The Evolution of WHIMS - What Healthcare Organizations can learn from its genesis, development, and future potential

Abstract

A lot of development as happened in the healthcare space and one of that is the fact that even the remotest parts of the country, including the often- neglected tribal belts, can obtain diagnosis of their ailments through IoT powered Point of Care Testing (POCT) devices. While the potential for POCT to establish equitable healthcare for the underserved was clear, there was inertia in adopting such technologies at scale. iKure is a tech-driven, social enterprise that meets the rural health care and prevention needs through a unique combination of health outreach initiatives, skills development, and technology intervention. iKure functions on an award-winning operating model. They created a centralized distribution model which consolidates information, equipment and supplies at a central Hub and propagates the same to peripheral care centers or Spokes. A medically trained core care delivery team occupies the central Hubs in places like West Bengal, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, and Orissa. The Spokes are manned by trained Community Health Workers (CHWs) who under the guidance of the core team deliver essential services with the aid of POC devices. Their portfolio of services has evolved over the years and now includes on-site general medicines, maternal and childcare, computerized eye care, on-site eye glass cutting and edging, pathology services and telemedicine. However, their pioneering product is the in-house developed, low-cost, data-analysis software, Wireless Health Incident Monitoring System. WHIMS is a cloud-based platform that enables collection of accurate wellness information for effective preemptive and preventive action. The platform is designed to stay resilient to erratic power supplies and limited bandwidth through offline storage and timely data uploads.