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Med/Health Tech

The Story of Love and Faith, Touching Lives with Tech where it Matters

Written by : Arunoday Singh on Digilah (Tech Thought Leadership)

“We used to travel several kilometres for basic medical facilities, and many times lost precious time at work and our wages but this medical Van which comes to our village now has proved to be a boon,” says Damyanti Devi as she deftly embroiders beautiful patterns on a shawl she is working on at the cottage industry she works.

“My husband had undiagnosed diabetes which was posing many health issues for him making him miss work, making it difficult for us to make ends meet”, adds Veena who works at the same place, “The doctors who talks through the ‘Television’ at the van in consultation with Para-medical staff on the van which reports the vitals to the doctor and explains the medicine & treatment to the patients, not only diagnosed it but have also treated it effectively and now he is leading a normal life and goes to work regularly”.

This is a heart whelming story of many in these rural areas of Jammu and Kashmir. Set in the interiors of the region, the villagers had to travel long distances to avail themselves of medical care. But the mobile medical Van by O-health, fully equipped with telemedicine facilities has changed the lives of people in these remote villages.

Changing Lives and Landscapes

Srinath, a construction worker who hails from Bihar, is working in the Kathua district of J&K, beams at us when we asked him about what he thinks about the facility. He has just finished his teleconsultation with a specialist in Delhi. He says he was suffering from fatigue and restlessness for many months but after this ‘Doctor Wali Van’ (Van with Doctor) started coming, his BP was diagnosed, and he is now well with regular medication and checkups. He says that with this Van people can avail affordable health care almost at their doorstep.

The telemedicine service provides the facility of Tele-Consultation with India’s Top qualified doctors and specialists who provide evidence-based care and boasts of having done over 8000 consultations till date. The state-of-the-art telemedicine facility by O-health has the facility to conduct clinical tests and supply medicines to people who are living in remote areas.

The Man Behind the Mission

Visioned and conceptualised by Arunoday Singh, a Biomedical Engineer with an MBA and MSc in Health Economics from the London School of Economics, O-Health is born out of Arunoday’s vision to bring accessible and affordable quality healthcare to rural India and take the best of medical facilities to the patients at the farthest of villages, in J&K, some of which are merely 01 km from Indo-Pak border, with Pak army posts clearly visible from camp sites.

Arunoday Singh has strived to serve the rural population of the country in a way that could bring a major positive change in their lives. Thus, in the process of striving to provide universal access to primary healthcare, he came up with the idea of this telemedicine Van, equipped with the best of diagnostic, pharma and speciality care which has now fast become the ‘Saviour’ for the rural population in these remote villages of the region.

“There is no denying that, unlike in olden times, there is much better road connectivity to rural areas these days but still these places continue to face the paucity and lack of good medical facilities and doctors at par with towns and cities. Most doctors wish to set up their practices in bigger towns and cities after having dedicated many years of their lives studying, but many of them also wish to serve the marginalized section of the society in some way” Arunoday said. “With the fast improving internet connectivity in the villages, digital healthcare can really make a powerful change in the healthcare landscape of rural India”, he added. 

This telemedicine facility on wheels allows O-Health access to the patients in the far-flung rural areas, without having to compromise their careers.

 “The main motive of the project is to extend healthcare facilities to the needy at their doorstep,” says the staff we met in the van, which is like a mini-hospital on wheels with all the facilities of a good clinic put together comprehensively.

The Challenge and the Solution

Rural patients are seen to be somewhat averse to new technologies, especially in healthcare, due to some of the reasons – paucity of awareness and knowledge about the technology, lack of trust on the individuals running the services and inefficient ways of care delivery leading to ineffective treatment outcomes. “It is critical to send an accurate patient parameter feedback to the remote doctor for a correct diagnosis, otherwise the treatment remains incomplete and hence, leaves the patient ill. We use high fidelity digital health devices like digital stethoscope, digital otoscope, digital derma-scope, etc to capture the parameters and images, to be shared with the specialist for accurate diagnosis leading to an effective treatment. When patients start feeling better after consultation, their level of trust on the technology shoots up”, said Arunoday.

Wheels of Change

Soon, O-Health also aims to setup a larger mobile van to cater to other remote areas with even more health services as well as plans to pilot a static clinic to position itself as a permanent care giver in the region. The service is fast becoming popular as lack of access to affordable and quality medical care is a huge challenge in rural India. This innovative Medicine Facility provides people of remote regions with easy access to quality health services and has worked towards improving the general health of the population in the area as patients can now avail regular diagnostic check-ups. It has also changed their perspective towards their health and well being, making them aware of the value of timely action and lifestyle changes when it comes to their health.

