Personal Health Record

Monday, January 31, 2011

Hcx India: Our article

Hcx India: Our article

Our article


HCX is an IT company and is engaged in becoming a Health Insurance Claim Information Exchange, a platform that enables Hospitals, Insurance Companies, TPAs, Customers to be connected for transfer of information on health claims submission for Pre-authorization Approvals, Filing of billing details by Hospitals as well as on-line validation of policy details at the time of admissions. The company has been able to link with more than 2500 hospitals across the country and the efforts are on-going to further expand the reach.

The company is also providing an on-line Personal Health Records (PHR) manager where people can convert and store their health records and medical history including reports from paper base to electronic form. The user has the option of sharing the records with family members or doctors for regular as well as second opinion related matters – all this on-line and anywhere. This can be self updated online or via a phone call to the company every time the user gets blood pressure or sugar level or any other health check-up done. This can be very useful even for new born babies for maintaining the health records from birth itself the system can also be programmed to act as reminder service for vaccination/immunization schedules as well as doctors visit. The reminders can be set as SMS or email.

In addition the company also offers an innovative product aimed at preventive health in which along with an on-line Personal Health Record account the buyers also get the benefit of full body preventive health checks with report on 59 various parameters at our empanelled diagnostic labs, general consultation visits at network hospitals or general physicians and visits at specialist doctors. In addition the buyers also get a health card which contains information on health including emergency contact details, family doctor, allergies, details of medicines being taken and access details of on-line PHR. These details can be very useful in the event of any emergency. This health card also entitles the buyers to get discounts at empanelled hospitals and diagnostic centers for OPD, IPD as well as diagnostic services.

Your first client (and how you landed the deal):
We are now at the stage of implementing the health information exchange platform for 3 companies – we are getting into these as pilot phase so that we are able to iron-out any implementation related issues – all these deals we are able to get by proving to the companies that by adopting a IT enabled processes – the companies can gain better work efficiencies, improve productivity of people and above all improve information flow to the customers while handling health claims.

Your lucky moment:
Initially when we brought this concept of Health Information Exchange and were in the process of building the network of hospitals – many Third Party Administrators considered us also as a TPA whereas we are an IT company and are providing on-line medium of transferring information from hospital to claim approving authorities like Insurance Company or a TPA, the lucky moment was when I received calls from many existing TPAs who showed interest in utilizing the platform for receiving the information from hospitals which actually will improve the over-all work efficiency, as TPAs utilizing this platform was initially not in  our business plan . We are now in dialog with few TPAs also who may adopt this IT platform.
Describe how you got the idea. How many times did it change in year one and why?
Well the idea of initiating health exchange had been in mind for number of years – as in our current process the flow of information from Hospitals to Claim Approving Authorities has been manual which more often than not results in delays, errors and the claiming customers are always guessing weather the case had been approved or rejected etc. and this leg in the process required a robust IT driven process – our technology partner has been providing these processes for past 18 years in US markets hence the platform available with us is quite robust and has been through test of time.

The PHR is an emerging need of customers and we want to be little ahead of the curve in pioneering this concept by making the record updating processes more user friendly so that people with less know-how on computers are also able to take benefit of maintaining health records on-line.

The OPD and Preventive Health product is purely on the basis of our market study where we have witnessed that people resort to self medication as they are not aware of good doctors or they want to see another good doctor but are not aware on where and how can they find once. Here our assistance as part of our product offer can make the experience a lot better as we can also fix appointments with doctors for our customers.

Did you conduct any study/survey to assess the market?
Yes for Health Exchange before we started building the network of hospitals, we did in-depth study on how the current processes are functioning as one would appreciate despite being manual we do have processes which are functional – however our major focus had been to establish the pain points in the current process and how this IT enabled process can eliminate these pain areas. Some very interesting features came to light – hospitals are quite keen to adopt IT enabled processes but with companies wanting them to use their systems the hospitals are not comfortable to use so many login/passwords for seeking the approvals. Similarly many Insurance Companies or TPA as part of setup have developed localized systems and now with inability to upgrade with changing times are using manual processes. There is an appreciation of the need at both the ends however earlier there was no choice as well as option which could make these ends meet but now we have the system which can make both the ends smile and above all the customer gets complete information on how the claim is getting processed.

Who was most difficult to convince about the idea/jump into entrepreneurship?
The IT people in companies initially were very difficult to convince as they thought developing such a health information exchange platform was easy and could be done in no time. However over a period of time they have started realizing that this piece is not the core function as this is only an information flow system at the same time they too have realized that hospitals that are also key in the process are far more comfortable using a single window for logging claims information.
 The first five things you did (in order of execution).
I set up a team of very few people who had excellent track record in their previous assignments and would take up the job on my word. Started building hospital network.
Customized the IT platform as per work processes prevalent in India in Health Information Flow from Hospitals. Made our presence at all potential customer locations

Name one good surprise in year one
This was when we thought of getting the customer which seemed so easy initially and later acted as most difficult
 Lesson from year one that no management book could teach:
Setting up a company with new concept and driving the effort through young and less experienced people is quite a challenging task but keeping the people happy and continuously showing them that each milestone achieved can add to their overall success is biggest lesson I learnt during the year.
 Your secret Plan B:
Well, at this juncture of life where I could have continued to enjoy life in Insurance Companies I decided to take this new role where I am also an investing partner at the same time many members in the team joined looking at me. Now I owe to them a brighter future and better career hence my plan B is “Go to plan A”.
 I think I succeeded because….
Because I think I was able to develop a good team which is determined to carry forward this initiative.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

“Get introduced to a Health Account with Cashless OPD services “

When do we actually start worrying about health? When our loved ones are ill or when we are
ill ourselves. That’s when we become active seekers of any possible health related information
corresponding to our current illness. Looking for the right doctor, getting appointment with the
doctor the endless search on the internet, calling long lost cousins simple because they are doctors,
reading out our medical reports to them.

