In Conversation With Dr. Ashutosh Mundkur – VP of Sales & Marketing, Murata Vios.

1. Brief note on Murata, the collaboration, and the product?

Vios Medical was acquired by Murata Manufacturing, Inc in October 2017. Murata innovations can be found in mobile phones, home appliances, automotive applications, energy management systems and healthcare devices. Murata wanted to foray in a significant manner in the healthcare sector. They were seeking a best fit organization not only from a technology standpoint but also from a culture, ethics and team standpoint. From amongst various organizations that were reviewed, Vios medical was identified to be the best in these attributes.

2. COVID has made it mandatory for hospitals and medical practitioners to rely more on technology and remote monitoring services now more than ever. Do you think India is ready for such technology?

COVID has made us rethink about healthcare from a completely new perspective. We have all witnessed how the second wave of the pandemic shook us and challenged us like never before. Yes, remote monitoring services and remote monitoring technology played a very impactful role during this time. However, for the technology to be widely accepted and for it to become the norm of the healthcare sector, there are few parameters which must be looked Remote monitoring services cannot evolve independently. Factors such as economics, IT infrastructure and architecture at both the healthcare provider’s location and the patients’ location is of utmost importance.

· Remote monitoring technology is dependent on IT architecture and IT infrastructure at the care giver and care taker’s location. There is a substantial IT infrastructure cost that is involved to enable remote monitoring technology.

· Currently, remote monitoring devices are not covered under any Health Insurance Scheme and this has time and again proved to be a road block for it to be widely accepted by our population. In the long run, remote monitoring devices saves cost both for the hospital as well as the patients. However, since this is not covered under our Insurance scheme at present, the care providers do not readily suggest it to their patients. Though healthcare providers are convinced about the advantages they are sceptical of recommending it to the patients due to the price factor. This plays a prominent role and patients are extremely hesitant to make payments out of their pockets for Remote Monitoring Devices. They do not see the immediate advantage of this technology. Their apprehension is justifiable from an economic standpoint. However, if we wish to enhance care it becomes essential that Remote Monitoring Devices fall within the fulcrum of Insurance Coverage.

· There are also apprehension that remote monitoring shall solicit the needs for one to continuously monitor the patients, which is justified to an extent. Murata Vios also offers the remote monitoring as service where American board certified telemetry technicians monitor the patients vitals and communicate with the respective hospital staff. Though this is accepted in the west, Indian hospitals are not so open on this. Their fears are mainly with respect to data security etc. Though Vios Monitoring system and services comply with necessary regulatory guidelines, Indian hospitals seem unsure about it yet

3. What according to you is the next big thing in remote monitoring devices?

· In the coming days the market will witness an upward surge in the types of Remote Monitoring devices than what we presently have. India, being the hub of software technology should be able to harness this technology to its advantage

· Digital Health Analytics is another important aspect of Patient Monitoring which will gain prominence. Digital Health Analytics is the use of data and insights to measure patient’s health and take preventive measures so that a health condition does not turn severe. Additionally, it also enhances a patient’s experience. This aspect will prove to be crucial in devices moving forward. There have been recorded instances when Remote Monitoring Devices was used to take preventive measures and in turn helped the situation from becoming a critical one.

· It is just a matter of time that remote monitoring services will be the service that India will need considering various aspects of healthcare specially challenges with respect to distance, doctor to patient ratio, bed to patient ratio, nurse to patient ratio etc.

4. What makes Vios stand out when compared to other monitoring devices?

Vios monitoring solution is a FDA cleared, wireless medical grade IoT platform that works across the continuum of care, with continuous monitoring of all the important patient vitals from the ambulance, pre-op ward, post-op ward, Step down ICU, inter and intra hospital e-monitoring and home-hospital.

The versatility of the platform along with the strong analytics at the back end, ability to integrate with various software and platform existing in the organization, ability to use the existing internet of the hospital

In addition the remote patient monitoring services described earlier are unique to this product.

5. What are some of the challenges for technology-based healthcare services in India?

Few of the challenges in the Indian medical technology sectors are as follows:

- Lack of clear medical device regulations

- Cost of devices and services

- Lack of reimbursement support

- Availability of digital infrastructure

- Resistance to change or adopt disruptive technologies – technology which can bring efficiency, but require modification of the set processes to accommodate the change

6. Do you think there is a cost benefit from both the hospital and patient perspectives by using remote monitoring devices? Please explain

- The Vios Monitoring System as mentioned earlier is a 24/7 wireless remote monitoring system. The economic benefits both for the patient’s as well as the hospital’s perspective are:

o Patient’s perspective: One of the reasons a patient remains in ICU is because he/she needs monitoring 24/7. Vios exactly serves this purpose and enables 24/7 monitoring even outside an ICU. So for patients who require 24/7 monitoring but do not need to remain in ICU can be moved to High Dependency ward or general wards without compromising continuous monitoring. This way it benefits the patients economically. Secondly, with VMS the patient is always under constant medical observation which implies healthcare practitioners are able to take action before the situation turns critical. This is an economic gain in the longer run and also reduces the physical and emotional strain that a patient undergoes.

o Hospital’s perspective: The hospital is able to monitor a patient continuously even outside the ICU which enables them to free up ICU beds more quickly and easily and help them to cater to more critically ill patients. This way they can admit more patients in the ICU while simultaneously being able to cater to not so critically ill patients.