We are delighted to welcome Devesh Varma to the advisory board of Intelehealth – a seasoned professional with over two decades in the development sector, who brings a wealth of experience from both the US and Indian organisational and entrepreneurial landscape.
Currently working as the Head of OLA Foundation leading their initiative on Livelihoods and Healthcare in the rural to urban continuum, Devesh has been Chief Technology Officer at Piramal Swasthya, Apollo Telehealth, and Community Science Alliance @SocialAlpha. In these roles, Devesh has played a pivotal role in leading, designing, and implementing technology-enabled healthcare solutions across multiple states, emphasizing accessibility and affordability. His experience in the public healthcare domain is not just limited to overseeing the program design and technology aspects but also insights into the socio-cultural dynamics that truly make or break the on-ground implementation of these programs.
We hope to tap into this rich experience on and off the field to shape tech solutions that are more intuitive and consistently aware of people’s needs in different contexts.
Mahakali is home to one of the more notable tea estates of the Tinsukia District of Assam. Much like other tea estates, these too are looked after by the tea-tribes- a community of tea plantation workers who were originally brought to these lands by the British from Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal. Times may have changed but accessing good healthcare still remains a challenge.
Rani Urang is a part of this community and with the help of Ekal Abhiyan and the Arogya Foundation of India is changing that dismal story. She is an Arogya Sevika and works with the Telemedicine Enhanced Arogya program (supported by technology from Intelehealth). She has been an eager learner and today she can carry out various kinds of diagnostics for all age-groups within her community. These tests and her role in conducting them becomes critical in availing primary healthcare through the telemedicine app. Technology can make a notable difference to the healthcare landscape but not until it is supported and adopted by inspired individuals who are willing to add that human touch- individual like Rani Urang. Do listen to this slice from her daily life.
About the project:
This project is a collaboration between the Arogya Foundation of India (AFI) and Intelehealth (IH) The Ekal Arogya Telemedicine Project is implemented in the tribal communities in Assam, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. This project enables community health workers, also known as Sevikas, who use smartphones and telemedicine kits to collect patient histories, and conduct teleconsultations with remote doctors. The Sevikas counsel, screen, and follow up on the treatment plan, thus tracking patient health outcomes.
The Sevikas are community-based frontline healthcare providers who have completed at least secondary school. They are fluent in the local language, both reading and writing, and have been collaborating with the Arogya Foundation of India (AFI) on health-related issues, primarily preventative health care with a focus on hygiene and nutrition, home remedies, and developing a kitchen garden. AFI has thus empowered and motivated community women to participate in community engagement activities.
Abstract: Telemedicine offers a method to bridge the healthcare access gap in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) by connecting providers with patients using appropriate technology. Here we describe the design and development of a novel modular telemedicine platform, Intelehealth, that would enable health systems to connect remote doctors with patients in rural clinics using a customizable Android-based platform and a cloud-based electronic health record system at the backend (OpenMRS). This open source platform enables task shifting of medically relevant information gathering by a local health worker, the transmission of this information to a remote doctor, and a telephonic conversation between the doctor and the patient that subsequently allows for the delivery of an appropriate therapeutic plan. Intelehealth is designed to operate on a low bandwidth internet environment and will be tested and validated in rural health clinics in India.
N. A. Goel, A. A. Alam, E. M. R. Eggert and S. Acharya, “Design and development of a customizable telemedicine platform for improving access to healthcare for underserved populations,” 2017 39th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), Jeju, Korea (South), 2017, pp. 2658-2661, doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2017.8037404.
Telemedicine is commonly understood as the delivery of healthcare services with the use of information and communication technologies, and its potential was unlocked during the COVID-19 pandemic. It acts as a viable and efficient alternative healthcare delivery model to conventional in-person care. However, there may be a need to formalize telemedicine in many jurisdictions and establish norms and guidelines around its privacy, ethical and legal concerns.
With the aim to understand the regulatory framework around telemedicine across Asia, Intelehealth and PSA undertook a comparative study of 51 Asian regions to identify the prevalent norms, implementation status, key components, and limitations. While comprehensive telemedicine regulations in most Asian jurisdictions continue to be a work in progress, there is consensus that they are integral for building resilient healthcare delivery systems.