This is the health scenario in India. Research has shown that 5.2% of India’s GDP goes into
healthcare services such as OPD, IPD medical bills etc. On an average an Indian family spends 25k
per annum on healthcare. Now even after spending a colossal amount of money on healthcare
we end up feeling robbed and are somewhat disappointed by the quality of healthcare provided.
And when we finally visit the doctor, he asks for our past medical reports which makes many
of us hysterical.

We try our best to gather all the past health reports, past scans, possibly the
prescriptions etc etc in short any medical report which can aid us in this time of absolute urgency.
Getting all our past medical history can be an extremely tiresome task and let’s admit it we never
really bothered to put all those files in an organized manner. Even if we did make separate files for
all the medical conditions we ever suffered from but thanks to the quality of paper the documents
are not readable, are brittle, yellow etc.

Now let’s imagine a scenario where there is a technology artist who can actually save all your
medical files in a digitized form, will provide you with OPD consultancy will help you cut down
your medical bills will provide you with comprehensive body check up covering 59 parameters of
your body and will finally provide you with a HEALTH ACCOUNT. A health account by the name
of Personal Health Record (PHR) will be provided. PHR enables uploading and retrieval of health
records anywhere/anytime using internet.


Now you can enter maintain and retrieve personal health records on a click without the worry of maintaining paper-based files. The web based solution offers the capability to include emergency contact details, doctor details, insurance details, medication history, doctor visits and consultation, Immunization records, allergies and many more. It also has the capabilities to track and chart vital health parameters such as sugar level, blood pressure and weight management charts and share data with hospitals/doctors/family members
easily. Giving you 24 ×7 access to your health. Will remind you about your doctor appointments, about the vaccinations that your child needs at regular intervals. Will keep all your medical reports, X-rays, prescriptions and all the documents related to your health in a secured manner. This ingenious artist is called “My Smart Health”.

My Smart health” is a health asset for enhancing and securing your and your family’s health. It
provides you with preventive health coverage. We provide you with the comfort of walking into any
of our empanelled hospitals for OPD Consultancy, Specialist Consultancy and Comprehensive health
checkups. Imagine the happy feeling of not having to worry about fixing a doctor’s appointment,
carrying bulky medical files or getting hassled about finding a good doctor. We also help you save
on additional health expenditure by providing you discounts on OPD, IPD, Diagnostic Tests and
medicines.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Personal Health Record

HCX;s Personal Health Record online, simplifies the maintenance, access and reference of our medical history. PHRs of individuals or families can be maintained online. The PHR is a vast repository of information comprising the patient’s personal details and his/her medical history that includes information regarding previous surgeries or medical conditions, medication history, the treatment, emergency contact details, hospitalization history, allergies, blood group and so on. The PHR also acts as your personal assistant by sending your SMS and email alerts on your doctor’s appointments, or any lab tests that are due or even a booster dose of vaccinations that you need your children to take.

HCX’s web-based PHR is safe, trustworthy and can be accessed only by the user who creates the account. The ease-of-use and convenience of the PHR while simplifying the maintenance of important and confidential medical information of the user can also be used, in extreme emergencies, by a trusted and known person affiliated to the user. There may be instances when the user would be unable to access his account. However, if the user has consented to give access to his/ her PHR to a trusted confidante or known relative/ friend or family, this PHR could be shared by the healthcare facility or physician treating him.

Hcx India: Healthcare Information Exchange Company India

Hcx India: Healthcare Information Exchange Company India

Healthcare Information Exchange Company India

HealthCare InfoXchange India Pvt. Ltd. (HCX) is a healthcare company that aims at simplifying processes related to healthcare in India. To achieve this goal HCX is taking steps towards introducing web enabled platforms in health industry. These web platforms help simplify cumbersome healthcare transactions existing in this country. HCX started its unprecedented journey on the 3rd of October 2009 with strength of 10 employees. Growing since, it has been able to come up with a series of four healthcare products aimed at redefining the current healthcare structure. The 4 products offered by HCX are:

    * Personal Health Record(PHR)
    * Electronic Medical Record(EMR)
    * Online Claims Data Exchange
    * Hospital Information System(HIS)

HCX is the joint venture of Bajaj Capital, India and IGI, USA. Bajaj Capital is one of India’s premier Investment Advisory and Financial Planning companies. It is also SEBI approved category I Merchant Bankers. It offers personalized Investment Advisory and Financial Planning Service to individual investors, corporate houses, institutional investors, Non Resident Indians and High Net worth clients