As Chennai-based Aarthi Scans and Labs, a radiology and pathology diagnostic provider, plans to invest over Rs 300 crore to expand its business geographically and vertically, its directors say that they are aiming to expand its base in Tier 1 cities every year and also start a new vertical -- Vital Insights, diagnostic centres for fitness and longevity of the body.
Dr G ArunKumar, chief radiologist, director and son of Aarthi Scans founder V Govindrajan, says: “By the year-end, we are planning to open our centre in Lucknow and our new vertical Vital Insights is under research stage in Vadapalani. The Vital Insights clinic will check the strength of muscle, body mass, etc. We want to provide services to the common man that an Olympic athlete gets at a cheaper cost. A lot of research and new methods are evolving. The investment in the new verticals will be Rs 10-20 crore over the period of two years. Rest of the amount will be for our geographical expansion.”
Talking about the expansion in Mumbai and Lucknow, Dr Arun Kumar says, “Our business model is direct to a customer. Our prices are very low. In hospitals, they charge nearly Rs 15,000 for an MRI scan, private diagnostic centres charge Rs 7,000, but we charge somewhere between Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,000. Lucknow and Mumbai are one of the most populated cities. This business model works mainly in Tier 1 cities, so it is a logical step to go to cities like Mumbai and Lucknow.” He added these cities can have 8-10 clinics.
Aarthi Scans mainly target upper and lower middle class customers as their business model is to provide affordable medical services. Talking about capex, Dr Prasannaa Vignesh, director and chief radiologist, says: “The company buys assets such as CT, MRI scan machines in bulk as it helps in reducing the input cost. For setting up a diagnostic centre, the cost is between Rs 8-10 crore, including input cost on machines and its maintenance.”
The company also adopts a deferred payment cycle where they promise to their creditors to clear off their payables within 10-11 months of purchasing the asset. Aarthi Scans is also investing in AI as OpenAI has reduced the development cost. Dr Arun Kumar says, “At present, all our chest X-rays go through AI preliminary reading and then sent to a radiologist. When AI and radiologist work together, the misfindings are less, cost comes down and turnaround time increases. We are using LLM-based models for proofreading purposes and also investing in developing our own LLM-based AI models for proofreading and critical report reading. Of these, one is in the pilot phase.” The research expense on these AI models is Rs 10 lakh, and the company has joined hands with a Chennai-based IT company to develop these AI models.