GoPillz

At GoPillz, we are solving the access, awareness and inclusivity problem in healthcare and the resultant poor health outcomes.

70% of our population is urban poor or rural poor. Chronic diseases disproportionately affect vulnerable and marginalized populations, including low-income individuals, racial and ethnic minorities, migrant populations and rural communities. Disparities in access to healthcare, socioeconomic determinants of health, and environmental factors contribute to disparities in healthcare experiences and outcomes.

Chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and respiratory conditions, are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality with

56.5% of the total disease burden in India attributable to NCDs.
28% of older adults  in India, have multiple diseases.

63% of all deaths in India are due to chronic diseases.

Chronic diseases impose a substantial economic burden on healthcare systems, governments, and households due to the high costs of treatment, hospitalizations, medications, and long-term care accounting for 86% of preventable spend and 50% emergency spend.

Every two in three seniors today suffers from a chronic ailment. Every one in six Indians suffers from a chronic ailment. 

Early onset of chronic conditions in LMICs affects both the working and the elderly population. For instance, an estimated 15 million people die annually due to NCDs in the working age group of 30 to 69 years, among whom 85% are from LMICs. While evidence from a few developed countries shows that morbidity is being compressed into a shorter period, many developing countries are undergoing morbidity expansion.

With almost one-fifth of the world’s population, India is also undergoing a major health and epidemiological shift. 200 m people migrate every year due to socio- economic factors. Globalization and urbanization are taking its toll and  hence the importance of comprehensive NCD management for the  educated and non-educated, urban and rural, rich and poor, as they all struggle with chronic diseases, multiple co-morbidities.

We are building SLM’s to help solve various use cases in healthcare. Our current focus area is chronic care management. Our first application is GoPillz, a personal digital care assistant to help users with their healthcare and caregiving needs. GoPillz interacts with users using two way near human-like conversations over Whatsapp and Voice. We help patients with better awareness, guidance on their health conditions, improved adherence to prescribed treatment, subsequently better treatment management with improved health outcomes. We have gamified our prediction models to help users with personalised risk assessment, and coaching with ease. Communication over Whatsapp, sms and Voice help users with varying input abilities.  With a not so literate population in LMIC's  alternative input & interaction methods over voice, sms, & WhatsApp helps with better self management and  empowered patients fostering better care with improved health outcomes. Using the coordinated care model, we bridge the gap as an always-available care companion when patients are most vulnerable and need guidance and handholding. We help patients navigate their care journeys with ease while reducing stress, easing up the caregivers burden and solving pain points for caregivers, support systems, and ecosystem partners alike.

We are working to improve the health of urban poor, rural poor and migrant communities. In India every year, 200 m million people migrate on account of urbanisation, socio-economic factors, and climate change. 70% of our population is either urban poor and rural poor. Chronic ailments disproportionately impact these populations due to various factors, low literacy levels, socio-economic determinants of health.We are working towards creating awareness of health conditions, better hygiene practices, personalised risk assessment, coaching, health education, lifestyle management, improving adherence to medication, better treatment management with improved health outcomes. 

Using coordinated care, we sync the support systems, families, caregivers and care providers to help users with better health. 

To help users along the care continuum we help with access to health and life insurance and low cost care financing options.

India also has a diverse population with different languages. Using NLU and NLG we provide access to users with low literacy levels, varying abilities with access to care over Whatsapp, voice and sms as communication mediums. 

As we use AI, SLM's to improve access, we also reduce burden on health systems, increase efficiency, reduce turnaround time and solve pain points for other stakeholders such as doctors, hospitals, pharma, payers such as health and life insurance,  and the government.

We are running GoPillz for the long haul till we impact a billion lives and have a brilliant exit. We are a core team of three with founders like business advisors, involved with core development of the product since inception. 

I am a National Startup Award Finalist. Also shortlisted as one amongst 100 women transforming India( Shortlisted by  the Govt of India) in '20. We have been shortlisted as top 100 startups to watch out for by IDFC bank, Forbes and  Times of India.

This is my third startup. I have built technology companies before.

We are based in the National Capital Region ( NCR) comprising New Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida, the capital of India, alongside the two largest burgeoning cities  and  adjacent twenty two rural districts in North India.  The entire region comprises rural poor, local populations in adjacent twenty two districts from neighbouring states of U.P, M.P, Rajasthan along with migrant population, from the neighbouring states of U.P,  M.P, Bihar and hence  the largest population of urban poor  and rural poor in the country.

