There are about 250 million people in India living with chronic diseases like diabetes, asthma and heart disease, and one of the key factors involved in treating such diseases is a healthy patient-doctor relationship. For those living with chronic illnesses, there is a constant fear that things can go wrong anytime. So access to a doctor at all times is crucial. Especially during a pandemic and the subsequent lockdown(s).
That was the idea behind Remedo, a telemedicine start-up with a primary focus on patient care. Remedo’s journey began in the year 2017 when the co-founders, Dr Ruchir Mehra, Harsh V Bansal and Richeek Arya came together to help doctors effectively manage their patients with chronic diseases, providing end-to-end care in their recovery process. Today, Remedo has partnered with leading pharma companies to offer its telemedicine services to more than 3,000 doctors across specialties and has helped 1 lakh patients.
Dr Ruchir Mehra worked at the forefront of the healthcare industry when he felt the need for technology. "We could see how technology changed other industries and we believed it could do the same for healthcare too," he says, and adds, "Remedo's doctor network has grown up to ten times during the current times. With the government declaring a nationwide lockdown, both doctors and patients felt comfortable with electronic consultations. Doctors from metro cities and even smaller towns readily accepted new ways of remote health monitoring to maintain social distancing."
The mobile application version of Remedo is a one-stop-solution that benefits both the doctors and patients who are connected via the platform. It runs on D.I.S.H.A (Digital Integrated Smart Health Assistant) which is a smart health assistant that connects doctors with their patients via customised plans. The application features consultation and follow-up reminders, diet, exercise, health and lifestyle tips, medical records, reminders, daily educational videos and images, making a suitable digital companion for the patient.
Remedo officially launched its telemedicine services in March 2020 when the health ministry set up telemedicine practice guidelines. Apart from providing its patients and doctors a platform to communicate, Remedo has also launched a chronic condition management programme. "Some of the most sought after specialists are from general medicine, internal medicine, gynecology, orthopedics, diabetology and cardiology," says Dr Mehra.
Dr Mehra adds, "Doctors who provide better care will benefit as more and more patients will grow their practice through word of mouth. Remedo essentially helps doctors stay connected with patients, helps them in clinical decision making, makes their practice more efficient through digitisation, counsels and guides patients. Through all of this, Remedo strengthens their bond with their patients, something that is very important at a time when the trust deficit in the healthcare system is increasing." Remedo has its own customised app and web browser integrations designed for video consultations.
