In a major COVID-19 pandemic Public Health initiative, the Public Health and Family Welfare Department, Govt of Telangana, invested swiftly to deploy India’s first automated “COVID – 19 Monitoring System App” developed by Vera Smart Healthcare to identify, undertake live surveillance, track, monitor, and provide real-time analytics to Chief Minister and the Health Department.
“COVID – 19 Monitoring System App”, developed in a record time to deal with the pandemic, enables live surveillance, monitoring, tracking, reporting, and major bulletins. The analytics by the app also facilitate assurance to the stakeholders by providing the facts and figures in their fingertips.
The system empowers each health-caller to handle 1500+ calls, and simple chatbot interaction every day with a patient, to ensure that the symptomatic or confirmed ‘positive’, quarantined and is under treatment, helping to strengthen the COVID contacts outreach significantly. The callers will also persuade and remind the patient to self-administer the prescribed treatment, to maintain social distancing, as well as give a reminder to stay home and stay safe.
This user-friendly app is developed by the US and Hyderabad based, early stage start-up Vera Smart Healthcare, which had earlier helped Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu, to create detailed health profiles for more than 50000 people across these 3 states in a record number of days.
Vera has introduced the first-ever mobile hospital in India to help increase healthcare accessibility in rural areas covering most of the Indian villages. The company focuses on building smart hospitals in India along with its technology partner Fellow.
Announcing the successful deployment of Vera’s COVID – 19 Monitoring System App, Director of Public Health Dr. G Srinivas Rao, for COVID surveillance, commended Vera Smart Healthcare expertise to handle COVID surveillance complexities, understand the protocol, and developing the technology platform in a record of 3 days.
The system has helped us first, track and monitor the foreign returnees; community spread and already hospitalised for severe acute respiratory infection (SARS) very early to control spread of COVID pandemic in the state.”
“Vera Centralised COVID Monitoring System is a timely technology innovation, eased the pain off by effective surveillance, and deploy a meticulous tech-enabled method to collate vital data, at the click of a button empowering active associates across the state, from the hierarchical polity to bureaucracy to the front line ASHA & ANM workers, to make COVID – 19, a history.” Dr. Srinivas stated
“The Monitoring System which is built on a digital platform, erases human errors, and provides accurate information. The quick turnaround, and the innovative psyche, has initiated improved surveillance, tracking – effective monitoring, and supervision.” Dr. Srinivas added.
Explaining its benefits, Dharma Teja Nukarapu, Founder and CEO of Vera Healthcare stated “Our technology is based on IoT, Smart devices, GPS and Geotag via a super lite centralized App – COVID – 19 Monitoring System, which is installed in the phones of all associates from the ground level till the Chief Minister’s Office. The system was built by Vera in record time. Every stakeholder got comprehensive training on using the App.”
“Among the vital features of the app is Geotagging and GPS tracking of the home quarantined person, to ensure that he/she is not breaching the law of quarantine. With instant trace and trackability, accurate information is pushed to the authorities even if there is a breach. Every detail reported –reaches the Chief Minister’s Office through various updaters like the ASHA worker, Doctor, Police, concerned Bureaucrat.”
“Vera Healthcare is now readying to release a batch of “SMART PATCH” which tags the patient geographically, monitors and disseminates his / her real-time health progress” Dharma Teja added.
COVID -19 Monitoring System – Touch Points
· ASHA and ANM worker – at the frontline: At any given point of time, around 1500-2000 of these workers use the App. A total of more than 5000 ASHA ANM workers are involved, and are using the App to identify, register, track, monitor and report the health condition of the patients who are home quarantined for symptoms
· PHC sub-center – Around 4800 in number, receive data from the ASHA workers, push them to the next level.
· PHC – Public Health Centre, 886 in the state, flows out the data to the District Medical Health Office.
· DMHO – the officer-in-charge takes charge of the situation in the respective districts by following the concerned hierarchical officer at the Health Department, to whom the data is transmitted.
