Covid-19 and the adaptation by iKure in the service offerings, during the pandemic- a synopsis

February 12, 2019• Video

Covid-19 and the adaptation by iKure in the service offerings, during the pandemic- a synopsis

Covid-19 has churned out the whole human civilization into an abyss of indefinite uncertainty with the appalling incidents and consequences, including an unacceptable record of deaths and sufferings worldwide, which has thrown mankind out of gear and the uphill struggle for a safe survival continues.

Coupled with this disease menace, is the scenario of economic gloom arising out of job layouts, downsizing of companies, lack of new job prospects etc. which is bringing in an enormous amount of despondency and negative affections of mind and body, unheard of this kind earlier.

iKure being a population healthcare service provider enabled by Technology and Research oriented objectives, has made an attempt to be a forerunner in the sector of healthcare in rendering its services, during such difficult times, to all stake holders in more than one novel ways backed by the skills and expertise of our employees from all walks of training and experience towards our declared mission of ensuring “Zero Mortality” through primary healthcare and beyond.

Ways in which iKure stood out to adapt to the current unprecedented crisis

Based on the three prongs of prevention i.e., social (physical) distancing/usage of barrier tools like masks & hand sanitizers to say the minimum, iKure has embarked on a path of remote consultation for patients through the new concept of Telemedicine which has enabled a large no. of clients/patients to seek medical attention from the safe confines of their homes and the Physicians feeling safe at their point of presence.
In the events of some subjects/patients approaching our hubs/clinics, the safety measures have been strictly put in place, (with PPE-s etc.) to ensure safety of all concerned and a smooth play of operations to continue as earlier within the norms of recommended prevention guidelines.
Special measures have been put in place to render door step services

(Albeit with mutual protection of subjects & staff) to deliver medicinal items/ related consumables and any other medical attention/advice that may need at any point of time…through our field workers (CHW-s).

POC Tools/Devices have been made available to community members through our staff and CHW-s, for a directed approach to Covid-19, up the ladder of scientific strategy to address it.

During the peak healthcare crisis ’Oxygen Concentrator’s were arranged for desperate and needy patients who otherwise would have succumbed to the disease! Anecdotal incidents of providing expert opinion and guidance to few critical subjects infected with the virus helped them pull out of crisis and survive albeit with few sad mortalities though.

Our Doctors have been attuned to the call of the times, to be sensitive towards our patients, at the same time being on guard to detect suspicious infected cases and do the needful as per the advised protocol of the health authorities…imparting relevant health education to the subjects in attendance.

Novel projects undertaken by iKure

Screening the blue-collar workers (in the realty & real estate industry sector) for Covid-19, by means of well decided clinical vital parameters at site and follow the recommended protocols of suspicion of the infection in any of the persons screened. Our ground staff have physically attended such events with due precautions, almost on a daily basis, during the peak crisis period and provided a social service in a proactive approach to healthcare…under the supervision of Medical Professional(s).

A first ever Bio-Bubble Project mission at a Cricket Tournament in another state, handling reputed players and their associates through laid down Covid-19 safety protocols, enabled by frequent testing and screenings within the framework of a seamless harnessing of technology and trained manpower and means to trouble shoot the breaches, if any, during the whole session. The venture was hugely successful and widely commended by the organizers, athletic personalities and public forum.
During the second wave of the pandemic Remote Monitoring of Covid-19 +ve subjects was undertaken by daily monitoring calls and enquiries and periodical virtual consultations with Doctors/Monitoring team members to help tide over the critical fortnight period. Few were guided for Hospital admissions depending on their physical conditions.
Attempts were also made to secure small isolation spaces for those with mild affection of the disease, supported with oxygen and gadgets for a closer monitoring.
A glaring example of a PPP (Public–Private–Partnership) may be cited by mentioning the launch of a Telemedicine collaboration with the Govt of Nagaland, (Naga Telehealth) in joint efforts with another prominent Indian association, to serve the community of Nagaland, which is a hilly terrain basically, in seeking medical attention from Doctors at Govt Health Centers there by means of remote consultations on general and specific health issues, centering the pandemic and beyond.
To boost the morale of our staff, iKure had arranged a whole remote session with a ‘clinical psychologist’, to address the common feelings of our employees during this pandemic season, where ‘work from home’ has been the norm, so that along with their psyche the productivity does not sag and they can adapt themselves to cope up with any such mental issues in their stride.

