The healthcare system, in general, has huge fragmentation. The topic of who has access to healthcare is a major one. Others who have money have access to the best possible care, while those who do not are left in the lurch. This gap is enormous and is wider when it comes to rural India.  

India has a doctor-population ratio of 1:1456 as compared with the WHO standards of 1:1000. In addition, there is a huge skew in the distribution of doctors working in the Urban and Rural areas with the urban to rural doctor density ratio being 3.8:1. Consequently, most of our rural and poor population is denied good quality care, leaving them in the clutches of quacks, as stated earlier by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. 

Thus, it becomes imperative to provide good healthcare access to the rural belts of India. To that end, the telehealth platform Docty.ai has come up with a solution. As a part of their "Phygital Care" program "Gali Gali Mein Digital Clinic", Docty aims to set up 100 Digital Health Kiosks across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The programme is currently operating in more than 20 locations across India. We reached out to Ramya Subramanian, Co-founder & COO of Docty to understand the mission, challenges and ideas for the future. 

At present, Docty has partnered with 100+ offline stores, local pharmacies, photo-copy centres, and internet cafes in these geographies. This initiative is dedicated to improving digital healthcare accessibility for India's rural and impoverished urban communities. This humongous task of making healthcare accessible even in the remotest corners of the country is not possible without the help of frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. 

AI for advanced healthcare

"We have not even touched the tip of the iceberg with AI. The beauty of this technology is that even if we touch just the tip, progress can be seen in leaps and bounds. It would be foolish not to use that technology for any advancement we possibly can, healthcare in our case," said Ramya. 

"We have used AI in a very empathetic way," she added.  

Docty employs artificial intelligence to deliver insights and improve clinical diagnostics. The platform has an 'emotion index' that enhances the experience by using facial recognition to assess patients' emotions. This helps the doctor to see what a patient is going through and further assists in their diagnosis. As pointed out by Ramya, this approach acts as a bridge in building trust in having a conversation between the doctor and the patient. 

Symptom checker is yet another tool that utilises advanced algorithms to understand a patient's symptoms as accurately as possible via a bunch of questions asked by the platform. It may sound like replacing a doctor with AI, but it is not the case, according to Ramya. Instead, AI will help doctors with amazing data points to help them provide accurate and safe medical advice.  

"Now we are working towards making this system better with doctors already having the details and data points of a patient even before talking to them directly," said Ramya. 

Integrating wearables is yet another thing Docty is following aggressively. The older generation's risk management and chronic diseases are the key focus areas where real-time data points will pave the way for preventive care. Adding to that, Ramya believes real-time monitoring is definitely going to be the next big thing for the healthcare sector. 

The road ahead is filled with challenges

With these 100 kiosks managed by Docty's local partners, the financially weak and non-tech-savvy residents of these states would have faster access to online consultations, prescriptions, EMRs, discounted pharmacies and lab services. Additionally, it will enable residents to consult doctors across 28+ specialities.  

"Our focus is clear; we are trying to democratise healthcare access" - Ramya Subramanian 

However, the task is not as simple as it looks. Multiple challenges exist, which Ramya also believes need to be resolved. 

"Digital Healthcare in rural areas is complicated due to the lack of qualified professionals, digital infrastructure, and non-tech-savviness of individuals living in these regions. To tackle these challenges, Docty identified the need for establishing local support centres that could empower people with multiple benefits of Digital Health through a one-stop integrated platform. Additionally, Docty's Digital Health Kiosks will also be significant in reducing digital illiteracy in India," said Ramya. 

Low accessibility is a cause of concern. It is either due to the unavailability of infrastructure or the underutilisation of existing healthcare facilities. However, recently Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stated that the country will receive a record number of new doctors in the next ten years as a result of the central government's ambition to establish a medical college in every district. The step carries the potential to achieve the ambitious goal of 'health for all.' 

Additionally, the uneven quality of healthcare facilities with quality remaining directly proportional to the amount of money one is capable of paying. Non-availability of smartphones, poor internet facilities, and lack of awareness about telehealthcare are some of the other challenges that require urgent attention. 

"The government's approach to providing a Health ID to every citizen is applaudable, allowing interoperability of healthcare records. It empowers citizens to generate insights from their own data," said Ramya. It is important to note here that Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission in September 2021, intending to provide everybody with a digital Health ID, which has now been renamed Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA), that contains their health records. 

So, what's next 

"It's a humongous task, and we are fully aware - without the help of the state and central government. Moreover, it's important to communicate to the people that platforms like Docty.ai are at their disposal on every street, which is the key," said Ramya. 

"Docty.ai is here to provide patient-centric solutions. The patient themselves will have access to the clinics, pharmacies, insurance, or labs - everything on a single platform," she added.  

Over 2022-23, Docty plans to further expand its Digital Health Kiosks across Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar, covering all their surrounding villages and tier-3 cities. Aiming to extend quality healthcare accessible to every Indian through a network of Digital Infrastructure and Physical Care Units, Docty plans to become India's largest B2C healthcare platform, reaching 65% of the country's rural population by 2025. 

Image Credits: National Health Authority