Rural Assisted Telemedicine

Most of the common problems in Rural communities are the shortage of Medical professionals, Distance and Transportation, Social Stigma and Privacy Issues, and Poor Health Literacy.

Shortage of Medical professionals: Only 18.8% of rural doctors have a medical qualification. India needs more senior doctors and trained nurses for the system, particularly in Primary and Community based Healthcare centers.

Distance and Transportation: Geographic access is another rural healthcare access barrier. The travel burden is amplified by the road conditions, the terrain, and the weather.

Social Stigma and Privacy Issues: The problem intensifies when rural residents are seeking care for conditions associated with social stigma such as mental health, substance abuse, sexual health, etc One of the biggest reasons for Farmer suicides in India is also Mental Health.

Poor Health Literacy: Rural residents have a higher risk for low health literacy because on average, they have lower education levels, are living in poverty, or do not have language proficiency.

Even though the above-stated problems can be addressed using Telemedicine to some extent, unfortunately, the people in Rural communities cannot utilize this model due to poor literacy and lack of understanding.

An RMP (Rural Medical Practitioner) or PMP (Private Medical Practitioner) at the patient might simplify the procedure for the patient and doctor, allowing them to give a better treatment plan. Using our idea of Rural Assisted Telemedicine, the most crucial necessity of vitals checks for the Doctor is addressed when the Medical Practitioner is with the patient at home or at the RMP clinic. With our methodology, we will ensure that the prescriptions to patients are provided by the Senior Doctor who is accessible online with our Mobile App. For every consultation that happens on our platform, we record the details of all the participants involved in the consultation including the medical practitioners. A separate interface is also developed for Patients, Doctors, and medical practitioners in the process.

How does CAARE Rural assisted telemedicine model work?

1. Meet the Medical Practitioner of your village Meet the Medical Practitioner (Rural Medical Practitioners) and he or she will schedule a video consultation with the Senior Doctor based on the need.

2. Consult Senior Doctor Medical Practitioners, who are experienced healthcare professionals, will ask questions and take vitals to share with Senior doctors in real-time.

3. Get treatment like Hospital Together, the Patient will video chat with Medical Practitioner and the Senior doctor who will provide care, offer a treatment plan and prescribe medication.

People have used virtual health care visits and services more than ever since the COVID-19 outbreak began. A new study from the University of Maryland School of Public Health discovered that people in rural regions encountered higher challenges to adopting these telehealth techniques than those in urban areas.

I've personally encountered a problem with ongoing telemedicine, where I've seen a disconnect in the Rural communities when I visited my hometown. Shortage of Medical professionals, Distance and Transportation, Social Stigma, and Privacy Issues are some of the key problems in Rural areas which can be addressed using telemedicine. Unfortunately, due to poor literacy rates, people do not get the opportunity to utilize the telemedicine model of consultation.

At CAARE we want to disrupt this disconnect between the Remote Doctor
and Patients in the Rural community using Assisted Telemedicine Model
with the help of Medical Practitioners in villages.

I believe we are the right team who understand the challenges of Rural Healthcare. We have a combination of Senior Doctors, Medical Practitioners, and Health Professionals who can make this project a success.

Below are the key stakeholders involved in making the Pilot a success.

Chandramouli - Founder & CEO

• As a founder, I would be responsible for the whole operation, including ensuring that input from various stakeholders is considered and mutual consent is obtained before implementing.  

Rohit Naidu - CTO & CXO

• As Chief Technology and Experience Officer, Rohit will ensure that the first input from Doctors, RMPs, and patients on our platform is carefully monitored and that enhancements are made for a better user experience.  

Pakkimeher Tarak Patnaik - Business Development

• Pakkimeher Tarak Patnaik's scope of work includes onboarding the senior Doctors who are inclined to serve the Rural communities and RMPs from different villages. He will also ensure all the Doctors, RMP, and Patients are trained during the process. He will also be responsible to conduct events in several villages addressing the benefits of the CAARE platform.  

Santosh Patnaik - Business Development

• Santosh Patnaik's scope of work also includes onboarding the senior Doctors who are inclined to serve the Rural communities and RMPs from different villages. He will also ensure all the Doctors, RMP, and Patients are trained during the process. He will also be responsible to conduct events in several villages addressing the benefits of the CAARE platform. 

