In light of the current healthcare emergency facing India, Avaya (NYSE: AVYA), a global leader in solutions to enhance and simplify communications and collaboration, has joined hands with a group of non-profit organizations and doctors to rapidly improve COVID-19 patients’ access to free healthcare while easing the stress on hospitals and clinics struggling with patient care.
Available nationwide and built under the direction of Hon’ble Minister Shree Ravi Shankar Prasad, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), MedicSetu gives COVID-19 patients under home quarantine the ability to participate in free video consultations with qualified doctors using a virtual platform. This greatly increases citizens’ access to medical advice while easing the burden on stretched resources at healthcare institutions.
The platform also enables doctors associated with various self-help groups and NGOs, including Rotary International and Arogya Foundation of India, to contribute their services for free COVID-19 consultations to the country.
“The number of COVID-19 cases in India has increased drastically over the past weeks, putting a significant strain on our current healthcare infrastructure. But we are fortunate and humbled that so many NGOs and medical groups have come forward to help,” said Kunaal Prasad, COO at NLP Mission, MeitY. “The creation of MedicSetu coordinates these efforts by giving patients free access to groups of doctors from anywhere without placing additional stress on the healthcare system. This is a purely non-commercial project, driven by the spirit of cooperation and contribution of doctors, NGOs, federations, volunteers and others, and we thank them for their proactive support to help us get the situation under control.”
Created by Avaya and I-Novate in collaboration with MySenior Doctors, the platform acts as a virtual out-patient department, using the Avaya Spaces™ workstream collaboration solution to connect patients directly to doctors in private virtual rooms. The non-profit organizations Rotary India, Arogya Foundation of India, and the Manav Mitra Foundation also contribute to the initiative.
With a solution to the healthcare emergency needed urgently, the platform was created within seven days. During a test phase, 163 registered doctors provided consultation to over 876 patients during that week. And with MedicSetu having proven its ability to alleviate the surging demand on hospital resources, the initiative has now been expanded nationwide with over 1,000 doctors on-board.
“Right now, the focus is totally on the COVID-19 patients who are hospitalized, but the ones who are home quarantined need equal attention. It is the time where organizations like us need to step up to address this gap and find the best solution to avail doctors to these home quarantined patients, especially for those who cannot take any financial pressure for medical consultation,” said Rtn. Kamal Sanghvi, Director, Rotary International. “MedicSetu has been the best way to address this gap and we are already witnessing a rise in conversations every single day.”
Doctors are contributing voluntarily in association with a number of groups to help those who are not able to afford or physically reach healthcare establishments. Doctors who have been verified by the supporting NGOs and have been registered can connect with patients and deliver free healthcare advice.
“Since the beginning of the pandemic, our Avaya team has gone above and beyond to safeguard the health and safety of others, while supporting organizations and customers globally in their ability to respond. And once again we’ve been humbled by the incredible work that our team put into this initiative, and by their drive to use our technology for good in the face of significant societal challenges,” said Vishal Agrawal, Managing Director – India & SAARC, Avaya. “We wish all of our colleagues, their families and friends, and all in India the very best as they navigate the current situation.”
Anish Kumar, Director and Co-Founder of I-Novate Group Of Companies, added: “The country right now is in dire need for proactive responsibility to help COVD-19 patients connect with doctors, especially the individuals who are currently home quarantined and are not able to step out for consultation. It is an amalgamation of both availing an easy-to-use virtual communication platform between patients and doctors, and reducing the load on an already overburdened health infrastructure.”