It is because of such concerted and consolidated approach to serving humanity during such unprecedented times with mounting challenges, guided by mentors and domain experts in our team, with unflinching dedication and sincerity and confidence, the World Economic Forum has offered iKure a coveted space in the top 50 listing of organizations, which displayed exemplary activity in such crisis times.

It is an honor bestowed upon us, serving as an impetus to move on with our mission with more dedication and objectivity.

Efforts ongoing

iKure wishes to plan with foresight, ventures involving our service offerings in other states and may be beyond Indian shores based on the success of our initiatives this far.
Webinar has been arranged by our staff to keep public enlightened on the nuances of “Post-acute / Long Covid Syndrome “seen to affect a section of those suffered this illness…with opinions and recommendations from domain experts/Doctors in the virtual seminar.
Work in the Non-communicable Disease area (NCD) which is the need of the hour in this country, keeping the Covid-19 affection in mind, is being planned in a refined manner, since this particular virus affects the CVS in a major way, along with other co-morbidities, as surfacing from those who contracted the disease and those who recovered from the illness!
Some critical research areas are also been looked into, which engages the data acquired in re-guiding us through AI and/or ML mechanisms, on few members of NCD-s as the scope may be obtained such as Diabetes/Hypertension etc.

Stake holder partnerships are being explored by our business associates for more and more Govt/Pvt. Collaborations and grant providers, based on our track record of success and innumerable accolades that the organization has achieved by dint of merit amidst tough competitions.

Since the pandemic is far from over yet we do not know what is in store for mankind once the virus leaves civilization. The challenges are indeed in the realm of the unknown.

Whether we have really achieved herd immunity. Whether we have managed to eradicate the virus for good. What are the residual signs/symptoms of those who have been affected by the Virus? Are only issues that time will tell and help us unfold but till then, iKure shall continue with its offerings in healthcare in all possible ways both traditional and innovative in nature to mitigate the health issues in the post-pandemic era that’s for sure.

Peace Proposal

The challenges facing society—a global pandemic, the climate crisis, social and political upheaval, and inequality—are happening at a time when there is a significant trust deficit, and in large part because of it. The implicit social contract between institutions and individuals has frayed.

And we’ve seen the results first-hand. So, the first step in any healing and rebuilding is the reestablishment of trust.

Trust is a relationship in which we are vulnerable to others’ actions—a relationship in which we are not just relying on the other party to do what we want; we are trusting them to do what we want and not hurt us in the process. This means that the poor and downtrodden must feel safe that you will not be inflicting any further misery. Trust goes much beyond following the letter of the law, it is about setting high standards. It is about replacing every iota of greed with purpose. It is about being the change that we want to see and service before self. It is about enabling the best minds and action and service before self. It is about leadership. It is about listening and then acting. It is not about imposing one`s ideas on others, but about letting the people speak. Though the wounds inflicted are medical in nature, it is not about treating, but about healing, it is about the person and not the patient. It is about empathy and humility that we do not know everything, but we shall work with you and find solutions. It is about being sensitive and feeling the pain and misery of others and about giving.

To win the trust of the population at large, all teams, groups or companies must first establish trust among each other and establish purpose. It is about breaking down barriers and silos and reaching out to one another and filling in any deficiencies that the other may have. It is about helping people introspect, meditate, dig deep and bring solutions themselves. It is about building human connections. It is about enabling bringing the whole selves into society. It is about accepting imperfections and making people believe that it is alright to fail. It is about providing people psychological security and its not just about the winners, its also about the people who put in effort and did not succeed. Its about celebrating the little goodness and throwing away the not so good.

This must start from the top and the leadership must by example. We must define leadership as looking after the person to the left and the right of you and win them over with honest deeds. It is important to look at the bigger picture and the haves need to look after the have nots and one must give till it hurts. Greed and hate will only beget destruction which will come back to engulf us. Leaders need to sheath swords, silence war drums and become the missionaries of peace. We should speak the language of humanity, in a language that people understand.

At iKure, we not just hire, but work with people who are aligned with our core values and believe in being good and doing good. We believe in each other and our drive is purpose and not wealth. We believe in managing and healing the whole human being and therefore we are working with like minded musicians and artists to build purpose and community cohesion.

