Two 31-year-olds give up full-time jobs to set up website that lets users connect with medical experts and plan a home-care tool; hope IIT-B considers medical incubation
Pranav Shirke and Yuvraj Singh
In India, cure is often confused with care,” says Dr Yuvraj Singh, a 31-year-old physiotherapist, who has previously worked at Parel’s KEM Hospital. He adds, “This leads to complications. Statistics taken from various surveys across India highlight that 20 per cent senior citizens who get discharged from hospitals post surgery, end up back in the hospital within 30 days due to poor post-operative home care. At least 75 per cent of these are preventable if proper home care is provided,” he adds.
Pranav Shirke and Yuvraj Singh
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In 2013, to fill this lacunae, Singh and his childhood friend Pranav Shirke — a management consultant — started working on a website that aims to provide users with a personalised home-care planning tool.
CareAtMyHome, say Singh and Shirke (both Vile Parle residents), asks for the patient’s medical details — such as present medical condition, allergies, medication prescribed by the doctor, blood reports and scans — and then suggest further therapy (for instance, physiotherapy for patients who have undergone hip surgery, or speech therapy for stroke patients) to help them get better.
The duo has got a team of 10 experts onboard for their website, which became functional in September.
The doctors look at the reports and suggest which medical devices to use to improve their condition and also how the patient, or their caregiver, can gauge improvement in condition or lack thereof.
The recommendations given on this website, which already has 800-1,000 users, are keeping in mind the World Health Organisation (WHO) principles of International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). Once a patient registers, the software also provides them with essential checklists to monitor medications, exercises and sets reminders about doctor’s appointments.
Singh and Shirke, who gave up full-time jobs to build this website, are currently looking for sponsors. To this end, Singh is currently attending a medical innovations event at IIT-Bombay, which is on till Monday.
“In India, most hospitals and doctors pay very little attention to patients post surgery. It’s worse for senior citizens, who are as helpless and unaware and often depend on others for care,” adds Singh. Through this website, not only the patient but other family members or care givers too can log on to find out the best possible solution to the problem at hand.
“Doctors usually only look at their expertise and a patient is forced to visit another doctor for other problems. But with this website, once the patient has entered all details, a holistic approach to the problem will be made available,” he says.
“As of now, the service is for free,” Singh says, adding, that the two are also planning to add an ‘ask the experts’ section, where a patient can directly contact one of the listed doctors.
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