How NephroPlus became India’s largest dialysis chain

NephroPlus has gone from a handful centres in 2010 to 149 today. In doing so, it has become India’s largest network of dialysis centres. But NephroPlus isn’t done growing. Can it maintain its quality of care while expanding rapidly?

NephroPlus and other dialysis chains in India established standards of care to prevent cross-infection among patients, a serious problem in India

Balancing high standards of care with some of the lowest prices globally has been a continuous struggle for NephroPlus over the last nine years

But the company has emerged as India's largest chain of dialysis centres through tie-ups with hospitals and PPPs

How will it double its capacity while maintaining low prices and high quality of care in the next three years?

When Vikram Vuppala stumbled upon Kamal Shah’s blog in 2008, he was amazed. Shah, who had been on dialysis for well over a decade at that point, had mapped out the pain points of the entire dialysis sector in meticulous detail. Both chemical engineers by training, Vuppula, a management consultant with McKinsey in the US at the time, reached out to Shah. In 2009, the two men founded NephroPlus, a dialysis centre chain in Hyderabad.

Nine years and 149 dialysis centres later, their conversations are still the same—how to sustainably grow the business while maintaining quality of care for patients.

AUTHOR

Ruhi Kandhari

Ruhi writes on the impact of healthcare policies, trends in the healthcare sector and developments on the implementation of Electronic Health Records in India. She has an M. Sc. in Development Studies from the London School of Economics.

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