Value Add

YosCare Solutions for Diabetic Care

The healthcare industry is witnessing changes in terms of adoption of new technologies and processes for improving operational efficiencies and quality of care. There is a shift from "curative" to "preventive" care, and eventually to "predictive" care, where the focus is on promoting wellness much before any illness can take root, in effect helping to create a generation of inherently healthy people.

For this to happen effectively, the end user or the consumer needs to become more proactive in managing his/her own health, in conjunction with the healthcare providers. The basis for effective healthcare is timely availability of accurate and up-to-date health records of the patient. Currently, some providers maintain health records themselves, some leave it to the patient to maintain and some don't maintain any records at all. So the records are scattered and are not available in a single place both for the doctor and for the patient. This affects quality of care especially in chronic disease management when every bit of information is vital. It also affects emergency care, where lack of timely and correction information can make the difference between life and death.

Apart from quality of care, preventive care also needs more focus— there is an overload of general information, but not much in terms of targeted information and tools that can help the consumer prevent or contain onset of lifestyle diseases like diabetes and hypertension.

Finally, it is a fact that in today's harried and hurried world, people don't have the time to take care of such an important aspect of their

life— unless it is made really easy for them, through innovative use of new technologies and platforms— so much so that an online Personal Health Account becomes as much a part of their life as their online Bank Account.

There are a host of widely available technologies/ platforms like the internet and mobile that can be utilised to create a revolution in the healthcare industry. The timing is just correct for the deployment of a health management offering that will empower the consumer to actively work with their providers to get better care for themselves and their families.

Yos Vision

Our vision is to "Empower the consumer and improve quality of Continuous HealthCare— through Innovative Interconnect of the Healthcare Ecosystem".

We aim to empower consumers to better manage and control their health by providing them a secure online Personal Healthcare Companion (YosCare) that offers

• Creation and storage of their Personal Health Records (PHR) in a single place
• Healthcare Tools and Trusted Information to help them track and manage their own health
• Connectivity with their healthcare providers to enable continuous care
• Anytime, Anywhere access to their Health information, using Internet and Mobile Technologies

By bringing a host of providers - hospitals, doctors, diagnostic centres, insurance companies, third party administrators and pharmacists - on the same platform as patients, YosCare will generate synergy between providers, and among providers and consumers to share relevant information and thus maximize the value of information.

Although a patient-owned PHR is the core of this novel application, YosCare scores by effectively bringing providers into the picture to assure its subscribers of reliable 'Continuous Care.' Providers also benefit from faster decision-making, and the resulting swift health interventions made possible by easy access to a patient's health records..

Preventive and Pro-Active Health Management

The health-management seekers can be categorized into two sets— the first set are the people who are Health Seekers, while the other set are people who have a condition and are Chronics.

• "Health Seekers" as people can be defined as those who many not have any major illnesses but who are interested in maintaining their health and the health of their family members, to make sure they can lead a healthy life always. The focus for this segment is Preventive Health Management.
• "Chronics" are people who have one or more major illnesses and are required to do some level of "health maintenance" to prevent the condition from aggravating or causing other complications. The focus for this segment is Pro-active Health Management

Diabetic Care falls into the latter category, where the focus is to enable pro-active care to ensure that people who already have diabetes know how to avoid aggravating their condition. The following section highlights how Diabetics can effectively manage their diabetes condition and prevent it from aggravating through properly designed "care" packages.

Diabetic Care Needs and YosCare Solution

In the recent past there have been many advances in the management of diabetes; but the reality is that diabetics are unable to manage their condition well due to various reasons.

• Not understanding the condition
• Not knowing where to get more information
• Not knowing what they need to ask their doctor
• Even if they do, not being able to understand what their doctor is telling them
• Not knowing how to track their condition so action can be taken at the right time
• Not being able to maintain their records properly
• Not knowing what to do in a diabetic emergency

There is a need for a comprehensive package that seamlessly interconnects the patient and the providers for a ready exchange of health records, reliable health information and usage of health management tools that will enable and enhance quality of continuous care.