Based on the study, it was identified that only 15 Asian countries have binding telemedicine laws, and 5 have non-binding guidelines, some of which were only effective during the pandemic. Despite this, there has been a rise in the use of telemedicine, and most Asian countries have enabled use of telemedicine systems through public-private partnerships and international collaborations. The study also revealed that most telemedicine laws have certain common themes around practitioners, kind of tech tools that can be deployed, patient consent, compliance with ethical standards, and data protection. It also emerged that there are ambiguities in existing frameworks around the manner of implementation, limitations on the scope of telemedicine, permissible technology standards, qualifications, funding and reimbursement aspects.
RED CLUB x CARTIER ANNOUNCES THE WINNER OF THE 2023 EDITION OF THE YOUNG LEADER AWARD Dr Bea Bakshi (United Kingdom) Co-founder and CEO, C the Signs
New York, June 15, 2023 – Dr Bea Bakshi, founder of C the Signs based in the United Kingdom has been crowned the winner of the Young Leader Award, 2023 edition, at the annual Award Ceremony which took place in New York. C the Signs is a clinical platform that uses artificial intelligence to identify patients at risk of cancer at the earliest and most curable stage of the disease.
Initiated in 2021, the Young Leader Award aims to provide young entrepreneurial leaders with support to grow their businesses and amplify their voices. The initiative has been developed as an annual international award for young entrepreneurs, aged between 20 and 40 years old, running impact driven businesses or non-for-profit organisations as founder or owner, and in which they hold an executive position.
Themed “Bettering lives”, the 2023 edition sheds a light on young entrepreneurial endeavors that support and empower under-represented communities by providing them more accessible, inclusive, and effective healthcare solutions, paving the way for a better world for future generations.
For this year’s edition, four finalists were selected last April, amongst 280 registrations hailing from 33 countries, all driven by a common conviction: making waves in business for a concrete impact to drive change.
Led by the North America chapter of RED CLUB x Cartier, the 2023 Young Leader Award Ceremony kicked off on June 14, 2023.
“I am thrilled to welcome the second edition of the Young Leader Award in New York and celebrate these young and passionate entrepreneurial leaders. They are a constant source of awe and inspiration”. Walter Bolognino, CEO and President of Cartier North America.
Co-hosted by Mercedes Abramo, former CEO and President of Cartier North America and currently Deputy Chief Commercial Officer of Cartier International and Walter Bolognino, CEO and President of Cartier North America and moderated by Jaya Venugopal, International Talent Acquisition and Engagement Director of Cartier International, the celebration began with a pre-recorded keynote speech from Cyrille Vigneron, President and CEO of Cartier International, who reaffirmed the Maison’s willingness to support and amplify the efforts of the young generation of impact entrepreneurs and encouraging them to continue the quest for a more equitable world.
The ceremony then moved on to speeches and conversations involving Giada Zhang, CEO and Co- founder of Mulan Group and President of RED CLUB x Cartier as well as Anthony Wilbon, Dean of Howard University School of Business and Jeff Reid, Director of Georgetown University Entrepreneurship Initiative, the two academic partners of the 2023 Young Leader Award. They collectively highlighted the social and environmental impact that the next generation of conscious leaders seeks to have on the world and pointed out the importance of accompanying them to shape the future together.
“It was an absolute honor and joy to participate in this year’s RED CLUB x Cartier Young Leader Award as an academic partner. All of the entrepreneurs have businesses that are impactful to underserved populations in so many ways across the globe. I am impressed with the passion displayed through their innovative solutions to important social problems in the health care industry. I look forward to hearing great things coming from all these young leaders and their businesses and offer congratulations to this year’s award winner”. Anthony Wilbon, Dean of Howard University School of Business.
“I have met a great number of young entrepreneurs in my life. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a more impressive group than the four RED CLUB Cartier Young Leader Award finalists. The impact of their entrepreneurial leadership in their respective organizations is already mind blowing, and it leads me to be quite optimistic for the future”. Jeff Reid, Director of Georgetown University Entrepreneurship Initiative.
