American author Napoleon Hill once said, “Some people dream of success while others wake up and work hard at it” and entrepreneur Rishi Shah’s success story turns out to be the classic example that establishes the same. 31-year-old, Indian-American businessman Rishi Shah, left college 10 years ago to chase his entrepreneurial ambitions. Today he has become the founder of a healthcare tech company which is now valued at US $5.6 billion. Shah started Outcome Heath, a Chicago based company, in 2006.  

He grew up in Oak Brook, a Chicago suburb and was born to a doctor who emigrated from India. He went to Northwestern University as a transfer student and it was there that he met his business partner and current President of Outcome, Shradha Agarwal. After working together for a campus magazine, they went a step ahead and found a company called Context Media in 2008. The company would sell its video monitor services to physicians and hospitals without any investment from other sources. 

© Twitter/rishi shah

Talking about his healthcare startup, Shah said in an interview that he was inspired by his sister who has type 1 diabetes. He said, “If she gets on an insulin pump and she is able to achieve better blood sugar control and she is checking her blood sugar more effectively, the device manufacturer wins, the insulin manufacturer wins, the blood glucometer wins, the doctor wins, but the payor wins most of all. And she wins personally.” And that’s how eventually he got the idea of a company that provides content to doctor’s offices.   

However, his journey wasn’t a rosy one. Shah had his own fair share of struggles. On one hand, where some doctors didn’t realize the worth of digital education, others who understood it wanted see revenue to comfort their skeptical minds regarding this novice concept. “We had to build a profitable business, or at least a break-even business, from scratch,” Shah said while stating that there was no margin of error for them. Last week, Outcome Health http://www.outcomehealth.com/ earned the honour of being the newest unicorn company, and is already valued in the top 30 in the list of nearly 200 non-public companies worth $1 billion.     

© Twitter

Reportedly, the company took in more than $130 million in revenue last year with an operating profit margin of approximately 40%. Today, this healthcare company assists both doctors and patients by providing touch screen monitors to hospitals around the country. Further, they install large, interactive video boards that allow physicians to explain a patient’s current health care problems and requirements in a better way, with the help of video, graphics and interactive visuals. 

This startup is beneficial in many ways. First, people won’t have to wait in long queues or crowded rooms. They can save time in explaining and understanding a problem and utilize the remaining time to discuss other important things that often tends to get skipped during any session. Furthermore, the company provides free services to medical providers and makes most of their money from drug makers, health care marketers, insurance providers and pharmaceutical companies. 

© Twitter

Well, this startup is definitely one of the most brilliant ideas and has the potential to transform the global health sector. The success story of its proud owner, Rishi Shah, is proof that this concept is heading towards the right direction. While Shah has become tech’s newest billionaire, his partner Shradha Agarwal isn’t far behind. 

Source: The Times Of India