software. The same also can be accessed by doctors using the patient's mobile number as the key during the next visit.

How do you ensure the safety of data?

We have given a lot of importance to data security while designing the platform. The data is stored in a DMZ or demilitarized zone that adds an extra security layer while limiting data access. We have ensured proper authentication is in place for the user login. A doctor, once logged in to the platform, can only see his/her clinic-related data. Even the patients have limited access to the portal and can only view the data shared with them by the doctor. Even specific access is defined for staff as well as consultant doctors. Only the owner has complete access to the clinical data. In case anything goes wrong with the data backup, we also have a set mechanism to recover them.

How is the team built & how would you describe the level of expertise they bring to the table?

Before starting Click4appointment, I had extensive experience in the software industry, building distributed systems that handle a large volume of data. This has proven to be extremely useful as our current opportunity requires us to handle a large volume of data daily. Even the core technical team comprises engineers with vast expertise and experience in development and cloud computing. Coming to the Sales team, we have a closed network of people we know personally. After hiring, we train them and give them ample time to understand the software before letting them go to the field.

What is the next chapter planned for Click4appointment?

Our future roadmap is to expand our venture across clinics in Bengaluru. We strongly believe that successfully implementing the platform in a city like Bengaluru, also known as the startup hub of India, will take it to the next level. We are currently present in 63 cities both in and out of Karnataka. We want to capitalize on that and expand further at the Pan India level. In the next three years, we aim to reach at least 10000 clinics nationally.