Curefit’s diagnostic vertical Carefit starts telemedicine services

A week ago, the government sanctioned the long-pending telemedicine guidelines to ensure steady and quick medical services to patients due to the coronavirus lockdown. It will allow any registered medical practitioner to treat Covid-19 patients remotely or by using telemedicine tools.  

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in India, startups have also been working on different ways patients can opt for virtual OPDs using teleconsultation modules, where doctor-patient communication can happen remotely. 

While existing players like Practo, mfine, Docsapp, Dozee, and Medlife have expanded and strengthened their telemedicine services, Mukesh Bansal-led healthcare platform Cure.fit’s diagnostic setup Carefit has also launched telemedicine services. 

In a conversation with YourStory, Madan Somasundaram, Head, Carefit, explains what the platform does, and what it aims to achieve in the near future. Edited excerpts from the interview:

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YourStory (YS): What Carefit aims to do with telemedicine services, and how do you plan to achieve it? 

Madan Somasundaram (MS): In the current circumstances, with limited mobility, Carefit is empowering doctors to stay connected with their patients, and also enables consumers gain access to quality healthcare services remotely. 

We see this as a large and long-term opportunity as there will be a potentially strong shift to digital with increasingly more consumer and doctor interaction happening online. 

We aim to become the trusted platform for video consultation from both the doctor and consumer’s perspective. We expect significant traction on our platform over the next few weeks and beyond. We are also looking to add other fulfilment services in the next few weeks for our customers. 

YS: What does the product do, and how does it work? 

MS: Carefit is an online video consultation platform that connects consumers to some of the top doctors and specialists in the country across 20 different specialities. 

Consumers can book an on-demand doctor consultation on video via the Curefit app or website. They can also share health reports or investigations over chat. Post the consultation, the consumer receives digital prescription immediately on the app and email, and can also avail a free follow-up with the same doctor. 

YS: How different is Carefit from others?

MS: We aim to offer immediate connect with the doctor over video (no intermediary steps or junior doctor in between). There is a curated list of highly experienced and top doctors across the country. We also ensure we adhere to strict guidelines to onboard doctors on the platform. For example, all doctors have to be MD equivalent, with minimum years of experience. The consumer also gets to discover and choose the doctor upfront, and are not force assigned to them.

YS: What are the tech and healthcare inputs you bring in? 

MS: We have built a very strong and scalable video quality infrastructure capable of doing 100,000 consultations in a day. We are also working to maintain complete data privacy and confidentiality. We also have customised EMRs for doctors and digital health record management.

We believe that there will be a strong shift to digital modes of healthcare delivery (online consultation) not only during the coronavirus lockdown, but also going forward, as both doctors and consumers are experiencing the convenience of on-demand service delivery, and realising that physical presence for healthcare visits are not always required. 

(Edited by Megha Reddy)