Telemedicine can reduce pressure on healthcare system in India

Telemedicine has started its journey in India nearly two decades ago with a pilot project by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and the country has subsequently seen the gradual entry of commercial healthcare applications in the last decade. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Indian government published new guidelines for telemedicine practice in March 2020 to facilitate access to medical advice just as Covid-19 impeded access to routine healthcare for chronic patients and patients from remote locations. Later, the Ministry of Health launched eSanjeevani OPD, a patient-to-doctor tele-consultation service in April 2020. Subsequent to the breakout of Covid-19, several telemedicine apps have come up, which were of immense help during the lockdown period to manage non-emergency as well as chronic medical conditions and have seen a manifold rise in the tele-consultations since March 2020. The diagnostic services and e-pharmacies are further complementary to tele-consultations. CLIRNET is one such platform, albeit with differences. Speaking to Bizz Buzz, Ashu Kasera, Co-founder, CLIRNET, shares his thoughts on growth of telemedicines in India

The Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant social distancing measures gave a fresh impetus to the hitherto sluggish telemedicine segment as Indian patients were keen on personal consultations for non-serious conditions

At CLIRNET, we believe that serving and assisting every doctor to run his/ her practice effectively, directly benefits at least 2,000 patients. In TeleMed Lite, we have strived to keep things extremely easy-to-use for both doctors and patients

The Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown measures have led to the widespread adoption of telemedicine in India. It is widely believed that the growing market can expand further as well as enhance healthcare access and aid in the success of the country's national digital health plans. Is this what prompted you to float CLIRNET?

The Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant social distancing measures gave a fresh impetus to the hitherto sluggish telemedicine segment as Indian patients were keen on personal consultations for non-serious conditions. This approach saves a lot of time both for patients as well as doctors. The doctors can thus attend to a greater number of patients. In addition, patients from remote areas can have access to specialist. Post the lockdown, many governments, hospitals, e-pharmacies and even corporate have added telemedicine to their employee wellness strategies. The surge in tele-consultations follows the long-pending telemedicine guidelines which were finally issued by the ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW), in collaboration with NITI Aayog and Board of Governors (BoG) Medical Council of India (MCI). We thought this was the right time to roll out a platform like CLIRNET.

So what is CLIRNET all about?

CLIRNET is India's largest live digital CME (Continuing Medical Education) and doctor-generated content platform. Every month, the platform executes over 300 live CMEs across varied specialties where more than 1.5 lakh doctors participate. CLIRNET uses a unique content generation framework called "MedWiki". MedWiki is a web-based encyclopedia of medical discussions created through the collaborative effort of a community of doctors from live digital CMEs executed on the platform. It has more than 10,000 multimedia medical articles across 30 specialties with hundreds of MedWiki added every month. In short, CLIRNET is a 150,000-doctor network and this telemedicine platform strives to connect doctors and patients with extremely low technological dependence and data requirements. It is a physician support network and tool, with the sole aim of aiding medical practitioners in their day-to-day practices. Doctors can also discuss their real patient cases with their doctor peers in specialties of their interest over phone!

Is there any study that suggests how telemedicine or tele-consultations have been growing in this country, post pandemic?

There are some studies which suggest that tele-consultations have been growing at an average of over 100 per cent, week-on-week. Also, there is almost 50 per cent increase in the number of doctors joining such platforms. The new guidelines have given authenticity and confidence to doctors to get on to such platforms. Interestingly, I read somewhere that on such platforms, queries regarding diseases like fever, cough, cold, sore throat and body ache have increased by nearly 200 per cent.

Let me give you some other facts and figures. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Indian government published new guidelines for telemedicine practice in March 2020 to facilitate access to medical advice just as Covid-19 impeded access to routine healthcare for chronic patients and patients from remote locations. Later, the Ministry of Health launched eSanjeevani OPD, a patient-to-doctor tele-consultation service in April 2020. It has recently completed nearly one million telemedicine consultations.

You would appreciate that in such a model, keeping things simple always encourages adoption to this important bridge in doctor-patient relationship. Have you kept this in mind while floating this or to put in differently, what have you done to address this?

You are absolutely right. At CLIRNET, we believe that serving and assisting every doctor to run his/ her practice effectively, directly benefits at least 2,000 patients. In TeleMed Lite, we have strived to keep things extremely easy-to-use for both doctors and patients. Whether it is the doctor setting up their virtual clinic in less than 2 minutes or patients booking an appointment in less than a minute without downloading any app, maximum patient care with minimum data and tech has been our guiding force. Our main objective is to maximise care for the patient at the right time and in the most efficient manner.

How expensive is this or what are the charges like?

Our vision is to offer 'Equitable, Accessible and Affordable' healthcare to all. Therefore, this platform will be provided pro-bono to both doctors and patients. CLIRNET is absolutely free for all doctors practicing medicine in India.

How effective has this platform been so far?

Let me give you some independent facts and figures. A study by IIM-Bangalore and HEC-Paris showed that 89 per cent of the doctors using the CLIRNET platform confirmed it has positively impacted their treatment plan with an astounding NPS (Net Promoter Score) of 90 per cent.

But telemedicine has its own disadvantages like miscommunication of symptoms by patients, misinterpretation of symptoms by physicians, misdiagnosis, apart from non-medical issues like network issues, app usage and familiarity issues by technologically challenged people and cyber threats. Can telemedicine replace the traditional medical consultations and hospital visits for emergency conditions and medical procedures?

No it cannot. If done properly, it can certainly reduce the pressure on the healthcare system in a vast and populous country like India with disproportionate healthcare facilities. A better, ethical healthcare system which bridges the doctor-patient divide can be forged using available resources. The generational doctor-patient relationship cannot be replaced by technology, but it definitely can be enhanced. Patients want and seek better care from their doctors. And quality care can be delivered and improved in the remotest areas by leveraging technology to address the knowledge gap of doctors. CLIRNET aims at educating and informing the wider community about various healthcare issues and thereby inspire them to take better decisions to manage their health. This will in turn improve the doctor patient relationships.