Advent of new technologies for continuous monitoring with remote devices has transformed patient care by leaps and bounds, said Dinesh Seemakurty CEO, Stasis Labs.
 
Patient monitoring has always been associated with ICUs and is not a norm at patient wards. Monitoring in wards is highly dependent on nurses where patient vitals are recorded every 3-4 hours manually. Though this mechanism has worked fine so far, there was always a scope for error in data capture or missing out on readings that could be extremely critical in clinical decision-making.
 
“Now cloud connectivity has enabled doctors to keep track of their patients' health anywhere anytime. Reports suggest that only 25% of Indian hospital beds are continuously monitored viz-a-viz 75%-80% in matured markets. Hence, there is a huge potential for such solutions in India,” he added.
 
Although patient monitoring has been in existence for ages, these devices are for ICUs. India's shortage of doctors and nursing staff will have a massive impact in ensuring proper clinical outcomes. In this regard health technology and digital health are vibrant areas for funding. VCs and PEs are always trying to enter this space especially with enterprises who maintain the agility of a technology company, noted Seemakurty.
 
This is where the Bengaluru-based Stasis was set up in 2015 after it partnered with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, a global leader in heart transplants, for the development of advanced plug and play monitoring system. It brought in the concept of ICU monitoring into the wards where nursing care cannot be exclusive. The cloud connected smart remote monitors enable live streaming of patient vitals on central tablet and the mobile app, thereby reducing clinical emergencies to a great extent.
 
The company received a fund infusion in 2016, where it raised $5 million in its seed investment round led by RTP-Healthcare Ventures. The round also saw participation from Wonder Ventures, Techstars Ventures, among others. “These funds were utilized to develop the monitoring systems that was designed in California, built in India and made for the world. We would like to tap global market starting with the US by end of 2018 after which reach out to emerging markets,” said the Stasis chief.
 
The monitoring system optimises resources but cannot substitute medical expertise. It is offered to hospitals on subscription basis enabling remote and continuous patient monitoring.
 
In 2017, Stasis was chosen to participate at the World Bank Groups TechEmerge programme. “We worked with CloudNine Maternity Hospitals and Narayana Hrudayalaya to run usability studies on the early versions of the Stasis Monitoring System. This feedback was valuable to identify the key features provided clinicians which enabled the product’s success,” he said.
 
It is current exploring entry into Tier 2 markets, government hospitals, and even home healthcare companies and would eventually expand to Tier 1 private hospitals pan-India.