Lakshmi Thomurothu: On-field coordinator

•Lakshmi worked in Apollo MedSkills training in the past for nearly 7 years. She trained many ANMs and GNMs in the past and will be responsible for the training needs of Medical Practitioners on the CAARE platform.

Advisory Team

Pr. Jangam Joshi - President – Community Rural Medical Practitioners welfare association

• As a community president to Rural Medical Practitioners across Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, and Srikakulam districts in Andhra Pradesh, Jangam Joshi will provide us the platform to educate and train the RMPs on the benefits of the CAARE platform.  

Dr. T.P.K Swamy, MBBS General Medicine, 45 Years

• As a Senior doctor who served the Rural community in Jeypore, Odhisa he understands the pain points of the Rural population. Under his guidance, we are able to clearly address the needs of the end customers.

Preliminary work carried out to date

We have built the MVP for this project and tested with a few customers on the functioning of the Mobile App on Assisted Telemedicine. A dedicated interface is built for Doctors, RMPs, and Patients in the process. Our Mobile App is accessible from both Android and IOS devices.

We built an App video module for teleconsultation and a payment gateway for a seamless payment process.

We have also incorporated the Language option where the user can switch between different local languages based on the requirement.

We also ensured to provide a mechanism by which the Patient can share their health records only if they wish to share with the senior doctor before the consultation.

For any reason, if the patient is unable to initiate a video call with the remote Doctor from their mobile phone, we have enabled the same functionality in the RMP’s interface so that the consultation is fruitful.

Strategy for testing/piloting your Innovation

We are working towards launching a Pilot in rural areas of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, and Srikakulam districts in Andhra Pradesh.

We have started onboarding the Doctors on our platform and are expected to reach at least 200 in number by the end of March 2022.

Simultaneously we are working with the President – Community Rural Medical Practitioners welfare association on the process of onboarding RMPs on our platform towards this we are conducting a series of workshops for RMPs across different villages starting from 06 April 2022.

We are expecting to onboard nearly 2000 RMPs spread across the villages of the above-stated districts by the end of the 3-month period starting from April 2022.

One of the main challenges we envisage in this process is to convince both the Rural Medical Practitioners and Patients to utilize this unique opportunity of connecting with Senior doctors from Remote locations for their Healthcare requirements.

With the help of Solve, we can conduct several campaigns across villages in different states to get the acceptance of the proposed solution.

To use the existing Telemedicine platforms like e-Sanjeevani, Practo, Mfine and so many other platforms the rural community needs to take the support of individuals who has the knowledge to understand and access such platforms using a mobile phone. This becomes the biggest barrier for the rural community to even explore this alternative.

Additionally, rural communities believe in meeting their medical practitioners in person rather than meeting them virtually. Among these challenges, a support system in the form of Rural Medical Practitioners can make a true difference in Adopting telemedicine in Rural communities. The most crucial necessity of vitals checks for the Doctor is not addressed in the current telemedicine platforms so the Rural Medical Practitioners again will become an enabler who can connect the Remote Doctor with the Local Rural patient and ensure the quality of treatment is enhanced.

By the end of 2022, we aim to reach onboard 2000 Rural Medical Practitioners from 3 districts of Andhra Pradesh State in India. A detailed plan is provided below.

By the end of 2027, we aim complete to cover all the remaining districts in Andhra Pradesh and also cover the maximum number of remaining states with the support of our team, Solve, Government in States and Centre, and other key stakeholders.

Q3 2021 - Incorporated 

• Recognized by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal trade - DPIIT

Q4 2021 - MVP

• We have built the MVP for this project and tested with a few customers on the functioning of the Mobile App on Assisted Telemedicine. A dedicated interface is built for Doctors, Medical Practitioners, and Patients in the process. Our Mobile App is accessible from both Android and IOS devices. We built an App video module for teleconsultation and a payment gateway for a seamless payment process. We have also incorporated the Language option where the user can switch between different local languages based on the requirement. We also ensured to provide a mechanism by which the Patient can share their health records only if they wish to share with the senior doctor before the consultation. For any reason, if the patient is unable to initiate a video call with the remote Doctor from their mobile phone, we have enabled the same functionality in the Medical Practitioner interface so that the consultation is fruitful.