I personally live in Gurgaon in areas surrounded by immigrant population clusters all around.

We have built our first application GoPill as personal digital care assistant to help users with their healthcare and care giving needs with a focus on for NCD management. We have worked on predictive models for CVD and have gamified the same for personalised risk assessment and coaching. We have early revenues from pilots. We have tested GoPillz, with 10,000 patients across therapeutic areas of diabetes(1780), sexual health(1971), thyroid(2092), Breast cancer(2190), CML(991), Rheumatoid arthritis(1470), Cardiology(1989) with an improvement of 95.4% for sexual health and wellness. Alongside we are setting up the call centre for L3 support as we are training models for nutritional guidance and screening.

Key Features of our current application are: 

1. Vernacular Solution over multimodal communication channels, voice, Whatsapp, sms to help diverse populations with varying input abilities. 

2. Flexible Access options via Whatsapp/ Voice/ sms for users with varying abilities

3. Gamified Prediction Models that help users with personalised risk assessment, preventive health, health coaching, awareness on lifestyle management

4. Comprehensive NCD Management features

5. Integrated evidence-based guidelines and best practices for NCD management into the assistant's algorithms to ensure accurate and up-to-date recommendations.

6. Interoperability with Health Systems. API-fied stack and a QR scan to help users with easy usability, subsequently stickiness and adoption

7. Coordinated Care, with care automation and just in time alerts that syncs patients, support systems, ecosystem partners to improve health outcomes

8. L3 support( in next 2 weeks)  to help geriatrics, less literate beyond AI

We have raised around $94375 and are working towards gaining traction and hence the choice of pilot stage.

MIT  Solve, to me means: The legendary MIT ( access to learning, mentoring, networks, strategic partnerships and support) and Solve( ability to solve a core problem of access, awareness and inclusivity).

I am a perpetual learner, a learner for life. Learning, mentoring support, impact measurement, access  to networks, best implementation strategies to impact a billion lives is the reason for application.

I grew up with my two younger brothers in a typical patriarchal set up. While both my brothers were sent to study, one in United States and the other in Edinburg, U.K, I was married off as my father said he only had the money to educate my brothers as they would earn for the family and I would be in another family so not worthy of investment, though I was the brightest amongst all kids in my family, the head girl in my school, the house captain grade 5 onwards year on year. Most women even today in India are not considered worthy of equal opportunities. 

Today I am confident that I have the vision to impact a billion lives, solve the problem of in equites in healthcare, disparities in access to care, experiences and out comes.

Being an MIT Solver will open doors I will not be able to access otherwise.

Being an MIT Solver will bring in validation for GoPillz, and help us solve the awareness, access and inclusivity problem for the healthcare for the migrant communities and turn my dream of impacting a billion lives across diverse regions, diverse populations into a reality.

GoPillz is a unique mix of software, process, and delivery that helps improve efficiency and quality of care with improved health outcomes. We use conversational AI across communication mediums such as WhatsApp and voice, with proven, rock-solid technology driving the backend. We are training our SLM’s to solve various use cases in healthcare to help users with varying input and diverse abilities. Predictive models have initially been built using datasets from Kaggle and are now being trained with a wider range of attributes. We have used SVM, RAT technique, XGboost and google collab for training the SLM’s so far. Predictive models built are being gamified and integrated to give inputs and help users with ease. The unique insight is the use of software to build on technology to help users with varying abilities, alternate input and output methods which subsequently helps with inclusivity, access, easy usability, adoption, stickiness and scale. Use of streamlined data from the digital care assistant solves for analytics, helps to build on various use cases across therapeutic areas, to solve for access, awareness, reducing disparities in healthcare experiences and outcomes for diverse populations.

