September 14, 2021 / Digital Healthcare Clinic
A preliminary survey of the landscape
We are proposing to set up a Remote Healthcare Services facility in our village in collaboration with our partner JSV Innovation who provide TeleHealth technology solutions backed by comprehensive support services including a panel of Doctors. In our preliminary discussions, we feel there is the right combination of services and technology offering to help us get started.
Location: ChauddhaChuli Village is a part of the Haludbari Gram Panchayat, located in Khejuri – II Block of Purbo Medinipur. Driving from Kolkata, en-route to Contai (which is the nearest city/municipality), one needs to take a left from Henria and drive 20 Kms to get to our village.
Exact Location of Proposed Premises
The proposed premise will sit on the first floor (pending completion) of a Club/Nursery Building, and is serviced by the widest metal road in the village. Situated opposite the Local High School and few minutes away from the Gram Panchayat Office and the Local Market, it is a highly visible and accessible location, frequented by residents from nearby villages.
The premise is wired up for high-speed internet access (Alliance Broadband) and we have already piloted remote conferencing facility (for teacher training) using large TV monitors, HD cam etc. We also have CC TV cameras installed for security.
The population of Catchment Area
The total Population of Khejuri-II block as per State Statistical Handbook 2014 is 139,463 with a sex ratio of 956. If we zoom in to the catchment area likely to be served by the center, we find the following villages and more – ChauddhaChuli, Haludbari, MundaMari, Dekhali, KanthiBari, Garang, Gorahar-Jalpai etc. The total population of the villages in our catchment area is approximately 25,000 (as of the last census in 2011)
Accessibility to local Health Care centers
We have marked 4 PHC & Rural Hospitals that serve both Khejuri II and I Blocks.
Shillaberia is the Rural Hospital (30 beds) in Khejuri II, supported by Janka PHC (10 beds)
Kamarda Rural Hospital and Henria PHC serve Khejuri-I Block and based on the proximity & convenience, people cross over from one block to another.
The red pin shows the location of the proposed e-healthcare center. All 4 centers above are also marked as H-Tag.
The distances from the proposed e-health center to the 2 different health-centers in Khejuri-II block are shown in maps below.
The distances from the proposed e-health center to the 2 different health-centers in Khejuri-II block are shown in maps below.
From a preliminary Q&A we have learnt the following about patient flow in Khejuri-II healthcare centers.
- Child-Births are the main activity and service of the healthcare facilities. In 2021, only 16 home-deliveries were recorded in our Block, (up from 11 last year, due to COVID etc.), which is a very high number and shift in ratio (home to hospital) compared to few years back.
- In Janka PHC we have close to 100 babies per month, and 1000 per year. Shilliberia had about 250 (in spite of 3:1 bed ratio). Mortality rate is under control at max 2-3 per year out of 2400 pregnant ladies.
- In Janka OPD, we have about 2500 tickets per month, in Shilliberia about 1600 per month. Even in IPD, Janka has a much higher bed occupancy rate.
- Total number of registered doctors available ONLY in the PHCs are 2 in Janka, and 3 in ShilliBeria. (a similar ratio in Khejuri-I Block)
- The rest are all un-registered doctors serving the catchment area.
Current Pain Points
- Access – No access to registered medical practitioners, in immediate vicinity, of 5KMs. There is a new wave of doctors/specialists who come to visit a medical hall (but that is happening mostly near Kamarda Hospital) – this is a new business model.
- Convenience – Since PHC are not very convenient to reach (absence of public transport), people tend to get services from quacks.
- Expensive – A trip to a PHC using a TOTO (going and return can cost 150-200. A specialist doctor charges about 150/- in Kamarda area. Quacks charge anywhere between 30-50 for clinic visit and 100/- for home visit)
- 2nd Opinion – There is no expert opinion that can guide patients to the right treatment or diagnostics path. Driven by profit motive, most doctors tend to over prescribe. Visits to city hospitals can be a huge drain on the pocket and many a times unnecessary.
In addition to providing affordable primary care, we want to solve for point 4.
We will provide convenience and economy, but in addition the ability to provide the right guidance and next steps, ex. expert consultation (access), recommending the right hospital care (leveraging the power of our partner network), diagnosing situations which merit timely and emergency intervention (life-saving advice), can potentially increase the value we deliver to the local community.