First, since the best way to deal with a problem is to learn as much as necessary about that problem, educating diabetics about their condition is the first major need. YosCare offers diabetes education material that has been generated by a panel of experts in the field. Doctors can refer their patients to YosCare for any information about the condition, saving their time, and enabling a productive dialogue between the patient and the doctor. This information will also educate the patient and also his/her family to handle various emergency scenarios that they might face.

Second, there is a need for diabetics to properly maintain records of their condition, along with details of their own and their family medical history, so that the doctor can make the right decisions, and tailor the treatment and follow up plan appropriately. Availability of these records to doctors can improve quality of care and can make the difference between life and death during an emergency. YosCare enables simplified storage and retrieval of health records through PC and/or mobile for both the patient and the doctor.

Third, once the treatment plan is given, the patients need to be able to follow the plan faithfully - whether it is taking medications on time, going for periodic tests or doctor visits. YosCare offers an online health calendar with the capability to send SMS reminders for appointments and medicine intake.

Fourth, maintaining a good diet and exercise is very critical for effective management of diabetes. However the approach to diabetes diet has remained very straight-jacketed and personalisation is missing. YosCare will offer online and personalised diet consultations with a complete understanding of Indian food and living habits.

Finally, a patient can maintain good health provided he/she monitors critical health parameters like sugar levels, BP, weight etc and records "observations of daily living" that can be readily shared with the doctors for timely health interventions.

YosCare Diabetes Care Package

As mentioned in the previous sections, diabetics need more than just monitoring - they need a comprehensive ‘care’ plan that encompasses information gathering, analysis, creation of appropriate diet and exercise habits, tools for both doctor and patient to record and monitor critical parameters and take pro-active action. YosCare's DiabetesCare Package has been designed keeping these requirements in mind, and has been tailored to cater to the specific needs of diabetics.

There are a number of tools that help diabetics to track and monitor their conditions and also share this with their doctors to help them understand their condition, and provide them with better care.

Daily Tracker (Calendar): This is very useful for patients newly diagnosed with Diabetes who are unsure as to how to deal with this new change in life and how to prepare themselves for the treatments. This tool will help them manage treatment and care activities on a daily basis through medication intake alerts and reminders, and also doctor appointments.

Diabetes Monitor: This is needed by most diabetics, since they need to track sugar levels (like random sugar, fasting sugar) on a regular basis for pro-active sugar level management and action. This tool allows recording, viewing of various blood sugar parameters and also analyses the data collected so that if any of the levels go above a safety limit, preventive steps can be taken well in advance. The doctor is also alerted in case of abnormal readings, so he can take pro-active steps to diagnose and treat the problem before it becomes critical.

Diabetes Monitor

Diabetes Diary: This is used by patients to record information about their ongoing health status, diet/exercise patterns, general well being, medicine intake, etc so that their doctor has a comprehensive view of the disease pattern and progress, and can take appropriate decisions.

Diabetes History: It is very critical for the doctor to know the complete health history of the patient, since diabetes can have a number of associated problems related to eyes, heart, kidney, etc. Access to this information, as well as lifestyle habits and family history, helps the doctor to evolve a proper treatment plan.

Self-Help for the Diabetic

There are also a number of features to help provide diabetics with the kind of information they need, to make them manage their condition better.

Diabetes Guide: There is a need for a reliable source of information which answers some common questions related to diabetes the doctor might not find time to answer, and also to debunk some common myths regarding diabetes. The Diabetes guide provides all this and more.

Diet and Exercise Guide : It is important for diabetics to know what diet/ exercise program is needed for them - what is a healthy diet, how to maintain it, what kind of exercises are suited to their specific needs. This tool helps diabetics to manage and maintain a healthy lifestyle even though they are diabetic.

Diabetes Portal: Most diabetics feel the need for a medium to discuss and share views about diabetes with other people around the world in order to benefit from their experience. They also need to know the latest developments in the area of diabetes and its treatment. The Diabetes portal — diabetescare.yoscare.in - provides both information and networking. It also serves as a site for educating the family members about the condition, and what needs to be done in case of emergency.

In summary, helping the diabetic become an active partner in their treatment plan not only builds their confidence, but also helps them help their doctor understand their condition and give them better, more personalized treatment. Giving the diabetic an integrated solution that also involves his doctor, will go a long way in improving diabetes care in the present day scenario.