Committed to bringing a change where it matters, in the area of rural health, the wheels of O-Health move ahead with a conviction to bring a change in the area of the health sector in rural Jammu and Kashmir and there is no stopping them!

The landscape of the region seemed buoyant with health and hope when we visited it and people brimmed with a promise of newer, healthier horizons!

Currently, the service is completely free as it has been fully funded by a Public Sector Enterprise. We have examined over 8000 patients for free till date.

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Med/Health Tech

Digital Health Care – Fast Forwarded

Written by Vinita Sethi on Digilah (Tech Thought Leadership)

Far too much illness and uncertainty, and far too many disruptions have characterised the Covid-19 pandemic.  With the onset of new waves of infection and emergence of variants, we are confronted with the same question repeatedly – what’s the future of ‘brick & mortar’ healthcare delivery system, and how will we ensure the resilience of healthcare systems?

Each time we have been hit by a new wave or by reinfections, there has been a pause on visits to hospitals, elective surgeries get postponed and even routine vaccination schedules get thrown out of the window. All steps and interventions towards preventive healthcare or chronic disease management are first to be displaced or put on a backburner.

The only silver lining in all this, is the seamless healthcare provided through digital healthcare tools. The pandemic has compressed digital transformation timelines in healthcare to 6-12 months, from earlier estimated 4-5 years.

India has emerged as one of the biggest adopters of digital healthcare– nearly 80 % rise in consumption of digital healthcare services after Covid-19. Aarogya Setu & Cowin have achieved global recognition for contact tracing and streamlining digitalized vaccination processes for our 1.3 billion population. Start-ups and innovations that emerged during the pandemic, be it personal wearables, 24*7 tele-medicine, robotics and 3D printing, or process automations, AI(Artificial Intelligence) & ML(Machine Learning) based predictive tools, all have put digital on a fast track and are transforming healthcare like never before.

There is no turning back, as digital healthcare has improved healthcare outcomes, processes and is building more equity. Covid-19 has given us a moment to rethink healthcare in ways that will help us reach those whose needs and access issues were not being catered to earlier. India’s 900 mn active internet users by 2025, rising tele-density and increasing smartphone base, augurs well for digital healthcare apps and tools. This in turn should lead to more value based, equitable healthcare.

Here is an illustration on how value-based care will get a boost through digital health care modules. India has approx. 77mn people, who are diagnosed with diabetes. This has made India, the diabetes capital of the world. Usually the focus is on episodic acre and it is the patient who visits the doctor with an issue. Digital healthcare is transforming these mechanics and design of healthcare delivery. Diabetes focused apps can connect patients with doctors, give them regular reminders for medicine compliance, updates such as dietary or exercise counselling, at low cost and across geographies. This implementation of continuum of enhances patient experience and standardises outcomes, cost of care, and treatment delivery through a collaborative chain of activities.

This is particularly beneficial to those living in remote or rural parts of our country, where the doctor-patient ratio is dismally low- often just one doctor per 25,000 population. It is estimated that innovative healthcare solutions like tele-medicine could save India between USD 4-5 bn every year, replace half of in-person outpatient consultations, and reduce the cost by 30% less than equivalent in-person visits. Reduced waiting time, on-demand doctor availability, no infection risks, EMRs availability, have all increased the demand for digital health.

Digital apart from strengthening the iron triangle of cost, quality & access, will go a long way in streamlining the supply side- reduced administrative burden on providers, real time updated registries & repositories of doctors and other healthcare workers, availability of full medical history of the patient to consulting doctors, and better time management for doctors who can spend more time on patients. In the not-so-distant future, a software platform could emerge as the biggest provider of healthcare, creating a smart bed less hospital just as Airbnb has emerged as the biggest hotel chain without owning any rooms.

However, for the future of healthcare to be successfully anchored in omni, we need to bridge the digital divide. For instance, 47% of global population is not using the internet, & the cost of available broadband exceeds affordability targets in 50% of developed countries. Similarly, in lower income economies, only 32% of population has basic digital skills.

We need to address these underlying issues of lack of skills, connectivity, affordability and accessibility. Multi-stakeholder participation is the way out, along with upskilling healthcare professionals in digital tools, sustaining investments, and providing conducive policy support. Initiatives such as the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM)  are timely and will provide necessary support for integration of digital health infrastructure in the country.

What stands out most in digital health ecosystem, is that it empowers the patient, who can now make informed decisions about treatments basis medical history, lifestyle preferences and other factors. It offers immense opportunities to integrate continuum of care with insurance and pharma, and thus reduce drops offs in patients’ funnels from diagnosis to treatment. Providing digital health access and tools to all could go a long way in accelerating our mission towards achieving Universal Health Care, that leaves no one behind.