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India is continuing its fight against the deadly COVID-19 second wave even as numbers surge and the healthcare system collapses. Choked hospitals, a huge shortage of oxygen, beds, and other medical equipment, and lack of adequate healthcare workers are forcing companies and startups to think out of the box. 

Gurugram-based healthtech startup MyHealthcare is looking to solve this problem with its MyHealthcare Home initiative, which helps healthcare workers monitor COVID-19 patients with mild to moderate symptoms remotely.  

Speaking to YourStory, Shyatto Raha, Co-founder and CEO of MyHealthcare, said the main challenge in India in the coming weeks will be the availability of doctors to cater to patient needs.

“We have been experiencing shortage of beds, oxygen, and facilities, but in the coming weeks, the main challenge will be the availability of healthcare workers. At that time, we will need technological interventions to allow remote monitoring or care of patients in their homes. Our home healthcare solution will allow hospitals to manage thousands of patients remotely from a single command centre,” he says.

The healthtech startup, which offers services such as consultation, diagnostics, health monitoring, preventive health and more, has pivoted to help India take the fight to coronavirus. 

Home care solutions to fight COVID-19

Shyatto explains that patient’s vital details are collected using the mobile application, which is integrated with vital tracking devices such as blood pressure machines, ECG, etc. 

He emphasises that the solution is meant only for patients experiencing mild to moderate symptoms and who are allowed to home isolate. Patients are on-boarded after they produce a prescription from their doctors, allowing them to stay under home isolation.

“The vital details of the patients are collected via the mobile app and can be accessed by a single command centre at hospitals and clinics. The platform will alert the healthcare workers in case of any abnormalities, and they can immediately check in with the patient via video or audio call. Depending on the condition of the patients, hospitals can also send medical help or ambulance to help the patient,” he says.

The initiative was launched last year and has been deployed by Artemis Hospital, Gurugram. 

Founded in 2017 by Shyatto along with Aneesh Nair and Divya Laroyia, MyHealthcare is a digital healthcare platform launched to improve access to healthcare services by connecting hospitals, doctors, and patients online. It works in partnership with hospitals such as Fortis, BLK, and Nanavati for online doctor consultations. 

Apart from this, it also works with diagnostic centres such as Lal Path Labs to help patients book tests and access online pharmacies such as 1mg.

Shyatto adds MyHealthcare is currently working on developing a digital thermometer and AI-based optical character recognition (OCR) solution, which will be able to scan digital thermometer and pulse oximeter readings and record them using the mobile app. The data will be available to healthcare workers to ensure remote monitoring.

At a recent virtual event hosted by Symbiosis International (Deemed University), cardiac surgeon Dr Devi Shetty reiterated that the next challenge for India will be the lack of doctors and nurses to treat patients. This makes it imperative to find solutions to deal with this impending crisis.

India has always faced a shortage of healthcare workers and the gap has only widened under the COVID-19 pressure. Remote monitoring and healthcare access solutions can be a major help in ensuring care for all.