Q1 & Q2 2022 - Pilot & Customer Validation

• We are working towards launching a Pilot in rural areas of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, and Srikakulam districts of Andhra Pradesh. We have started onboarding the Doctors on our platform and are expected to reach at least 200 in number by the end of March 2022. Simultaneously we are working with the President – Community Rural Medical Practitioners welfare association on the process of onboarding Medical Practitioner on our platform towards this we are conducting a series of workshops for Medical Practitioner across different villages starting from 06 April 2022. We are expecting to onboard nearly 500 Medical practitioners, 200 Doctors spread across the villages of the above-stated districts by the end of the 3-month period starting from April 2022.

Q3 & 4 2022 - Early Growth Continue

• Focus on Tier 3 Cities. Onboard 500 Doctors and reach 2000 Medical Practitioner to address a customer base of nearly 10000 customers in Rural Areas.

We are working towards launching a Pilot in rural areas of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, and Srikakulam districts of Andhra Pradesh.

We have started onboarding the Doctors on our platform and are expected
to reach at least 200 in number by the end of March 2022.

Simultaneously we are working with the President – Community Rural
Medical Practitioners welfare association on the process of onboarding
Medical Practitioner on our platform towards this we are conducting a
series of workshops for Medical Practitioner across different villages
starting from 06 April 2022. We are expecting to onboard nearly 500
Medical practitioners, 200 Doctors spread across the villages of the
above-stated districts by the end of the 3-month period starting from
April 2022.

India's minimal public spending on healthcare has resulted in an underperforming public health system over the years. The lack of access to adequate healthcare is most acute in India's rural areas, which account for over 70% of the country's population. Over the last three decades, a slew of private organisations, both for-profit and non-profit, have stepped in to address this healthcare access problem, developing a variety of service models to serve the rural population. Despite the fact that much more has to be done, any effort to improve the quality of healthcare in rural regions is a welcome improvement. We are confident that once end customers and medical practitioners recognise the benefit, change will be accelerated across rural areas.

We have built the MVP for this project and tested with a few customers

on the functioning of the Mobile App on Assisted Telemedicine. A
dedicated interface is built for Doctors, Medical Practitioners, and
Patients in the process. Our Mobile App is accessible from both Android
and IOS devices. We built an App video module for teleconsultation and a
payment gateway for a seamless payment process. We have also
incorporated the Language option where the user can switch between
different local languages based on the requirement. We also ensured to
provide a mechanism by which the Patient can share their health records
only if they wish to share with the senior doctor before the
consultation. For any reason, if the patient is unable to initiate a
video call with the remote Doctor from their mobile phone, we have
enabled the same functionality in the Medical Practitioner interface so
that the consultation is fruitful.

We are also exploring AI/ML video-based vital checks to enhance the overall experience of the platform.

We now have a female-to-male ratio of 1:2 in our staff, and we are certain that as we grow, we will be able to meet the diverse demands of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Our business has 3 layers with regards to receipt of payments from the Patients.

Doctors - They will be paid per consultation Medical Practitioners - They will be paid per consultation CAARE Platform - We will charge a nominal fee for every consultation. For example, in the Rural belt, if the Patient is charged approximately INR 350, 200 will go to Doctor, 100 to Medical Practitioner, and INR 50 to the CAARE platform.

INR 350 is already a tested pricing model with Medical Practitioners who practice in these villages and towns. In general, if the Medical Practitioners are unable to treat the patient and refer them to the nearest town or city hospital. Patients end up spending more than INR 1000 which is 3 times our price.

For Patients who are unable to pay the fee for the Healthcare requirements in Rural areas, we are working with NGO's like Path.org, Smile Foundation, Access International, and corporate organizations to fund the initiatives. We are still in the early stages of our discussion but most of these organizations have shown interest and willingness to work on some projects.

For longterm stability we will work on both commercial and charity-based initiatives to cover the rural population.

We have received a grant from BITS BIRAC BIONEST Incubator and once we start working on the pilot we are confident to raise funds also work with NGOs on numerous initiatives.