One startup's resolve to make organ transplant hassle-free in India

Thursday July 20, 2017 , 2 min Read

What can someone do if he needs an organ transplant when their offspring or a relative isn't a match? How can the patient swap organ with donors from other parts of India without actually knowing how and where to find them? Even when that is taken care of, what if after travelling a long distance, the donor isn't a match? Answers to all these questions is what Credihealth claims to provide with its new algorithm.

The algorithm, which is ready and available, will act as a medium between donors from different parts of India. All one has to do is submit the patient details and with the compiled list of legal donor-recipient pairs across hospitals, Credihealth will connect eligible pairs for transplants. Their focus, for now, is to facilitate liver transplant as that is what is most sought after.

These donor-recipient pairs will then be directed to the hospital of their choice and the hospital will carry out the necessary due diligence for the transplant procedure.This system of swap donors is helpful when neither a close/near –relative or a non-close relative is a match. Ravi Virmani, one of the founders, told IANS,

"This is just the first step which will eliminate the need for travel and save expense for the patient. Often the patients are not fit to travel, and if the first step is completed at the patient's current location, this is a huge benefit."

Credihealth, which offers the services to the patients for free and charges hospitals an annual subscription fee, acts as an information provider for donor pairing and not a medical practitioner or as a specialist in donor pairing.

"It is the responsibility of the hospital authorities to seek the approvals. Our contribution is to provide the information to the patient family and the hospital via the Credihealth platform," the founder further told IANS.

Founded in 2014, Credihealth aims at being the one-stop solution for procedures that need specialised attention, including organ transplantation, chemotherapy etc. Currently, it has 80 employees, and is expecting a turnover of around Rs 18 crore in the 2017-18 financial year.