Empowering Telemedicine Beyond Boundaries
We are a tech-for-impact organisation : A team of engineers, clinicians, management and public health experts. We've developed an innovative open source telemedicine platform connecting the last mile population.
Mission
"We deliver quality healthcare where there is no doctor".
Vision
Our vision is "Health for all". We believe in the vision of universal health coverage - that you should be able to receive the health services you need, when and where you need them, without facing financial hardship.
CEO Speaks
We believe in the vision of Universal Health Coverage - that you should be able to receive the health services you need, when and where you need them, without facing any financial hardship (WHO). But realizing this vision requires the collective efforts of an entire ecosystem. We aim to be a catalyst to empower existing health programs to deliver last-mile healthcare through well-designed user-centered telemedicine technology and implementation services. One thing that people don’t understand is that telemedicine is very empowering for women. For a woman living in rural India, health access is a privilege more than a right. Her access to health may be controlled by other people like her husband or in-laws. She has to rely on them for the permission, money, and transportation that she needs to get to a doctor in the nearby city. When I started working on Intelehealth, I was deeply touched by seeing how empowered women felt to be able to walk out of their house to a telemedicine clinic, talk to a doctor and get the care they needed on their own terms. I saw a woman beaten black and blue by her husband, whose in-laws would not give her any money to treat her injuries. The local health worker with the help of a remote doctor was able to assess her injuries, she gave her medicines to manage her pain, ointments to treat the scratches on her body and most important a kind and caring ear to soothe her soul. I met a woman whose husband refused to use any form of birth control and who wanted to speak with a doctor to understand what family planning options she could use. She discussed over teleconsultation various options and ultimately chose an IUD, which the local nurse was able to insert. I resonated deeply with the stories of these women. As a woman who has experienced abuse, I cannot express what it means to have this one thing - the ability to care for your own body - be in your control. I continue to be motivated by the power of telemedicine in creating easily accessible, safe spaces for women to get the care they rightfully deserve.
Journey
Proof of Concept – ‘Rural Health Kiosk’ on West Bengal – As students of John Hopkins we conducted proof-of-concept with 2 clinics covering a population of 15,000
Incorporated Intelehealth, Inc – We concluded our proof of concept and incorporated Intelehealth, Inc. accelerated by FastForward.
Pilot ‘Chikitsa Sahayata Kendra’ in Odisha
With the help of innovation grants, we built the technology for our first MVP. First pilot launched – Chikitsa Sahayata Kendra (CSK), Odisha. We successfully deployed our first project in the Tribal belt of Odisha serving over 50,000 people. Over 44 villages have access to affordable healthcare within 8 km (~ 5 miles). Partner – Arogya Foundation of India.
Telemedicine pilot for prisons in Haiti (currently inactive)
Incorporated Telehealth Innovations Foundation
We incorporated section 8 company focused completely on our comprehensive PHC model in India.
Pilot for RMNCH in Phillippines
We launched a maternal and child health program with Philippines Business for Social Progress (PBSP) and Volunteer Service Overseas (VSO) in Mindanao, Philippines. We trained 16 health workers, 2 master trainers and 1 back-end doctor. The project benefits more than 5000 families below the poverty line in the region.
Expansion of Chikitsa Sahayata Kendra
The planned expansion of CSK pilot to 220 villages covering 2,50,000 people. Iteration continues to increase our metrics. Addition of new service packages.
Alignment with Ayushman Bharat
New government health policies have created a dramatic shift in the landscape, providing us an incredible opportunity to align with govt. system.
Pilot for NCD Management in Syria
Intelehealth was awarded a Grand Challenges grant to expand to humanitarian conflict settings and bring our work to Syria. The pilot will cater to the diagnosis and management of non-communicable diseases in conflict-affected communities in Syria.
Launch of Covid-19 related products
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Intelehealth & Aaroogya Foundation jointly spearheaded the formation of the Covid-19 Pandemic Wellbeing Task Force a collaboration of more than 20 Non-profits & Tech companies for technology-enabled Covid-19 response at scale. As a part of the task force, Intelehealth has launched 2 projects – InteleSafe and MyHealthline and together these projects have impacted 72,907 lives, provided 10,088 teleconsultations, trained 6000 frontline workers and done 3,352 Covid-19 risk assessments. We were able to show a 38% increase in authentic Covid-19 knowledge & best practices in the community. Also, we started working with NHM Jharkhand & Transform Rural India to launch eSanjeevani in 5 districts at 276 Health & Wellness Centers. We are also working with Digital Impact Square (a TCS Foundation initiative) to create a sandbox of Telemedicine in Nashik to provide quality healthcare for rural communities.
Scale-up of existing projects and launch of Women’s Health Helplines
Partnering with UNICEF Kyrgyzstan & Ministry of Healthcare Kyrgyzstan launch TeleMed KG, a Health worker to doctor telemedicine platform – in order to improve tertiary care access for children with developmental delay and infections at PHCs. This pilot phase has been initiated in Nookat and Suzak regions of the country.
Launch of 2 Women’s Helpline: Hello Saathi, a free helpline working towards making credible menstrual Health Hygiene and Sexual Reproductive Health information and health accessible for vulnerable adolescents and adult menstruators. Partner – Uninhibited
Vikalp Helpline
A helpline that provides support and information on issues related to domestic violence, child marriage and sexual and reproductive health. Partner – Ibis Reproductive Health & Vikalp Sansthan
Post COVID care helpline
USAID Nishtha Swasthya Sampark A free post COVID care helpline for those recuperating from the virus. Patients seeking medical support can connect with remote doctors for assistance.
We have also launched multiple COVID-19 care helplines like Ekal Arogya, Arogya Sampada, SVHM Telechiktsa & MSF Arogya Bharat. In another initiative, Intelehealth launched a training session on addressing the issue of vaccine hesitancy for NGO’s, essential workers working at the frontline during the pandemic.
