Health Care in India-Vision 2020 document by Planning Commission of India has pointed out a diverse range of issues associated with Indian healthcare. Patient to doctor linkage, doctor to doctor linkage, and a disparity between rural and urban healthcare status are major issues which have been reiterated time and again. However, very little has been done on the ground to change the fundamentals of the sector. The gap between rural and urban healthcare appears to be widening since there has been no focus in the policy to integrate the entire healthcare system. The access to medical opinions for both the patients and the doctors has been limited to big cities only.
Failing to address these three issues not only has its implications on the health but also has strong implications for the pharmaceutical and medical device sector which strongly relies on the reforms on the grounds.
The integration of Indian healthcare is only possible when the core of Indian healthcare, all doctors across cities and villages, are empowered to make sound clinical decisions. Docplexus is exactly doing that! With a reach to over 1,35,000 doctors practicing modern medicine is India, Docplexus has the vision to change care of over one million patients every year by empowering their doctors in making clinical decisions.
Docplexus is the largest community of practicing Indian doctors where doctors from all states and union territories of India share their opinions, knowledge, and problems they face in an open forum for solutions. The secured platform accessible only to verified registered doctors allows them to share their queries and opinions without any hesitation. The community is now so tight-knit that doctors discuss and debate regarding all issues pertaining to medical practice in India, may they be treatments, policies or practices.
How did Docplexus start ?
Five years ago, 35-year-old software engineer Phanish Chandra helplessly watched his younger brother fight a losing battle against a brain disease. Though his sibling sadly passed away, the tragedy spurred Phanish to work on an innovative product which connects and empowers doctors, and would ultimately prevent tragedy he faced for many others. This was the genesis of Docplexus, a social network for doctors boasting of more than 1,35,000 registered users from all over India. The venture, which was launched in June 2014, has already received funding worth Rs. 4.6 crore from Unicorn Ventures and Austria based ASP Consulting.
Every month 6000 new qualified doctors are registering with Docplexus from 85 different specialties. To support this growth, Docplexus is also fast expanding its operations to provide a seamless experience to the doctors on all desktop, tablet, and mobile devices. The team of highly qualified engineers and medical writers work in synergy to make sure that doctors receive best medical knowledge which is easy to follow and practice.
Changing the core of Indian healthcare
Unlike developed western countries, doctors in India have very few resources to learn about new clinical insights and improve their practice. Moreover, the healthcare system as a whole is not as evolved as developed countries. Hence, doctors have to juggle a lot, to stay updated and manage their clinical practice. Docplexus helps them for all their needs.
From providing them with an opportunity to get a solution for difficult patient cases they face, to sharing their insights about new treatments, everything is now possible on the platform. Doctors have so far discussed more than 11,000 patient cases on Docplexus. Over 81,000 different clinical answers or differential diagnosis as it is known, have been made in these cases. That means more than 11,000 patients have already been directly benefitted by Docplexus.
With over 12,000 doctors visiting everyday on the platform, Docplexus provides a unique opportunity to doctors to demonstrate their clinical expertise. More than 5000 articles on various clinical topics in disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and management have been shared by the doctors.
In addition to patient cases, articles and news, Docplexus also hosts advanced learning solutions, such as webinars and online CMEs for over 1,35,000 Indian doctors. Never before in India, could anyone successfully attempt to provide these solutions to such a large audience.
Docplexus successfully created an online CME on one of the complications of diabetes, diabetic foot, which received enrollment of 2430 doctors from pan-India. The course offered a great value to doctors as practical issues in diabetic foot management was addressed in an interactive manner ready to be applied directly to patient care.
Speaking about the uniqueness of Docplexus, nation’s topmost endocrinologist Padma Bhushan Dr. Ambrish Mithal says, “I think in the era where everything is moving online, Docplexus, an online community which involves over 1,35,ooo doctors would definitely be one of the most important medium of communication and information spread in the clinical field. I think that is the way forward, over the time the days of huge conferences will actually dwindle and most knowledge sharing will happen through a platform such as Docplexus.”
Webinar on pregestational diabetes, a common problem in Indian women of childbearing age, convened by Dr. Unnikrishnan AG, CEO of Chellaram Diabetic Institute Pune, also received a great response. Taking time out from their busy schedule, 1954 doctors across India viewed this webinar live on this burning topic. Dr. Unnikrishanan, a top Key Opinion Leader (KOL), addressed 20 most important questions during live session and about 62 questions offline.
Speaking about his experience, Dr. Unnikrishnan said, “Interacting with hundreds of doctors through webinar on Docplexus was a great experience. Many colleagues personally thanked me for sharing the insights on pregestational diabetes. We connected much better and benefited mutually. Team Docplexus provided a great support and seamless experience.”
Dr. Mithal’s and Dr. Unnikrishnan’s reactions sum up why doctors in India are connecting to each other via Docplexus.
Docplexus has also started covering conferences to take them to those doctors who cannot attend conferences due to their busy schedule. Through, Docplexus these doctors can now access the insights shared at these conferences at their convenience. Docplexus has already covered Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI-FIGO) conference in Pune and International Cancer Congress held in Nagpur. Over the next few months the calendar appears much more busy for Docplexus.
Core values of Docplexus
First and foremost, Docplexus sees its commitment to take modern medicine to all Indian doctors spread across length and breadth of India. That is why Docplexus envisions to make sure that the relevant medical knowledge and policies are taken to all these doctors without restricting their opinions.
Secondly, Docplexus also ensures that impartiality about the clinical information is always maintained. This ensures that doctors can choose the best treatment or solution for their patients, ultimately ensuring patient welfare.
Docplexus also ensures that all the clinical information it provides to the doctors is well researched, scientifically justified and most importantly is the latest. This not only gives the doctors a new treatment approach but also primes them to adopt latest effective practices.
Sharing knowledge with peers
In addition to creating the community of doctors, Docplexus also ensures that experts in the modern medicine share their knowledge with peers. Docplexus has already engaged with more than 55 leading experts from a variety of specialties such as cardiology, surgery, gynecology, endocrinology, pediatrics, neurology, oncology and many others. These nationally and internationally acclaimed experts regularly visit Docplexus and share their insights about new treatment and strategies. Dr. H.K Chopra, Dr. Arvind Kumar, Dr. Ajay Kumar, Dr. J.S. Hiremath, Dr. Firuza Parikh, Dr. Prakash Tirvedi, Dr. SudheerAmbekar are some of the names who have been active and sharing their expertise on Docplexus.
While more experienced doctors get new insights about their specialty, younger doctors can build a strong base to make sure their future patients are treated with great care.
Docplexus also interacts with other stakeholders such as pharmaceutical and medical devices companies. Pharma companies have a mountain of relevant clinical information for many diseases. Unfortunately, that information is hardly reached to the doctors on the ground. Docplexus is also bringing these clinical insights to doctors.
The future roadmap
Docplexus sees itself a key member of the healthcare community in India by leading the communication between doctors. It aims to work to improve communication between all doctors in India. Improvement in communication between doctors will ensure that the doctors are updated and equipped with the advanced knowledge. As the core of Indian healthcare sees improvement, the entire healthcare scenario is bound to change.
(The author is senior medical writer, Docplexus)