India has only 2.3 critical care beds per 100,000 population – far less in comparison to developed countries like South Korea and Singapore which have 10 to 11 beds for the same population. The challenge of providing an adequate number of beds is further exacerbated due to the COVID-19 crisis and transitions in the health profile of the population. There is a steady rise in caseloads and hospitalizations, and with having to shift patients to hospitals in urban areas, there is also delay and increase in cost of treatment. Due to these roadblocks many patients do not receive timely intervention, leading to complications and preventable mortalities. Therefore, there is an urgent need for innovative and context-specific solutions to optimise the utilisation of healthcare specialists and augment India’s critical treatment facilities.

Carenation

Carenation, a remote tele-ICU solution by Teslon is a single-unified tech-enabled platform that facilitates continuous data collection and monitoring of patients. It enables physicians and doctors to remotely monitor patients in underserved areas, and provide timely critical care to them. This solves the problem of limited critical care infrastructure and workforce by using technology to reach the underserved parts of the country. By minimising contact with patients, Carenation also reduces the risk of exposure for highly communicable diseases for healthcare workers, doctors and specialists. The large dataset generated by Carenations can be used to train AI models to assess the health risk of a patient and predict the probability of complications to enable timely decisions. Teslon is also exploring its potential for enhancing the capability of intensivists to address a larger volume of patients at a time. Being a remote telecare platform, Carenation will also lead to a reduction in out-of-pocket expenditure for patients, who would otherwise spend a significant amount on travel and accommodation.