The celebration then featured the four selected finalists and concluded by Walter Bolognino who announced the winner of this year’s edition.
THE WINNER OF THE 2023 EDITION OF THE YOUNG LEADER AWARD
Dr Bea Bakshi (United Kingdom) Co-founder and CEO, C the Signs
Dr. Bea Bakshi will take home €50.000 in grant money and will also benefit from international exposure, media visibility as well as a tailor-made mentorship programme provided by the Young Leader Award academic partners, Georgetown University and Howard University, and ad-hoc coaching and mentoring sessions by RED CLUB x Cartier networks.
The 3 runners-up who were also invited to attend the Young Leader Award Ceremony in New York, will take home €10.000 in grant money and will continue their journey along the RED CLUB Community, joining it’s extended “Friends and Family” circle: Dr. Tatiana Fofanova (USA), Co- founder and CEO, Koda Health; Neha Verma (USA/India), CEO, Intelehealth and Prabhdeep Singh (India), Founder and CEO, Red Health.
Beyond the ceremony, RED CLUB x Cartier has organized a series of networking sessions to connect entrepreneurs with passionate changemakers as well as a RED CLUB’ strategic talk to reflect on the evolution and the roadmap of the community, which is growing whilst keeping its mission to become a platform of impactful entrepreneurs to share and bloom together.
Launched in 2019, RED CLUB x Cartier is a global membership community of audacious and successful young multicultural entrepreneurs, aged 20 to 40 years old, that aim to positively influence society.
A reference in the world of luxury, Cartier, whose name is synonymous with open-mindedness and curiosity, stands out with its creations and reveals beauty wherever it may lie. Jewellery, high jewellery, watchmaking and fragrances, leather goods and accessories: Cartier’s creations symbolize the convergence between exceptional craftsmanship and a timeless signature.
Today, Cartier is part of the Richemont Group and has a worldwide presence through its network of flagships and boutiques, authorized retail partners, and online.
Over a few decades, women are constantly encouraged to give birth in health care facilities so they may have access to skilled health care professionals and should the need for additional care arise the measures can be taken. However, accessing skilled and professional care in health facilities may not completely guarantee respectful, good, and quality care. Every woman has the right to have a positive and pleasant childbirth experience with Quality care. Ideally the expected quality care includes respectful care of the woman in labour, good and respectful communication, and making sure she feels emotionally and socially supported in the way that she desires.
Worldwide, maternal health efforts are shifting from an emphasis on boosting service utilization to improving quality of care. This change has been accompanied by a growing body of work on how women are treated during facility-based childbirth, which was first brought to global attention in 2010 by Bowser and Hill’s landscape analysis. This chilling quote from the report highlights how women may experience physical abuse during labour.
“When a woman goes into the second stage of delivery, you don’t want her to close her legs, so you’re beating her” [Kenya] (Center for Reproductive Rights & Federation of Women Lawyers–Kenya (FIDA), 2007)
Respectful maternity care (RMC) provides meaningful experiences of childbirth as a basic element of quality health, which includes knowing their self-worth, feelings, and preferences. RMC is globally recognized. Every woman around the world has a right to receive respectful maternity care. The concept of “respectful maternity care” has evolved and expanded over the past few decades to include diverse perspectives and frameworks. Advocates emphasized the need to humanize birth, taking a more holistic approach.
What it takes
Respectful maternity care (RMC) is not only a crucial component of quality of care; it is a human right. In 2014, WHO released a statement calling for the prevention and elimination of disrespect and abuse during childbirth, stating that “every woman has the right to the highest attainable standard of health, including the right to dignified, respectful care during pregnancy and childbirth.”WHO also called for the mobilization of governments, programmers, researchers, advocates, and communities to support RMC. In 2016, WHO published new guidelines for improving quality of care for mothers and new-borns in healthcare facilities, which included an increased focus on respect and preservation of dignity. In addition to the eight domains of quality of care, the framework also includes six strategic areas to help build a systematic, evidence-based approach for providing quality care: Clinical guidelines, Standards of care, Effective interventions, Quality measures, and Relevant research and capability building.
