Today in the Healthcare industry, consumers of Healthcare services (the patients) and providers of services (the doctors, clinics, hospitals, chemists, laboratories) face a common problem. The synergy between IT and healthcare is not carried out in a way that it addresses the needs to both – together.

But now this is possible. The next time you visit a hospital or a doctor, they would already have your medical information in hand. If you are running short of medicines, you will get an alert on your mobile or the chemist may directly call you.

All this is possible if there is a central database of Personal Health Record (PHR) where customers can feed in the information and let doctors, hospitals or family members access it. Bangalore-based Yos Technologies is working in this space, creating a seamless interconnected ecosystem for consumers and provider. Core to this system is the consumer’s health records which can be anytime, anywhere accessed using Internet and Mobile Technologies.

“The concept of a networked, standards-based (YosCare e-Health Gateway is HIPAA compliant) patient-centric system containing all relevant patient records can be a boon to the medical industry and society in general,” says Vijaya Verma, Founder and CEO, Yos Technologies. The well-documented information will further help in medical decisions, with less chances of misdiagnosis, in turn lowering costs of medical insurance and medicare.

Consumers will just need to register on the YosCare website, fill-in the necessary medical information and then easily keep track of allergies, medications, diagnosis, health history – securely, in one place. “We even plan to install kiosks in corporate locations so that users can easily update information, without having to use a PC or a mobile,” says Ms Verma.

With the central database in place, providers can be in direct contact with customers, giving opportunities for customer retention. Doctor and hospitals can carry out data mining and trend analysis to enable cost-effective mass marketing campaigns. As there is complete access to health history; referrals and second opinions can become easy and efficient. When a customer fixes an appointment with the doctor or a hospital, he has to fill up a questionnaire. With all the information handy doctors and patients can save time during the actual visit.
Customers can maintain a diary on the site, allowing tracking of vitals – blood pressure, weight, blood sugar (future) etc. Customers can set up alerts/reminders, getting a SMS on the mobile for appointments, for buying medicine or even for taking your medicine on time.

Doctors can even consider giving online consultation, both for national as well as international patients. Additionally the online prescription will automatically reach the preferred chemist who will ensure that the medicines are delivered at the patient's doorstep.

“Providers will use YosCare as it is beneficial without any need for investing in infrastructure. There is a minimal upfront investment by providers for YosCare installation, since the YosCare server is remotely hosted,” informs Ms Verma. A system with high speed internet connectivity is needed for information transfer between the provider and the YosCare server.

The product is set to be launched early July (limited Beta release for select customers across the cross-section of consumers and providers). "We want to see the feedback for the next 3 months. About 15,000 customers are already using the site and we want to reach a lakh by the end of the year," Ms Verma adds.

For the future Ms Verma forecasts, "Our plan is to launch a universal health portal for subscribers to network with people with similar diseases/conditions." Partnering with specialty doctors and hospitals, we want to facilitate end-to-end disease / condition management programmes through advanced software applications (including Diabetes care, Pre and post natal care, Geriatric care applications) she informs. School health programmes, risk assessment and wellness management applications are some of the other uses of the e-health gateway.