Akhand Jyoti Patient Centric APP
Akhand Jyoti is doing over 900,000 screenings of patients and 70,000 surgeries annually with a Tertiary Centre (350-bed hospital), 3 secondary centers (50-bed hospitals), and 8 Vision Centers across Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. It aims to screen do over 200,000 surgeries yearly by 2022. Two more secondary centers (50-bed hospitals) are lined up to be inaugurated this year and Akhand Jyoti plans to launch 100 more Vision centers by 2024
With the current COVID- 19 crisis that has affected globally, Akhand Jyoti must reinvent newer ways to be on track with its cause and goals. In this respect, Akhand Jyoti has proposed newer methods to continue doing its work.
Existing Challenges:
1.
Outreach screening camps have been banned by the government to avoid crowding. Akhand Jyoti historically has been screening over 500000 poor patients/year. With respect to the official mandate, the outreach screening camp model of Akhand Jyoti has been made redundant.
2.
In the light of the COVID-19 crisis, the post-COVID-19 outbreak scenario will make social distancing mandatory. In this light, Akhand Jyoti is mandated to avoid overcrowding of its centers and service patients with due diligence.
Solutions:
1. Implement Door-to-door screening for beneficiary Identification:
To circumvent the current ban on outreach screening camps, Akhand Jyoti has initiated a door-to-door screening program to support the blind beneficiaries who would otherwise be left in the lurch.
Teams compromising of 1 outreach promoter and 1 Optometrist travels to villages and does a door-to-door screening audit for people requiring eye care services.
Each team would be provided with a TAB with an outreach APP(indigenously developed). Patients identified are screened at the site with their details and fed into the APP. The Optometrist one case to case basis, for additional clinical opinion logs into the APP along with a Video Calling software (like WhatsApp video call) and connect the patient to an in-house doctor at Akhand Jyoti’s tertiary center.
This helps in servicing patients onsite and a prescription is provided to the patient. Patients identified for surgery are provided for a suitable date to come down to the surgical center wherein they are provided free eye surgery.
In the future to the APP would help patients to be counseled on -site. The APP would also be used by our existing/ upcoming Vision center Optometrist to help connect patients with doctors for specialty consultation. This would significantly cut down unnecessary patient travel to our centers for eye care services.
2. Develop and implement an online appointment scheduler with an integrated Hospital Information System (HIS):
All patients at all centers of Akhand Jyoti are being encouraged to visit with prior appointment. This would avoid overcrowding of patients as patients intake throughout the weeks can be better managed. Patients themselves would have a hassle-free experience and can be prioritized.
Regarding this Akhand Jyoti is developing an online Appointment scheduler along with a patient website. The patient can be given an appointment through this process across its range of centers. This would be integrated with a comprehensive Tele calling center and the Hospital Information system* for an end to end digital mapping.
Akhand Jyoti HIS (Health Information System) refers to a system designed to manage healthcare data. This includes systems that collect, store, manage, and transmit a patient’s electronic medical record (EMR), a hospital’s operational management, or a system supporting healthcare policy decisions. The software if built will help keep patient history and treatment data on a digital platform and there will no loss of data. Access to patient information at any given point of time will help reduce the time taken inpatient treatment process.
Summary of Cost and Implementation Timeline