We believe that vaccination is important for our future survival and are making an effort not just to immunise our own team but people in far flung areas where the supply chain may not reach. We are collaborating with government and non-governmental bodies in not just providing medical help but also improve the social determinants like Income and social protection, Education, Unemployment and job insecurity, Working life conditions, Food insecurity, Housing, basic amenities and the environment, early childhood development, social inclusion and non-discrimination, structural conflict, access to affordable health and services of decent quality.

Going by the plight of the migrant labourers, it has now become imperative to find employment near the place of residence, which will mean working with the people and develop a love for their own land and identity and making the villagers to be self sufficient and develop business models for them to thrive. The enormous indigenous wealth in the villages needs to be tapped, which is sustainable and green.

As much as the pandemic has been a cause for death, despondency and destruction, there has also been increased amount of collaboration, cooperation and resilience. People have gone out of the way to help their neighbours and in this strife, there have emerged stories of compassion that have given hope. With digitalisation and less consumption of fossil fuels, there has been gross improvements in the environment. For the first time we have been able to breath fresh air.

We at iKure are committed to continue breathe this fresh air and are committed to do what it takes. We are people with courage, empathy and humility and healers of the mind, body and soul who look at the holistic approach to healthcare and combine the tradition with the modern. We combine human touch with technology and believe in the user experience of both the healers and the healed.

Population Scale Impact Through Societal Platform Lens

iKure’s journey started in 2010 to address the inadequate and inaccessible primary healthcare for the last mile using technology. We have impacted 12 M population across 8 states in India. We have the data capability powered by AI and machine learning algorithm for actionable research interventions and many more. With a full proof model, we began at a small scale. But soon, we learnt the limitation of the model that could reach only a fraction of the population when the problem was common for 70% of the India’s rural villages.

We wondered, can iKure solve the problem individually? Can we create doctors overnight or build infrastructure to solve the problem at scale? The answer was no. The problem is dynamic and multivariant in nature. On one hand, we have primary health centres that remains ineffective and less utilized due to the shortage of staff, resources and quality care and on the other hand, India with a vast population of 1.3 billion needs to build 200,000 health and wellness centres to address the demand and supply gap. In this context, iKure with 200 centres was insignificant to match up to the need.

Societal Platform thinking was important for us to reflect that technology can be the key enabler to scale, but it cannot bring different actors co-create solution together and amplify at a population scale. iKure aimed to build a shared infrastructure for multiple actors to come together to solve the common goal. We wanted to create such infrastructure, where people can access the health system with hope and newer possibilities. The Naga telehealth was an effort to introduce the platform thinking of co-creating together with the Government, technology partners, research partners, NGOs and grassroot members. The system opened access to healthcare, prevention and wellness for the entire state of Nagaland leveraging 192 sub health centres and 19 primary health centres.

The prototype model is adapted in Khunti District, Jharkhand with JICA to transform the ineffective health system into a dynamic one. It is serving the district hospitals, community sub-centres, and primary health centres. This has set an example for other state governments to follow, where we are partnering with 5 State governments to leverage the shared digital infrastructure for greater utilization and access to health and wellness centres and promote prevention and awareness at the community level through frontline health workers. The platform is also available in hybrid model to drive rapid adaption and evolution in local context using physical health workforce presence at patient’s door-steps. The shared digital infrastructure has co-created network of engagement at different levels. It has enabled remote health monitoring services through NGOs and self-help groups and addressing the behavioural and cultural barriers that cause vaccine hesitancies in rural villages through frontline health workers. It will bring 200,000 frontline health workers using the shared infrastructure at a mass level. In all these cases, the architecture design needs to foster trust and ownership. Use of AI model can only find relevance, if the platform ensures data privacy for all the actors in the ecosystem. Towards this, iKure is working with ODI-Microsoft to develop an automated open data platform ensuring right data reaches to right hands. A shared and collective understanding of different stakeholders can solve the problem of healthcare in totality. Through our shared infrastructure, we aim to reach out to our beneficiaries irrespective of where they are. iKure through SP lens believes the power of shared infrastructure can amplify its potential to serve at a population scale.

February, 2019 Archive