India’s healthcare system, though vast and expansive, still remains fragmented and unorganised to this day. Currently, there is no standard data repository in the country for symptoms, diagnosis, and medications. A solution was required to improve the efficiency, transparency, and effectiveness of the entire sector. Additionally, processes and health services needed to be simplified and streamlined. The sector was ripe for a revolution, and that is what the government intended to do when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the launch of the National Digital Health Mission / Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (NDHM /ABDM ) on August 15, 2020. Based on the mission objectives, NHDM will ensure that each and every citizen will have an ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Accounts).
The NDHM is supported by key pillars such as ABHA, Digi Doctor, Health Facility Register, Personal Health Records, and Electronic Medical Records. These digital healthcare solutions, under the NDHM umbrella, will combine to create a holistic healthcare ecosystem that offers equitable access, improves patient outcomes, and reduces healthcare costs. Additionally, a comprehensive ecosystem that the NDHM strives to create will connect different healthcare stakeholders, and enforce uniform compliance with data security and security norms.
Upholding the pillars of holistic healthcare
One healthcare startup aligned with these values is Eka Care. Created by former Goibibo co-founders, the organisation offers solutions to both healthcare professionals and patients. For caregivers, Eka Care offers an advanced technology platform that helps doctors manage their clinic practice and helps them know their patients better (medical history, symptoms, etc). For patients, the platform allows users to create their ABHAs, store their medical records, and take self-assessments to know their health risk factors. The organisation’s AI-driven app forms longitudinal values of a patient’s medical records, allowing them to keep track of their health parameters and share these with doctors easily. The platform is available in 12 languages, helping Indian families across the country to create multiple health profiles and store health records such as vaccination charts for kids, developmental milestones, prescriptions, lab reports, and scans.
Aside from creating a more connected healthcare ecosystem, Eka Care is a frontrunner in the sector by aligning itself with the NDHM. The organisation is the first private healthcare platform to enable ABHA creation under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Health Mission (ABDM). It has helped create over 1 million Ayushman Bharat Health Accounts (ABHA). Eka Care is also the first private firm to integrate with the CoWIN portal in June 2021, allowing patients to book vaccination slots and download vaccine certificates through a few clicks. Through this integration, Eka Care also offers seamless vaccination slot booking and pre and post-vaccination teleconsultation. Today, Eka Care has helped 3 crore Indians book vaccination slots and download their certificates and has over 1.8 million downloads.
Technology at the heart of Eka Care
Technology is at the core of Eka Care’s products and services. This has allowed Eka Care to realise their vision of ‘connected care’ through a digitally enabled and connected healthcare ecosystem for better health outcomes. For doctors, these solutions allow them to access the extensive information of a patient’s medical records (once the patient consents to this). Care seekers can manage their family health and engage with trustworthy medical professionals by uploading their documents on the app, email, or WhatsApp. And finally, diagnostic labs can transition to digital labs and deliver reports to customers immediately.
The platform has also leveraged the power of Artificial Intelligence for their self-assessment tool, which ensures that doctors have access to a patient’s medical history and overview, before the patient sets foot in the doctor’s office. Users can also utilise the app to understand health risks, and consult doctors from the comfort of their homes. Another unique feature is the Symptoms Checker, which enables doctors to efficiently and effectively diagnose underlying medical conditions while enhancing reporting capability. Additionally, Eka Care also offers a new mobile-based feature on its app that helps patients track their pulse rate.
Eka Care and AWS partner for a healthier India
In its quest to create connected care for India, Eka Care is hosted on AWS and primarily uses the managed offerings of AWS. Their AI/ML offerings are powered by Amazon Sagemaker and Textract. When handling the vast details enclosed in each and every patient’s medical records, Eka Care opted for Elastic File System – a cloud storage service provided by AWS that is designed to offer scalable, elastic, and encrypted file storage. Amazon Redshift, which offers data warehousing, assisted Eka Care in the analysis of structured and semi structured data.
Furthermore, AWS services like EC2, EKS, CloudFront, ElastiCache, Secrets Manager, API Gateway, Lambda and more, have allowed Eka Care to offer a smooth, streamlined, and secure customer experience.
Eka Care has also participated in AWS Startup Ramp – a program designed to help startups build and scale innovative public sector services on AWS. “The AWS startup program has offered us many benefits, such as AWS promotional credit, marketing opportunities, great customer support, and participation in related events. This program has enabled us to improve our overall effectiveness and efficiency,” said Vikalp Sahni, Founder, Eka Care.
Building seamless connections in the healthcare ecosystem
As a part of their roadmap, Eka Care is looking forward to expanding the doctor’s network aggressively across India. This includes onboarding doctors and providing them with the right set of digital tools and technology. On the patient’s side, the organisation will continue in its efforts to help users create longitudinal values of their health records. This will allow them to take control and inform themselves of their health parameters. Ultimately, their goal is to become India’s most trusted and largest connected healthcare platform.
