Says, Amitabh Nagpal, Co-founder & CEO, LifeinControl in an email interaction with Ekta Srivastava, Health Technology.in.
LifeinControl is helping to deliver patient needs at the forefront of technology-enabled healthcare through healthcare informatics, telemedicine, electronic health records, remote diagnostics and therapeutic tools.
What is the concept underlying LifeinControl? Is there any model that you emulate?
Diabetes is one of the many health conditions prevalent in India that requires adherence to a care plan defined by a doctor , adherence is required to doctor visits, regular investigations, regular self monitoring of sugar test at home at different times, medications diet and exercise . In fact, as few as 60% of patients with type 2 diabetes take prescribed medications, are regular with doctor visits, and investigations according to a study in the American Journal of Managed Care. Another study in Diabetes Therapy showed that less than 50% of diabetic patients achieve recommended glycaemic goals. On the other hand, it was found that with improving compliance of the diabetes treatment, the risk of diabetes-related kidney disease, stroke, heart disease, and amputation becomes considerably less. It is to address these compliance issues that LifeInControl was set up as a revolutionary Diabetes Management Program that seamlessly connects doctors with patients to allow them to control a patient’s glycaemic status.
What are the technological advancements you have introduced lately in the vertical? What are your core strengths?
Lifeincontrol has created a very sound clinical management system that allows doctors to manage a diabetic patient – it is a three step process for a doctor he is able to assess, plan and engage the patient. The platform allows doctor to get insights into patient’s data where he gets insights to sugar reading, medicine, exercise and diet and is able to correlate that to events and situations. Platform saves considerable time for follow up visits, enables the doctor to see a person remotely in a follow up visit.
The LifeInControl mobile application, available for both Android and iOS users, makes it extremely easy for patients to log their blood sugar levels, diet, insulin and medicine dosage and other health data in one location and seamlessly connected with the doctor and coaches.. Other features of the app include a calorie counter, glycaemic rating checker, nutritional information and a personalised diet plan. Moreover, with constant access to a coach via chat, a patient can allay any doubts they have almost instantly.
We help doctors drive better patient outcomes, which can reduce the emotional and economic burden of diabetes for close to half a million people worldwide.
What are the challenges faced by LifeinControl?
This is a very ealry years in India technology adoption is slow, digital health records are not mandatory, patient volumes are high. Lack of standardization is the biggest challenge and that should be made mandatory.
Though the technology shift has cast itself over the field of healthcare, bringing with it a digital transformation in the way doctors and patients interact, lack of awareness amongst both medical practitioners and patients is a big deterrent when it comes to adoption of telehealth methods. For us too, while having an in-house technology team helps in an accelerated development, finding doctors who would be willing to join the platform remains a challenge that we are in the process of addressing. To overcome this, over next month, we plan to reach doctors and hospitals for a product demo to create awareness about our digital platform and how it will be beneficial for increasing compliance
In your opinion, what role do emerging technologies like Big Data play in the current technology adoption for healthcare vertical? Especially when we talk about patients suffering from diabetes?
Emerging technologies like Big Data, IoT, and Cloud Computing etc. play a pivotal role in helping patients, especially diabetics stay updated about their current health condition. They facilitate timely transmission and remote interpretation of patient data for follow-up and preventative. Ability interventions. Ability to analyse data and predict risk related to cormbitities can improve awareness in patients so that corrective measure can be taken. Cloud computing enables doctors to share data across the complete spectrum of care.
How can a patient join LifeInControl? How does it help them? What are its benefits?
The patients are recommended to join the app by the doctor; doctors’ care plan is updated on the patient’s mobile application. The app provides patients with day-to-day support and real-time guidance to adhere to their treatment plan and manage their glycaemic levels. It aids compliance in three steps:
Doctor’s design a personalized care program based on the patient’s condition and is communicated to the patient .Patients can use the Life In Control app to view plan, log details & follow daily tasks
How can a PPP be a better alternative to fully owned governmental healthcare schemes? Do you see the PPP initiatives as more efficient at delivery of services?
Public /Private Partnerships can be better from a fully owned healthcare schemes as competency to run the scheme does not have to be created and managed
Any Case studies
LifeinControl is used by both clinics and hospitals.
A speciality hospital in Kerala uses LifeinControl to monitor patient compliance daily and educate them in case of a missed medicine dose or low/high blood sugar.
Clinics across India use our software to personalize care for their patients and improving compliance for visits.
In many instances, patients have been able to improve their HbA1c substantially. In one such instance a 47 year old woman with long standing uncontrolled diabetes reduced her HbA1c from 10 to 8.4