Saturday, December 26, 2015

APPS / HEALTHCARE SPECIAL............. Digital doctors in demand with rise in healthcare apps

Digital doctors in demand with rise in healthcare apps
A doctor is now just a few taps away, with new mobile phone applications making it possible for patients to seek consultations without stepping out of their homes. The ‘digital doctors’ can be visited virtually though text messages, calls and even video conferencing, making it convenient for people who are travelling or live in areas with limited medical facilities.
Dahisar- resident Dhriti Adhikary was in a fix when her one-and-a-half-year-old son suf f ered f rom severe diarrhea during a trip to Mysore. “Within 30 minutes of connecting with a doctor through an application, they arranged for us to visit the nearest specialty hospital,” said Adhikary.
While Adhikary used an app in case of an emergency, there are others like 24-yearold Reetika Patel, a type- 1 diabetic, who uses an app to measure her blood sugar levels before taking insulin shots. “The application helps me manage my daily data and gives me a graphical report of how my sugar levels have been during the week.”
Promoters of such applications said digital healthcare is a booming i ndustry. An application called TopDoctorsOnline.com, launched in India three months ago with an in-house team of general practitioners, has had more than 20,000 downloads and 4,000 doctor-patient interactions. The app allows users to fix appointments with the nearest healthcare facility, pathology laboratory and also be up to date with latest trends in healthcare. See page 17
 Diabeto, another app, gives users the option of selecting endocrinologists and consulting them through video conferencing. Patients can upload sugar readings, meal timings, pictures of meals and daily activities for the doctors, who use the information to prescribe customised dosages of medicine.
Similarly, Lybrate helps users to consult doctors through chats and manage appointments, medical records and expenses.
The companies said their applications try to bridge the gap between the large number patients and limited supply of doctors. According to the Medical Council of India, there is one doctor for every 2,000 patients in India. According to World Bank data, in the United Kingdom (UK) there are on an average five doctors for every 2,000 patients and the world average is three doctors for every 2,000 patients.
“We conceptualised our application to make doctors accessible to people, irrespective of their economic background,” said Anand Chatterjee, co-founder, TopDoctorsOnline.com, adding that due to undefined laws on online prescription medicines in India, their doctors only recommend over-the counter medicines.
Apps such as ikure, which connect doctors to patients from rural areas, also arrange for follow-up sessions. “Two days a week, we have our team of doctors visit a remote area. On the remaining days, our health workers to go these areas and arrange follow-up sessions between the doctors and patients through our mobile app,” said Sujay Santra, founder and CEO of Kolkatabased ikure Techsoft Pvt Ltd.
While the apps are becoming increasingly popular, there are doctors who warned that online consultations can result in misdiagnosis. “A patient might say that he/she has a simple cough. But only a through physical examination can rule out the possibility of bronchitis, asthma and other lung infections,” said Amit Patel, a general physician with BSES Hospital in Mumbai, adding that symptoms described by patients can be easily misconstrued when the consultation happens online.
Dr SP Byotra, chairman of the department of medicine at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, said it is possible to get the history of a patient during an online consultation, yet, it is very important for a patient to be physically present in a clinic for an accurate diagnosis. “The first diagnosis must always be in person. The follow-up may be done online,” he said.
“Such health-care applications are excellent ancillary help. But they can never replace a face-to-face patient-doctor interaction,” said Dr Premal Thakor, physician and endocrinologist, MP Shah Cancer Hospital, Ahmedabad.
Some doctors are of the opinion that the apps are useful in monitoring symptoms in cases of chronic conditions such as diabetes. “Most diabetics take their blood sugar readings on glucometers. However, when they visit the doctor, they usually forget to carry it with them,” said Dr Mihir Raut, diabetes specialist at Apollo Sugar clinic, Mumbai. “Apps are an excellent tool as it syncs the data from the glucometer to the mobile phones, making it easy for doctors to monitor patient’s sugar level and customise drug and insulin doses.”


Aayushi Pratap   (Inputs from Anonna Dutt, New Delhi)

HT13DEC15

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