Most Affordable, Home Based Clinical Care for Citizens in Kolkata
Website: ArogyaHomecare
Phone: 91-8334880900
Land-line (Office Hours 9 a.m. to 7 p.m): 033-2436-2436
Email: r3gllc@gmail.com
The Services
As part of the Arogya HomeCare service, we will be providing the following services:
- Home Visits by Doctors & Specialists
- Assistance for Specialist Visits in Chamber/OPD
- Ambulance Service
- Hospitaliation Assistance in all Major Kolkata hospitals
- Trained Nurses & Attendants
- Experienced Physiotherapists at Home
- Medical Equipment Rental & Purchase
- Lab Tests at Home from any Diagnostic Centre
- Priority Doctor Appointments
- Digital Patient Health Records
- Dedicated Care Managers
- Free Second Opinion from Global Doctor Network
1. Regular, proactive clinical care services at home (Domiciliary Disease Management).
2. Answers to complex health issues/obtaining second opinion from a global and pan-Indian network of multi-disciplinary physicians.
3. In case of any medical emergency, quick emergency retrieval to the Hospital of your choice, providing end-to-end support during hospitalization and keeping family members proactively updated.
The services are targeted for everyone, but currently we are focusing
on
the following two groups :
A. Patients who have been treated in a hospital, but who still
need continuous clinical care at home under proper guidance and monitoring.
While this means that
the patient does not need to overstay at the hospital, leading to an
exorbitant bill, it also allows Hospitals to admit new patients who require hospitalization
by freeing up beds. Once we obtain confirmation from the hospital/treating
physician that the patient can be managed at home, we consult with the
hospital/ treating physician and the patient (and his/her relatives who will be
financially responsible) to plan for his/her treatment at home. In this step,
where "Registration" and "Planning" coincide, we determine
the resources (Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANP), Physicians, Physiotherapists
and Technicians) required for effective continuing treatment and the required frequency
of their visits at home.
B. Individuals who are
not able to visit doctors for various reasons, but require periodic healthcare
(e.g.: An elderly person staying alone and/or with chronic illness, such as
High Blood Pressure/Diabetes etc.).
Our survey indicates that,
for this group, healthcare is pretty much reactive and they seek out healthcare
services only during an emergency. That means, most of them have some chronic
condition, but due to logistics (e.g.: long wait in OPDs), they seldom visit
doctors for health check-up. Only when an emergency arises, they are rushed to
the Hospital and it often turns out to be too late. As such, we are promoting
regular, proactive health check-up at the convenience of your home. To make it
cost-effective, this health check-up will be primarily provided by Advanced
Nurse Practitioners (ANPs). The Physicians, Physiotherapists and Technicians
will be involved as required. The ANP will coordinate with the Medical Coordination
and Emergency Center (MCEC) to arrange for any such home visit.
The Process
Registration: The process will start with
"Registration". For category A, this will be done at the hospital,
while for category B, it will be done over phone.
In this step we will obtain three things.
a.
Contact information and
home address to ensure that we can provide reliable and timely services
b.
The individual's health
status and information (in as much detail as possible)
c.
Few possible dates and
time when the user of the service ("User") will be available at home
for the next step of the process, the "First Visit and Planning". This
is specifically for category B, as in most cases of category A, the
"Planning" will be done at the time of release from the Hospital. If the
patient's medical expenses are being borne by a family member or friend, s/he
should be present in person or be available over phone or web-conference (Skype).
First Visit &
Planning: After reviewing the
health information and based on availability, we will arrange for a "First
Visit & Planning" session at home, which we will communicate at least
7 days ahead of time. In this step the following will take place
a.
General check-up,
b.
Health record review,
c.
Personal Health record creation
in our online system
d.
Finally, after discussion
with the "User" (and his/her relative) plan for proactive domiciliary
care and disease management of the individual.
If the individual has any family physician (or visits any
physician regularly) and if the physician is available to discuss over phone, our
medical team will consult with the physician regarding the individual's domiciliary
care management plan.
Regular, Proactive
check-up: For an individual who
has no specific requirement for Physician's home visit, as identified during
the "Planning" session, the periodic, proactive check-up will be done
by the ANP. It is cost-efficient, yet clinically effective and adheres to high medical
standards. If the ANPs, during their regular visit, identify the need for a Physician,
they will notify the Medical Coordination & Emergency Center (MCEC) and a Physician
will visit the patient within the next 24-48 hours. Similarly, the ANP can also
arrange for a Physiotherapist and/or Technician's home visit in coordination
with MCEC. The individual user can also
call for a non-emergency medical situation and if no visit is scheduled in next
24 hours, an ANP or a physician, will be dispatched to the patient within 24-48
hours.
Medical Emergency: In case of a medical emergency, the patient or
family member will call a phone number dedicated for emergency retrieval and
will be retrieved to the preferred and/or nearest hospital as soon as possible,
provided beds are available. This hospital will be decided during the
"First visit & Planning" session. We will also provide end-to-end
support during the hospitalization and will keep relatives and friends informed
with the progress.
