Apollo Hospitals was founded by Prathap C. Reddy in 1983 as the first corporate health care in India. The first branch at Chennai was inaugurated by the then President of India Zail Singh.[12]
Apollo developed telemedicine services, after starting a pilot project in 2000 at Aragonda, Prathap Reddy's home village.[13]
In 2007, Apollo Hospitals and DKV AG established a 74:26 joint venture health insurance company called Apollo DKV Insurance Co.[15] The company was rebranded as Apollo Munich Health Insurance in 2009.[16]
In 2008, Apollo Hospitals started Apollo Reach, a chain of hospitals for Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities as well as semi-urban and rural areas, with the opening of the first Apollo Reach hospital in Karimnagar.[17][18]
In December 2012, Apollo Hospitals sold its 38% stake in Apollo Health Street, the group's healthcare business process outsourcing division, to Sutherland Global Services for ₹225 crore (US$42.11 million).[19]
In 2014, Apollo Hospitals acquired Hetero Med Solutions, a South Indian pharmacy chain with 320 stores, from Hetero Group for ₹146 crore (US$23.92 million) in a slump sale. The stores were rebranded as Apollo Pharmacy.[20]
In October 2015, Apollo launched home care services under Apollo HomeCare[21] and its digital healthcare platform called Ask Apollo.[22]
In September 2017, Apollo announced an academic collaboration with Australia’s Macquarie University, where students enrolled in Macquarie's four-year graduate entry Doctor of Medicine program would complete 5 months of clinical rotations at Apollo hospitals in Hyderabad as part of their degree.[24]
In 2020, Apollo Hospitals sold its 50.80% percent majority stake in Apollo Munich Health Insurance to HDFC for ₹1,495 crore (US$201.76 million).[27] Later that year, it acquired IHH Healthcare's 50% joint venture stake in Apollo Gleneagles Hospital in Kolkata for ₹410 crore (US$55.33 million).[28]
In March 2022, Apollo Hospitals got included in Nifty 50 benchmark index, replacing Indian Oil, to become the first hospital company to be included on the index.[29]
Apollo Reach Hospital with Apollo Pharmacy in Karimnagar.
Apollo HealthCo
Apollo HealthCo was formed in 2021 with the merger of the group's non-hospital pharmacy chain Apollo Pharmacy and its digital healthcare business known as Apollo 24/7.[30]
Apollo Pharmacy – Apollo Pharmacy is the largest retail pharmacy chain in India with more than 5,000 stores in over 21 states.[31][32] It was started in 1987.[33]
Apollo 24/7 – Apollo 24/7 is the digital healthcare platform of the group which was launched in 2020. It offers telehealth consultation, online medicine ordering and delivery, and in-home diagnostics among other services.[34]
Apollo TeleHealth Services owns the telehealth network of the group, operating via a business-to-consumer model under which it offers direct services like online consultations, appointment booking, medicine delivery, among others; a business-to-business offering to corporates for their employees; and a business-to-government agreement providing telehealth services in partnership with public health systems.[37] Established in 1999, it is headquartered in Hyderabad and has more than 100 franchised teleclinics.[38][39]
Research and education divisions
A postal stamp issued in 2019 commemorating Apollo's Centre of Cardiology.
Apollo Research and Innovations is a research arm of the group which is involved in clinical trials of drugs, medical devices, healthcare software and consumer products. It was established in 2000 and has 17 centres at hospital locations.[40]
In 2016, a patient died at Apollo's Bilaspur Hospital during a treatment for stomach pain. While the hospital attributed his death to poisoning, the post-mortem report remained inconclusive pending a chemical analysis. The forensic laboratory report, obtained in 2019, revealed no presence of poison. Later in 2023, four doctors were arrested but subsequently released on bail.[43][44]
In a 2019 order, the Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (DSCDRC) found Indraprastha Apollo Hospital negligent in the treatment of a 24-year-old woman who died in 2007. As a result, the Commission directed the hospital to pay the woman's father a compensation of ₹10 lakh.[45]
British newspaper Telegraph in a December 2023 report[46] alleged that the chain's Indraprastha Apollo Hospital was involved in facilitating a "cash-for-kidney" racket, luring impoverished villagers from Myanmar to sell their kidneys to wealthy Burmese patients through forged documents and fabricated family ties.[47][48] The Government of Delhi consequently initiated an investigation against the hospital.[49]
In March 2024, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission fined Apollo Speciality Hospital in Chennai and two doctors ₹30 lakh for medical negligence. The case involved a patient who did not regain consciousness after spinal surgery in April 2015 and remained in a vegetative state until his death in April 2017.[50]
