Health Initiatives

1. Real-Time Biosurveillance Program (RTBP) – (http://rs.rtbi-iitm.in/BioSurvey/)
Project Period: 2008 - 2010 Real-Time Biosurveillance Program (RTBP) will be developed around the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) based surveillance and notification system. Problem that this program promises to solve is to strengthen existing disease surveillance and detection communication systems, reduce latencies in detecting and communicating disease information and set a standard interoperable protocol for disease information communication with National and International Health-related Organizations in the region.

This is a Multi-Partner initiative, primary partners being LIREasia (Sri Lanka) and RTBI. The project intends to harness on mobile technology.

The overall goal of the project is to improve the ability of India and Sri Lanka to respond to clinical, spatial, and weather data to form an overall probabilistic assessment of threat, and combine this probabilistic output from the detection algorithms combined with the results of decision analyses to create an implemented response decision-making system for the Epidemiology Units in the National Districts before the disease reaches a “tipping point”.

2. CARE: Project Period: 2008 – 2012 Research methods and technologies must meet the needs of study subjects and health workers as well as researchers to be successful in resource poor settings. If not, studies are subject to multiple problems including poor recruitment, poor acceptance by study staff, poor quality of data, poor quality of clinical services, and delays in accessibility of data for analysis. We propose to bring together Behavioral Scientists, Engineers, Medical Scientists, Epidemiologists and Health Economists to create a new Audio Computer Assisted Self Interview (ACASI), interactive counseling and self-testing computer tool (CARE-India) to support HIV prevention research.

This is again a multi-party initiative, Research Triangle International (USA), Resources Online (USA) and RTBI

3. Telemedicine Initiative - www.neurosynaptic.com

Completed as of March 2009

One of the products developed by Neurosynaptic Communication Private Limited (NCPL, a company incubated by the TeNet Group at IIT Madras) is ReMeDi™ and this includes an integrated one-stop hardware and software solution for basic telemedicine and telediagnostic needs.

Neurosynaptic Communication Private Limited (NCPL) and Rural Technology and Business Incubator (RTBI) determined the need to explore and implement a tele-consultation and diagnosis model that enables consultation, diagnosis & delivery of medicines and handling of referral cases, health awareness in the villages where there is a need for health care, in rural India. This is a multi-party initiative.

4. First Care – www.firstcarehealth.in

Ongoing since April 2007

First Care is a health venture that seeks to improve access to health in under-served rural markets. Launched in April 2007, First Care is being incubated by the Rural Technology and Business Incubator (RTBI), at IIT-Madras. In a radical departure from strategies seeking to improve access to health for rural populations, First Care will deliver better quality care by strengthening private Rural Health Providers (RHPs).

First Care’s core strategy is directed towards training, mentoring, supporting, and eventually accrediting local RHPs to deliver simple primary health interventions. To achieve this, we harness the potential of ICTs in creative ways. Our multifaceted interventions include an e-learning programme to improve providers’ knowledge and skills, access to online patient records (currently web based, but with mobile applications in progress), promotion of a holistic approach to patient care, online sales of reliable, and otherwise not easily available commodities and public health products, training providers in basic laboratory testing and development of e-strategies for standardization of health services.

5. Voice Based – Health Applications

Ongoing

Uniphore and RTBI are working together in building a repository for health conditions wherein information on health management for certain health conditions (Maternal & Child Health, Diabetes, Cholesterol and so on) can be accessed. VoiceNet a system developed by Uniphore Software Systems pvt. ltd. is a Personalized Voice based Information retrieval and Transaction System (PVIT). RTBI along with Uniphore is developing this interactive repository of information on selected health conditions enumerating their causes, precautions and management etc. This repository will be accessed by making calls over mobile phones to the VoiceNet system and running through an interactive menu using voice interactions in local languages. It is proposed that this service would serve as a self-help reference guide for community health workers and patients in rural areas where access to such information is otherwise limited.