The ‘Holistic Way’
RMC is an approach centered on the individual, based on principles of ethics and respect for human rights, and promotes practices that recognize women’s preferences and women’s and new-borns’ needs.
Understanding a woman’s perspective and her needs during childbirth and addressing them as part of quality-improvement programmes can make delivery care safe, affordable, and respectful. The patient’s judgement on the quality and goodness of care is indispensable to improving the management of healthcare systems.
Respectful Maternal Care (RMC) is defined as “care organized for, and provided to all women in a manner that maintains their dignity, privacy and confidentiality, ensures freedom from harm and mistreatment and enables informed choice and continuous support during labor and childbirth.”
The Real Plight
It is a human right for every woman to deserve respectful maternity care, yet many women abstain from obtaining professional maternity care due to the lack of respect and being abused during labour. As per research and reports this leads to birth injury, and maternal and new-born deaths. Despite such severe impacts, these issues remain under wraps and especially so in developing nations.
Disrespectful and undignified care is prevalent in many facility settings in India, particularly for underprivileged populations, and this not only violates their human rights but is also a significant barrier to accessing intrapartum care services.
Bowser and Hill categorized disrespect and Abuse (D&A) faced by pregnant women into seven major categories – physical abuse, they are non-consented clinical care, non-confidential care, non-dignified care (including verbal abuse), discrimination based on specific patient attributes, abandonment, denial of care, and detention in facilities.
Improving the quality of health–care services by providing respectful maternity care (RMC) could lead to further reduction in Maternal mortality rate (MMR). Adopting a patient–centric approach and training of providers focused on respectful care would significantly improve the quality of care, promote institutional births, and protect the fundamental right of women to equity, dignity, and respect.
A Pathway Towards Respectful Maternity Care…
Several studies have documented the ubiquitous nature of disrespectful care and its adverse effects on care-seeking behaviour, and calls to action on quality of maternal health care have prioritised women’s experiences.
The findings from a study with an objective to estimate the prevalence of Disrespect and Abuse (D&A) and its determinants during pregnancy, childbirth, and immediate postpartum period among women in India provide crucial information to widen the scope of research on the effects of socioeconomic status on Respectful Maternal Care.
A study was conducted at Jamtara district in Jharkhand, with an objective to understand the aspects of care that women consider important during childbirth6\. Jharkhand is a state in eastern India with poor maternal and child health indicators.
Aspects of care most cited by women to be important in facility-based childbirth were – the availability of health providers and appropriate medical care (primarily drugs) in case of complications, emotional support, privacy, clean place after delivery, availability of transport to reach the institution, monetary incentives that exceed expenses, and prompt care. While some other factors include kind interpersonal behaviour, cognitive support, faith in the provider’s competence, and overall cleanliness of the facility and delivery room.
A low cost RMC-promoting interventions recommended by the WHO is the presence of a birth companion during labour and delivery. A birth companion is not only a key component to fulfil the objective of RMC, but, is also vital in improving the quality of care during labour and delivery.
Presence of a Birth companion during labour in a labour ward usually was not a regular practice in the past, hence there was an unmet need to implement this initiative to improve the quality of maternity care and to ensure a positive pregnancy outcome for every woman. Despite the known benefits, allowing birth companions is not in practice in government set-ups and in most private healthcare facilities in India. There is also a dearth of literature focusing on the method of implementation of a birth companion, which is a major challenge in busy labour and delivery wards.
A study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi with the objective to establish a practice of allowing a companion during labour and delivery. It followed the principles of Quality Improvement (QI), which included analysis of the problem and implementation of Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles for a step-by-step approach to provide quality care. A QI team was formed, and after obtaining the baseline data, problems were analysed using fish bone chart. A new policy of allowing birth companion was made and efforts made to sensitise and train the doctors and nurses posted in labour ward.
Simple interventions such as dress code for birth companions, curtains for ensuring privacy, display of posters and frequent reminders on WhatsApp groups were planned. The results of the study were the median value of women accompanied by birth companion marginally increased to 25% after the first PDSA cycle. Implementation of further changed ideas led to increase in median, which reached 66.6%. Thereafter, there was a decline, but by the end of 6 months, it was possible to attain the goal to establish a practice of allowing a companion during labour and delivery by using the principles of quality improvement (QI)and sustain it.
