Does Digital Diagnosis From Home Get Accurate Results?
The pandemic forced many changes into our lives, but perhaps none were greater than the change in our approach to healthcare. As with almost every aspect of life, healthcare too went digital, with doctor consultations and follow-ups taking place over the phone or on WhatsApp, and through the use of remote monitoring devices. Surprisingly, even after opening up, many people seem to prefer staying digital for medical care. This begs the question – does digital diagnosis from home get accurate results?
Runam Mehta, CEO of health tech company HealthCube, certainly feels so. She says, “With the rising burden of disease in the country, the role of medical devices that can help in point-of-care testing and enable treatment from a location closer to the home of the patient has increased manifold. The need of the hour is to create an ecosystem where it is not necessary to visit a major hospital or healthcare facility for basic diagnostic needs. This is what HealthCube aims to address. It was founded in 2015 by Dr Ramanan Laxminarayan with the vision of transforming health outcomes through timely and accessible diagnostics.”
HealthCube designs and manufactures point-of-care diagnostic devices that can perform over 30 in-depth tests. The technology measures key blood parameters and vitals, detects infectious disease markers, and even performs ECGs. Their easy-to-use and portable devices are medical grade, clinically validated and operate using an app on a phone or tablet. Results are available instantly and saved electronically on the cloud. HealthCube devices can be used in the absence of electricity or access to wifi, and are ideally suited for remote and far-flung locations which lack access to doctors and diagnostic labs. The data collected through HealthCube’s point-of-care devices can be analysed and used to track trends in patient acquisition and disease occurrences. Their products include HealthCube XL, HealthCube SE, AgeWell Plus, AgeWell, and BioChem, all of which serve different markets and use cases.
Mehta highlights the following benefits of point-of-contact devices:
● Faster test results, leading to timely triage or treatment
● Less sample volume (e.g., neonatal, paediatric, ICU benefit)
● Ease of testing at a variety of remote locations, helping meet a wide range of medical needs
● Decreased pre-analytical concerns related to the processing of specimens, such as clotting, centrifugation, etc.
● A lean process, offering increased provider and patient satisfaction
● Optimized drug treatments, clinical efficiency, and use of staff time
● Decreased inappropriate use of drugs, postoperative care, and ED time
● Help collect data for simple teleconsultations or for complex clinical trials
Despite their many benefits, digital diagnostics are a comparatively new and emerging technology in India. Hence, there are certain challenges that makers of these devices need to overcome. Lack of awareness and technical know-how results in most clinicians not being able to use digital devices to carry out diagnostic tests. They also have to battle the notion that digital diagnostic devices are not as accurate as conventional laboratory diagnostics. Cybersecurity is also a serious concern, with the fear that hackers can steal patient data or make the devices malfunction.
Mehta feels HealthCube is aware of these challenges and has taken adequate steps to address them. By adopting cutting-edge AI, analytics, and cyber security tools, they have ensured their devices are clinically accurate, safe and easy to use. HealthCube’s devices start from Rs 25,000 and are available across the globe. They are also integrated with eSanjeevani, a telemedicine system deployed nationally for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme of the Government of India. The diagnostic devices are deployed in Modi Vans which function like mini-medical OPDs.
Hence, if you have been sitting on the fence about investing in a digital diagnostic device, now is the time to take the plunge.