We expect GoPillz to help with the following :

a) Improved Health Outcomes.

b) Easy Access and Facilitation to Care.

c) Reduction in Preventable Spend due to chronic ailments.

d) Reduced Emergency Spend for diabetics hypertensives and for other chronic diseases.

e)Reduction in premature deaths, healthy life years lost

f) Improved Productivity, Reduced Absenteeism, Presentism.

g) Improve Insurance coverage to reduce out of pocket spend.

h) Reduced spread of communicable diseases due to better hygiene practices.

i) Health Education, Better Health Practices, Coaching leads to Good Habits, Foundation for Life.

j) Awareness helps with early Diagnosis with better health outcomes.

k) Improved adherence helps with better health outcomes.

l) Improved mother and child health, better geriatric care.

m) Reduced economic burden on self, family

n) Reduced disparities in healthcare experiences and outcomes

•SDG 3 Care Enablement Across Therapeutic Areas to Benefit the Patient

•SDG 4 Health Education

•SDG 5: Gender Equality

Helping Women at the forefront with more control over their health choices

•SDG 8: Financial Inclusion

•SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities as A Solution helping across Socio-Economic divide

 GoPillz is a unique mix of software, process and technology that helps improve efficiency and quality of care with improved health outcomes.

We have used python, fast apis to help with machine learning capabilities at the backend.

Generative AI helps with vernacularity.

Predictive models have been built using data sets from kaggle and trained on a wider range of attributes.

Beyond AI calls, last mile L3 support is provided to help geriatrics.

We are a team of total ten members. Three of us are full time since the inception.

We have a good part time team of seven with several hackathon winners leading us with technology and two IIM MBA graduating students leading partnerships and alliances.

 Since Inception in December 2022. 1 year and 4 months

As a team we are 70% women from diverse backgrounds. Our tech lead, digital media intern and chief clinical mentor are the only men at GoPillz.

Our tech lead is an ace developer, with little formal education as he had to drop off after high school due to his fathers untimely death.

Our L3 support lead was married at the age of seventeen and again couldn't go to college. Today she works with us remotely from home with her two year old in tow, with her family's help.

We have also recruited women with disabilities for L3 support and are in conversation with local institutes to  help us with more candidates, once we achieve scale.

Rest of the alliances and the tech team are women from diverse backgrounds, different socio-economic backgrounds but  with the common thread of being  good with software development.

I am in conversation with a transgender HR leader in India to train transgenders for L3 support for ourselves.

As a young organization, we have tried to give everyone an equal opportunity for employment and to thrive in life.

Our intent is to charge nominally, build on data, IP so that we earn from IP licensing, partnerships, collaborations, data and analytics across use cases.

As we build on IP, analytics use cases for insurance, pharma, and the government we would like to offer GoPillz as a free service.

Currently we nominally charge $ 2.5 per month in India. We instantly pay > 3x the amount of subscription as discounts on financial products, personal and healthcare products. Additionally we incentivise users along the subscription period for continued usage and staying healthy. This also helps us with affiliate revenues while helping the users with discounts and incentives on health and personal care products.

Instant discounts and additional incentives for continued usage and healthy behaviour help users with money in their pockets while staying healthy, building good habits and fostering self management.

As we help users along the care continuum in insurance, low cost care financing we will earn by way of affiliate revenues on financial products as well, while keeping the core offering free for users.

As per WHO estimates, 60 million Indians go below the poverty line on account of health care expenses alone. The insurance coverage in India, Including group insurance provided by the government and corporate coverage is a dismal 27%. Access to insurance, financial products helps users with health coverage, the ability to get treated without having to dig into personal resources, sell land, homes, jewellery, personal assets, while the  life insurance covers help family and dependants in case of death and disability.

We have minimal revenue of $550 s from pilots.

We aim to make GoPillz financially sustainable through a combination of grant funds to serve the resource constrained, affiliate revenues on financial products, insurance, low cost care financing,  health and personal care products.

As B2B and B2G sales cycle is longer we are currently focussing on B2C sales, via QR codes at local point of contact centres set up by the govt, banks, ATM's, local grocery and small goods stores( kirana stores as they are called locally), construction sites, where local communities, migrant workers visit to take care of their daily needs.

With time, we hope to cover ground with B2G tie ups and access via PHC's, district hospitals. CSR programs via corporates in manufacturing, construction, real estate, employee wellness programs for all, will also help with access and easier onboarding of the underserved communities.

We have received $ 4375 from IIT Mandi, $ 40,000 from HDFC bank CSR, $37,500 from the ministry of electronics, as grants and $12,500 from DST( dept of science and technology ) via IIT Indore.