The findings revealed a direct relationship between respectful maternity care and positive childbirth experience7. Therefore, it is recommended that mangers and policy makers in childbirth facilities reinforce facilitating respectful maternity care to improve women’s child birth experience and prevent potential adverse effects of negative childbirth experiences.
A simple tool that standardizes and measures whether best practices in RMC are being followed in the labour ward is the new WHO Labour Care Guide. The Labour Care Guide replaces the WHO partograph. It places an importance on not just adherence to process, but also the quality of the service delivery and person-centered care.
Intelehealth along with several clinical partners is working on a digital health solution, called eZazi, that adapts the WHO Labour Care Guide to a digital tool with integrated telemedicine support to improve the quality of care delivered in labour wards. This new product is another step towards achieving our vision of ethical, evidence-based and dignified healthcare for every woman.
The Need of the Hour
Raising awareness and strengthening the capacity of the interested parties regarding concepts and practices related to respectful maternity and new-born care; identifying the legal frameworks which support it; recognizing and describing the use of some of these tools to plan, implement and monitor quality improvement initiatives for maternity and new-born care in health care services.
The need of the hour is collaboration and investment that include diverse donors, partners, and experts with an interest in RMC for a sizeable impact.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a high-powered and influential area of computer science, with the ability to radically rebuild the practice of medicine and an enormously impactful delivery of healthcare.
What is AI? Simply put, AI refers to the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, through algorithms or a set of rules, which the machine follows to mimic human cognitive functions, such as learning and problem solving. AI systems have the potential to anticipate problems or deal with issues as they come up and, as such, operate in an intentional, intelligent and adaptive manner. AI’s strength is in its ability to learn and recognise patterns and relationships from large multidimensional and multimodal datasets; for example, AI systems could translate a patient’s entire medical record into a single number that represents a likely diagnosis. Moreover, AI systems are dynamic and autonomous, learning and adapting as more data become available.
In recent years, we have witnessed the integration of Artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine learning (ML) in various industries and healthcare is no exception. Digital healthcare offers a huge range of possibilities and may improve the quality of patient care. The traditional paradigm of clinical history, examination, differential diagnosis, and treatment may be improved by tools such as machine learning, mobile applications and sensors, wearables, and telehealth. The recent pandemic has accelerated the move towards this future, COVID-19 has only enhanced this impact and one of the areas that has seen significant transformation
is healthcare, especially with telemedicine emerging as a critical tool for providing remote healthcare services to patients in the last mile populations.
The Paradigm Shift
The application of technology and artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare has the potential to address
supply-and-demand challenges. The increasing availability of multi-modal data (genomics, economic,
demographic, clinical and phenotypic) coupled with technology innovations in mobile, internet of things
(IoT), computing power and data security herald a moment of convergence between healthcare and technology to fundamentally transform models of healthcare delivery through AI-augmented
healthcare systems.
AI-ML is changing the landscape of healthcare by enhancing digital health and telemedicine services. In
this blog post, we will explore how AI-ML is transforming healthcare, specifically through NLP &
chatbots, AI-assisted disease screening, differential diagnosis, clinical decision support systems and
analytics of Electronic Medical Records (EMRs).
NLP and Chatbots
Natural language processing (NLP) is a subfield of AI that enables computers to understand, interpret, and generate human language. NLP based chatbots have significant potential in healthcare, as they can be used to improve communication between patients and healthcare providers. Chatbots can provide patients with accurate and relevant
information, helping them make informed decisions about their health. This especially plays a key role in the management of lifestyle diseases such as Obesity, diabetes, hypertension & heart disease. Imagine a patient seeking advice on diet & lifestyle
mgmt. being greeted by a friendly chatbot that guides based on clinically validated protocols without a health provider’s intervention. Additionally, chatbots can triage patients, helping to reduce wait times and reduce the burden on healthcare professionals. With significant advancements in NLP especially with advanced language models such as ChatGPT, GPT-3 from OpenAI and LaMDA from Google; the world of NLP is here to stay and Telemedicine only stands to gain immensely from this.
