India is facing a healthcare crisis like no other. Today, we stand 5th in the list of countries affected by COVID19, with more than 257,000 cases and over 7,500 deaths. After multiple versions of a protracted national lockdown, there is a concentrated effort to enforce social distancing, self isolate as much as possible and the like. This has well and truly spilled over into healthcare as well, as telemedicine continues to rapidly grow across the country. Patients are apprehensive of having to venture to hospitals and clinics, but technology is allowing doctors to stay connected with them. Even so, PM Modi has urged Indian citizens to adopt and innovate in the field of telemedicine, furthering the scope for the proliferation of technology in healthcare in India. 

According to a report in McKinsey, India could save up to $10 billion by 2025 with telemedicine replacing upto 40% of in-person outpatient consultations. There are already several startups in this sector that have especially gained prominence in the past three months thanks to COVID19. One such is Remedo. Unlike other telemedicine apps aimed at procuring patients as primary customers, the Noida-based healthtech venture aims at bringing doctors onboard its full-stack platform, and augmenting the capacity of existing healthcare providers. With a combination of a digital & physical model, Remedo supports a physician's practice through tech-enabled management, patient communication and enhanced patient engagement.

Remedo was founded by Dr. Ruchir Mehra, Harsh Bansal and Richeek Arya in 2017. Dr. Mehra, being a physician himself, was acutely aware of the lacunae that exists in the healthcare sector especially pertaining to the treatment of chronic illnesses and outpatient treatment. He also saw immense potential in technology in healthcare, specifically singling out how doctors are passionate advocates of using technology to improve their efficacy. "We decided to harness this interest and build a new channel of communication between doctors and patients through an app. This specialised channel of communication helps a doctor work closely with a patient to develop personalised care models and offerings, and provides him a better understanding of illnesses, patient history and diagnoses," says Dr. Mehra. The current mode of communication between doctors and patients is mostly prescriptive in nature but it has to become more collaborative, he adds. With largescale penetration of mobile phones and Internet, significant changes in healthcare delivery is possible. By developing tech solutions that could improve medical compliance like patient records, prescriptions and patient data, it becomes easier for doctors to dole out personalised medical advice. 

Decoding The Tech:

For the doctors, Remedo is a full-stack application with a backbone layer intended to augment the physician's practice. The next layer is focused on patient interaction, followed by utilising the data provided by the patient to develop customised CARE models. D.I.S.H.A or the Digital Integrated Smart Health Assistant is an integrated platform that provides information, updates, reminders, contains patient records, and curated care plans for the patient, all while communicating in a secure encrypted manner through the Remedo App or WhatsApp. Remedo takes this online consultation model a notch higher by providing an in-clinic pharmacy with home delivery and engaging with patients on vaccinations, tests and other services available at the doctor's clinic. Dr Mehra also added that they are working on partnering with certified labs to conduct tests. The steady stream of patient data is processed deftly by an AI engine, and through machine learning, these insights help doctors understand their patient better and faster. 

Onboarding Doctors:

The startup has strategic ties with several pharma companies, whose medical representatives help enhance outreach to the medical community. To date, 5,000 doctors have signed up on Remedo and the numbers are poised to increase in the coming months, especially after the Government of India revised telehealth guidelines late March 2020. Prior to COVID19, Remedo was prevalent in four major cities - New Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur and Lucknow, largely augmented by the network familiar to Dr. Mehra and his team. "After COVID19, we have seen a significant rise in the number of doctors signing up on the platform. We have onboarded doctors from Gujarat, West Bengal and several Southern states as well. We're also seeing a high interest from doctors in Tier 2 towns as well," says Dr. Mehra. He adds that while the rise in doctors is gratifying, the levels of adoption from patients needs to increase. He believes this will happen gradually, and their core business model which is designed to attract doctors primarily could go a long way in evangelising telehealth to far-flung places and remote areas. "Access to quality healthcare is among the biggest challenges in rural India. In addition, there is the risk of unlicensed or indaquately qualified medical professionals treating patients. Our platform brings onboard qualified healthcare professionals, who pay to be on the platform. In addition, we run an authentication layer on the doctors to ensure the legitimacy of the platform remains pristine."

Funding:

Recently, Remedo raised an undisclosed amount in a round led by RiverRock Ventures, with participation by AngelList India, IPV and Smile Group. The funding round also saw investments from IIIT Hyderabad Alumni syndicate, angel investors and CXOs with a deep wealth of experience in healthcare. Dr Mehra says the fund amount will be used to enhance geography and strengthen product. In addition, the money will also be used to improve their data analytics for DISHA, and broaden the scope for nuanced diagnosis and better insights from patients.