Kshema — A Unified Healthcare Management Solution for improving efficiency of the Healthcare Delivery System in rural India

Abstract

With the Healthcare Delivery Systems being overloaded in the developing and densely populated countries, such as India and China, it is imperative to have efficient and cost-effective systems and processes. Building fresh leadership acumen in a complex and changing environment, establishing organizational excellence and designing new service delivery models will help us face the challenges. Building better forward and backward linkages through a superior referral system would cause the secondary and tertiary care facilities to become more manageable, preventing them from being over burdened. Use of Information Technology in Healthcare, especially a Unified Healthcare Management Solution, can potentially improve healthcare. Kshema offers medical diagnosis, ongoing patient care and has an ability to monitor patients remotely by using innovative applications with the underlying cost-effective technologies. Kshema unifies diagnostic hardware like Microscope, Vital Signs Monitor, ECG machine with the diagnostic software. The software consists of modules for Electronic Health Records, Pathology, Radiology and Vital Signs. The software has the ability to automatically identify the vital parameters and transmit the parameters to the remote doctor through broadband or wireless connectivity. Kshema offers simplicity and cost efficiency making it an ideal solution for use in rural areas where efficiency of healthcare delivery systems is critical. Currently Kshema is being used at four primary healthcare centers in Karnataka, India and the results are very encouraging.