Glocal Healthcare Systems Private Limited

GLOCAL, an integrated Healthcare Organization, aims at providing quality healthcare at affordable costs especially to the underserved/unserved areas. Glocal does not believe that Healthcare has to be expensive to be good. We operate 11 100-bedded multi-speciality hospitals in India and 5 more under construction.

Another vertical engages in setting up and operating end to end primary healthcare solution -DIGITAL DISPENSARY (OPD IN A BOX). This innovation aims at providing 3 main aspects of primary healthcare through a brick and mortar dispensary within 30 minutes:

-Consultancy with empanelled certified doctors (General physicians and Specialists) through video conferencing using the Hellolyf (Web interface) and aided by LitmusDX (Differential diagnosis software aiding doctors with the standard treatment protocol and reducing treatment error)

-Investigations and confirmatory tests using devices, RDKs, Bio chemistry analyser, digital scopes devices and other standard investigation processes to aid the doctor in diagnosis.

- Medicines as per prescription using LitmusRX- Automatic Medicine dispensing unit which dispenses the Medicines prescribed by the Doctor, while the prescription is being printed.

This helps in mitigating the following major challenges of healthcare-

• Poor access of Healthcare, an impediment to early detection and early treatment of ailments.
• Scarcity of doctors and huge geographies unserved/underserved.
• High out of pocket healthcare expenses
• Waiting time may be cut to a standard 30 mins per consultation session.
• Provide high QoC through qualified doctors across the country through video conferencing, in much the same way as a face to face consultation

So far, Glocal has been operating 100+ such dispensaries, since the beginning of 2017, in Rajasthan, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal. 100+ more will be operational shortly. An impact measurement of these operational dispensaries show:

• Acceptability: Its observed that the in rural the patients consultancies has been growing at 15% compounded on a month on month basis while its 48% in semi-urban. The rise in the consultancies clearly depict the growing acceptability of this innovative healthcare solution, a mitigating strategy of the gap created due to scarcity of healthcare and growing dependability on digital healthcare, etc.

• Healthcare seeking behaviour: The main determinants of Healthcare seeking behaviour in India are:

• Presence of quacks in the community acting as the main and easily available supply of healthcare services.
• Absence of doctors and poor infrastructure in government healthcare facilities forcing patients to seek private and expensive care.
• Inherent poverty driving the patients to seek cheap alternatives.
• Awareness of healthcare services.

All these lead to delay in start of treatment, faulty diagnosis and treatment, wrong medication thus leading to higher morbidity and mortality. The lag between onset of ailment and start of treatment indicates healthcare seeking behaviour. A low lag shows that people are aware of ailments and seek care at the earliest ie. Early detection and early treatment. There has been a significant dip (about 50%) in the lag over the past 3 months, indicating that the Digital Dispensary has contributed in improving the healthcare seeking behaviour of the patients visiting a Dispensary.

• Quality of Care (QoC): Good quality health care means that the care is based on the latest evidence from medical research about what types of care work best. Early recovery due to treatment indicates good QoC. Feedback collected from treated patients, post treatment, shows that 85%+ patients reported recovery post consultation in a digital dispensary.

Apart from enhancement of healthcare, this project also attained the following societal impact:

• Entreprenuership developement
• Employment for trained nursing staff
• Women empowerment
• Overall Rural development by decreasing the morbidity
• Reduction of poverty by cutting down catastrophic healthcare expenditures