Second Opinion: If required, for any chronic, complex health
issues we will consult a virtual pan-India and Global virtual network of
doctors (UDHC Network) to obtain second opinion.
Other At-Home Services
We will arrange for any other medical needs, as required, such as:
- Medicine at home
- Arranging for diagnostic tests
- Medical equipment setup at home
We would like to point out that the Medicine Service is much more important and has wider implications than most people think. From our surveys, we have found that many patients forget to take their daily medication and when the symptoms of their ailments resurface, realize that, s/he has run out of medicine. Our service precisely aims to reduce, and if possible, eliminate such situations altogether. This means, the ANPs during their regular visits, will ensure that the patient is taking the right medicines regularly. We will also arrange to deliver the medication in pill boxes/organizers, based on the patient's medical needs (They are very similar to the ones found in US, which I have used personally during the last 17 years of my stay in US).
Constant Communication
We will keep family members, including those located outside
Kolkata, regularly updated with the individual's health status. This update
will be done synchronously via two-way communication, using Skype or phone and asynchronously
via one-way communication through Email.
We will also set up Internet for web conversation/video chats
between the individual and his/her family, if required. In fact, if the
individual doesn't want to have a permanent internet setup, our ANPs will
arrange for web/video conferencing with families using their PDAs/Smartphone/Tablets during their regular visits.
Unique Features
Finally, we will like to highlight the unique features of Arogya HomeCare, as compared to a couple of Homecare services recently launched in India:
- While current Homecare services do not include Physicians or include them at a very high-cost, we will provide Physician support at the lowest cost possible and only when required. To make the homecare cost-efficient, yet clinically effective and of high-quality, we have introduced the clinically competent, highly trained and experienced ANP resources, not available with any other homecare models.
- Our roots being local in Kolkata, we have a large and wide network of experienced Physicians and trained Advanced Nurse Practitioners, Physiotherapists and Technicians in Kolkata. On the other hand, our expertise and network being pan-India and global, we will be able to bring the best practices and quality care in Homecare in Kolkata via these providers.
- Unlike other Home Care services, we are ably supported by a virtual community of experienced physicians (UDHC network) all across India and around the globe, providing consultation or second opinion to complex and chronic health issues.
- Thus, with the perfect combination of local care, global expertise, and commitment to quality, Arogya HomeCare ensures best practices and quality healthcare at your home in Kolkata.
- Our Medical Coordination & Emergency Center (MCEC), in consultation with the ANP, will coordinate all the periodic/regular clinical/medical needs. The bottom line is, while the ANP will bring the personal touch, the MCEC will be your point of contact for any medical needs pertaining to you and your loved ones in Kolkata.
- But above all, the unique part of our service, as compared to the other services are, our Emergency Retrieval Service. Most of the other Homecare services shy away from this due to logistics and accountability issues. In case of any medical emergency, we will just need a phone call at our 24X7 Medical Coordination and Emergency Centre to arrange for a patient's safe retrieval to the nearest hospital or the hospital of your/patient's choice. (We will have a list of the preferred Hospitals during "Planning" session).
- On the other hand, unlike the Ambulance services operated by a few locally-based NGOs. just retrieving the patient to the Hospital is not where our service ends. We will follow up with complete end-to-end support during the period of hospitalization, along with providing regular updates to family and friends.
- And last but by no means the least, is our financial model. It is a "No Loss, No Profit Model" aimed to cater to as many Kolkata citizens as possible, but without compromising on quality. It is a purely "Pay for Service" model without any subscription fees or monthly/annual membership fees - as such, the amount charged in the "First Visit" is only for the clinical service offered by the ANP and/or the Physician, while the "Planning" remains absolutely free. Unlike the recently launched for-profit Homecare companies, we don't have costly packages that you have to have under a "use it or lose it" model where profit is the sole criteria. On the other hand, unlike some NGOs who offer some sporadic elderly services for annual membership, we don't have any such Annual fees, but will offer a much more comprehensive, professional service where you will pay only for the clinical services and goods received, nothing more nothing less.
Down the road, we will be adding other features, such as bill payments and more to our list of services, but as of now, we are focusing mainly on the Healthcare aspect.
Special Note: We will like to clarify that for any long-term Ayah services (also dubbed as 8 hrs/12 hrs/24 hrs nurse services), we can provide references and connections, but we will not be providing such services, as these services are available in every nook and corner of Kolkata. We also realize that since these resources are not clinically trained, they should be properly monitored and their duties clearly specified and demarcated. There have been serious clinical issues caused by such untrained resources overstepping medical boundaries and/or improperly handling the patient. If you choose to have an Ayah (Nurse) service, our ANPs/GPs will train them regarding their duties, responsibilities, and medical boundaries (e.g: For a certain patient with the history of a specific illness, the ayah/nurse should call our Emergency Center immediately should certain symptoms arise, instead of trying to do anything at home). This way the ANPs, along with our Medical Coordination Center (described below), will be able to closely monitor them.