AI-assisted disease screening
AI-ML can assist in screening for various diseases such as cataract, anaemia, malnutrition, maternal health care and infant mortality. For example, AI prediction models can analyse eye images to identify early signs of cataract as well as help screen Anaemia by looking closer at the palpebral conjunctiva. In underserved communities, where access to healthcare is very limited, this automated disease screening
can be a boon and help prevent severe disease progression and even deaths. Similarly, ML can identify patterns in malnutrition and maternal healthcare, making timely predictions of childbirth outcomes and related complications. This helps to improve the quality of care and reduce maternal & infant mortality rates. An AI-ML based screening model used in Telemedicine amplifies the impact, in terms of early detection of disease & preventive healthcare especially in hard-to-reach remote communities.
Differential diagnosis
Differential diagnosis is the process of identifying a patient’s medical condition by comparing their symptoms with those of other possible conditions. This process can be challenging, as many diseases have similar symptoms. AI-ML can help with this process by analysing patient data and identifying patterns that are associated with specific diseases. This can help healthcare professionals arrive at an accurate diagnosis more quickly, leading to faster treatment and better outcomes for patients. This can also serve as a “effective eye for blind spots” in medical diagnosis and help physicians arrive at a more accurate diagnosis.
Clinical decision support systems
Clinical decision support systems (CDSS) are computer based tools that provide healthcare professionals with information and knowledge to assist with decision-making in patient care. AI-ML can enhance the capabilities of CDSS by providing real-time analytics and personalized recommendations based on patient data. For example, AI algorithms can analyse a patient’s EMR and recommend specific treatments based on the patient’s medical history, symptoms, and other factors.
Analytics of EMRs
EMRs are digital records of patients’ medical histories, treatments, and outcomes. AI-ML can analyse these records to identify patterns and trends that can help healthcare providers make more informed decisions. For example, analytics of EMRs can help identify disease seasonality patterns and predict outbreaks, enabling healthcare providers to prepare for potential public health crises. Additionally, analytics of EMRs can help
identify high-risk patients/societies who may benefit from preventative interventions. This helps deliver focused & timely interventions that lead to better health outcomes & lower healthcare costs.
Building effective and trusted digital healthcare systems
In conclusion, AI-ML is transforming healthcare by enhancing digital health
and telemedicine services. However, there are also challenges associated with AI-ML when dealing with huge volumes of patient data. Patient data privacy & confidentiality become key aspects to be considered when building software systems. There are several laws & regulations such as HIPAA that
help moderate this and protect patient interest, while still enabling delivery of quality healthcare. As AI- ML continues to evolve, we can expect significant improvements in healthcare delivery and outcomes.
AI today, and in the near future…
At Intelehealth, we constantly leverage advances in technology to build better digital health solutions that are focused on serving the underserved communities. With this we help to bridge the inequities in healthcare and strive to produce better patient outcomes!
Digital health: how it started, how it is going and how it could be. Three panels presenting traditional care (‘How it started’), current care (‘How it is going’) and a possible future care (‘How it could be’) paradigm.
The government of Jharkhand has adopted a web-based comprehensive telemedicine solution – eSanjeevani – to extend the reach of specialized healthcare services to masses in both rural areas and isolated communities. eSanjeevani Jharkhand is supported by two models of implementation – eSanjeevani OPD and eSanjeevani AB-HWC (Ayushman Bharat – Health and Wellness Center).
