Online remedies

HEALTH: Homeopaths are populating the Net and setting up online clinics to broaden their base.

Homeopathy practitioners in India are on to a good thing "" cyber clinics. It costs far less than t would to set up a brick-and-mortar clinic, and you can reach out not just to patients in one city, but across the whole world.

Dr Rakesh Shah, the man behind www.classicalhomeopathy.com , www.askdrshah.com , www.leucoderma.com , www.asthma.net.in  and 30 such websites, was probably the first homeo-path to reach out to patients through the Net. A Net-freak, Shah put up his first site in 1995. Today, Shah has a $2 million practice with 10 online doctors, who treat thousands of patients in 124 countries.

Not being able to see a patient is no handicap. "For most of my patients, I am not their first doctor. They have been investigated thoroughly and the diagnosis has been arrived at."

Which means, there are blood reports and MRIs, and the online doctor has only to decide on the line of treatment. As for details like age, sex, dietary and other habits, emotional make-up, body-type, there is the detailed questionnaire the patient has filled up at the start of the treatment. Medicines are sent through courier and for follow-up, email, chat, phone, and video-conference help break the barriers of distance.

Dr Batra's Positive Health Clinic has a cyber clinic, which it formally launched in 2004, and so does Backson's Homeopathy; while Reckeweg India, an importer of homeopathic medicines, offers online consultation on its website. Kolkata-based Health & Glow Clinic, which will be expanding to Delhi and Bangalore in the coming months, is stepping up its online activity.

With most of these sites, the initial consultation and advice or information is free. Only when patients opt for treatment, or become members, are they required to pay. Charges here are steep "" around Rs 6,000-7,000 per annum.

What with people becoming Net savvy and looking for alternative medicine, online homeopathy is growing. Shah reports an annual growth rate of 25 per cent in his revenues.

In the five months that Health & Glow cyber clinic has been around, it has gathered 1,500 patients and receives 30-40 inquiries everyday, says Samar Nandi, its executive director.

The Batra's cyber clinic too gets a lot of hits "" between 1.5 and 4.5 lakh a month, says Mukesh Batra, chairman and managing director . But of these, only about 10 per cent end up paying for the treatment. Batra is now looking at a closer integration of the brick and click models.

An improved and more consumer friendly site, to be unveiled next month, will allow patients to make appointments online, interact with doctors, get medicines and so on. Homeopathy has indeed come a long way.