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Six years ago when an error in his son’s name could not be changed in the hospital records even after multiple attempts, that is when Harpreet Singh realised the lack of a platform that could provide easy rectification and access to a newborn’s “complete health records”.
A biomedical engineer with 16 years of experience in the field, Singh along with Dr Raghuram Mallaiah (director, neonatologist, Fortis Le Femme) conceptualised iCHR (Integrated Child Health Record), a digital platform supported by cloud computing and mobile technology.
Singh and Mallaiah claim that there was nothing available which could track the growth charts and give vaccination details as one unified platform in the hands of the parents, and cite it as the reason for iCHR.
Launched in October 2015, the application removes the manual vaccination cards and makes the experience “paperless and traceable” from any part of the world. Also, they claim it to be the only app available in India to track the growth of premature babies both in the hospital and post discharge on the lines of similar initiatives in Australia and US. “Both the doctors and the parents are given a unique ID and password. The doctor’s digital signature is used for authentication and he is the one giving vaccines, and entering the growth vitals during the visits. Parents are not allowed to enter data but can immediately get any wrong data fixed,” says Delhi-based Singh.
Doctors and parents can also access real-time information regarding the growth and vaccination record of the child on the move. “Being secure and HIPAA compliant (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 is United States legislation that provides data privacy and security provisions for safeguarding medical information), the app is available on iOS and Andriod and can be easily linked to the hospital’s electronic medical records or hospital information systems. There is no physical software installation needed to start using the app,” he says.
Singh further explained that the application can be used in both urban and rural areas to track growth parameters in children up to five years and help in early detection of obesity (increasing trend of obesity as per WHO guidelines) and malnutrition. “We witness seven lakh neonatal deaths every year and almost three lakh such cases are because of lack of vaccinations. Once fully implemented, iCHR will be useful in providing authentic region specific data for analysing and identifying reasons and probable solutions for such problems,” he tells Metrolife.
While currently the provision is available in only five deployed hospitals, Singh plans to take it to 100 hospitals by June 2016 and 200 hospitals by the end of the year and also looks to launch the app in regional languages.
Pointing out some of the other key features of the service including periodic reminders, vaccine brand information and due date calculator, Singh mentions that the technology is available at effective pricing. “It amounts to one-third your monthly newspaper bill,”
he says.