Intelehealth (IH) as a technical partner of Transforming Rural India Foundation (TRIF) and Jharkhand State Government’s Health Department, are the key implementation agencies for eSanjeevani with a focus on strengthening the eSanjeevani AB-HWC model with the following activities: 1) Network creation 2) Supply side strengthening 3) Demand side strengthening and 4) Quality assurance
The following report shares the impact of the implementation support extended by the TRIF – Intelehealth team from May 2021 to March 2022. The inputs provided were:
Registration, activation and monitoring of hubs and spokes with teleconsultation analytics
Capacity building of health providers, CHOs (community health officers) and doctors, on eSanjeevani and allied modules to strengthen the teleconsultation service provision
Post training support to the health providers – technology, clinical and public health
Provider engagement to motivate and encourage the health providers to initiate and invest in eSanjeevani and increase acceptability of telemedicine
External doctors’ support through a public private partnership model as an initial catalyst
Advocacy, review and timely reporting for robust discussion, brainstorming and decisions taken by the government officials to further strengthen teleconsultation services
Key results:
Total teleconsultations enabled during the evaluation period of this report was 1,75,490 with a 1000x increase in teleconsultations from 50 teleconsultations per month in May 2021 to more than 50,000 teleconsultations per month (as of June 2022).
Overall, we estimate that the presence of the telemedicine facility saved 21.59 km in distance travelled and INR 941.51 on money saved on average per visit per health visit
Treatment compliance was 96.5% among those with a prescription or medical advice
87.61% clients received medicine at the health and wellness center (HWC)
60% patients reported having entirely recovered from their health problems, 25% reported partial recovery
The CHO was the main driver for opting into the teleconsultation with 36.2% clients choosing to do so on advice of the CHO
The acceptability of providers towards telemedicine was high, Overall score of 4.01 out of 5 among community health officers and 3.9 out of 5 among doctors from the system
This report focuses on overall activities and results of the implementation support provided by Intelehealth – TRIF partnership to the government of Jharkhand to strengthen teleconsultation services in Jharkhand. The report presents the inputs, activities, outputs, and outcomes of our implementation strategy to further strengthen eSanjeevani teleconsultations.
A number of existing challenges were identified along with recommendations for strengthening the program overall. The key recommendations moving forward include community demand generation and promoting acceptability of telemedicine through ASHAs, Pachayati Raj Institutions and Civil Society Organizations; resolving shortages of doctors through public-private partnerships; improving digital infrastructure at HWCs such as availability of tablets, laptops and internet connectivity; and monitoring & improving the quality of services delivered over telemedicine. In addition, further health impact and outcome evaluation studies need to be planned to better understand the impact of eSanjeevani. Scope for future work includes to assess the social return on investments, impact of the eSanjeevani telemedicine platform on various public health programs for non-communicable diseases, tuberculosis, nutrition and maternal & child health.
Intelehealth awarded at the HDFC Parivartan SmartUp Grants 2022
Intelehealth has been chosen as one of the top 85 grantees of the HDFC Parivartan SmartUp Grants 2022 for its innovative and high-impact solutions to key challenges in Indian healthcare.
Intelehealth, a tech-for-impact organization was recently named the 5th annual HDFC Parivartan SmartUp Grants 2022 winner. Along with Intelehealth, HDFC bank awarded grants to 85 other innovative start-ups from a pool of over 150 applicants from across the country working in various sectors. The grants were awarded following a rigorous screening process that focused on addressing environmental, healthcare, and gender diversity issues.
These grants received will help Intelehealth to expand its reach in rural India, launch new telemedicine projects, and develop and strengthen technology that aims to bridge the gap between rural populations and healthcare providers.
Neha Verma – CEO & Co-Founder, Intelehealth: “We would like to thank the HDFC Parivartan SmartUp Grants 2022 team for recognizing and believing in our work and awarding us the grant. This grant money will be extremely beneficial in assisting us in meeting our current objectives. With this grant, the organization will expand and scale up the Telemedicine projects in areas where access to healthcare remains a barrier. We look forward to this valuable partnership and are grateful for your belief in the mission that we strive for”.
These grants are intended to support startups that provide one-of-a-kind solutions to bring about long-term change in society and the environment. The grants were made available through Parivartan, the HDFC bank’s flagship CSR program for social initiatives.
About Inteleheath : Intelehealth is a tech-for-impact organization: A team of engineers, clinicians, management and public health experts. We’ve developed an innovative open source telemedicine platform connecting the last mile population with affordable and quality healthcare services.
Our mission is to “Deliver quality healthcare where there is no doctor”.
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.
To know more about Intelehealth, log on to www.intelehealth.org
