Government of Karnataka and ACT Grants partner with Cloudphysician, offering 24*7 tele-ICU solution in the second hospital in Karnataka

Government of Karnataka partners with Cloudphysician, India’s indigenously developed 24*7 tele-ICU, to offer its services in Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS). Cloudphysician provides solutions to manage critically ill COVID-19 patients using intensive EMR, audio-visuals, and alert systems. Cloudphysician enables hospitals to have their beds and their patient data remotely monitored via real time audio visual tools and internet connected sensors while giving hospitals access to highly qualified remote intensivists and nurses.

In Karnataka, Cloudphysician first went live in the district hospital in Ramanagara where 36 beds are monitored through the platform. At GIMS, a total of 26 beds, out of the 70 beds in the hospital will have access to 11 specially trained doctors called intensivists and nurses 24*7.

Dr. C. N. Ashwathnarayan, Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of Higher Education, Information Technology & Biotechnology and Science & Technology in the Government of Karnataka envisaged using the solutions of Cloudphysician in hospitals across Karnataka to ensure that maximum patients have access to ICU and intensivists across the state.

Sri. Javaid Akhtar IAS, ACS Health, Sri. T.K.Anil Kumar, Principal Secretary Medical education and Sri.Pankaj Pandey, commissioner Health, have supported and welcomed the initiative.

This project is spearheaded by Dr. Thrilok Chandra, IAS, Special officer, State Critical care support unit who has ensured seamless collaboration between the health-tech platform and the hospitals.

Dr. Thrilok Chandra said, “Karnataka has been in the forefront in establishing tele- ICU facility for all government hospitals. This is a novel initiative in partnership with ACT Grants, for establishing a modern tele-ICU facility in Gulbarga.”

Cloudphysician received a grant in May 2020 from ACT Grants. ACT Grants is a INR 100cr not-for-profit grant created to empower teams that are harnessing technology to create large-scale impact in the detection, prevention and eradication of Covid-19.

Mr. Prashanth Prakash, ACT spokesperson said, “Cloudphysician has very effectively leveraged technology to make ICU services available to remote locations during this global crisis and supported the current healthcare infrastructure. At ACT Grants, our main objective is to support ideas which will create immediate impact to combat Covid-19. We believe that Cloudphysician will soon scale and provide a strong support to the healthcare ecosystem across India.”

Cloudphysician uses an in-house platform called ‘RADAR’ which connect the tele-ICU to an off-site command centre, where a critical care team, comprising of intensivists and nurses are connected with patients in distant ICUs through real-time audio, visual and electronic means, and health information is exchanged. Cloudphysician, which was launched in 2017 by Dr. Dhruv Joshi and Dr. Dileep Raman is currently live in 19 hospitals across 7 states.

Dr. Dileep Raman, Co-Founder, Cloudphysician, said, “India has just 4,500 specialists who can work in ICUs and healthcare facilities are highly understaffed to deal with the projected massive influx of critically ill patients. However, 90% of decisions around treating COVID19 patients can be taken based on data alone. Cloudphysician uses its tele-ICU solution, RADAR, as a force multiplier where one intensivist can take care of 80 patients at a time. This reduces exposure of individuals by decreasing the touch points with the patient in-turn reducing the PPE requirement. We have started providing tele-ICU support in two hospitals in Karnataka and aim to expand this facility to 500 beds across India in the near future.”

About Cloudphysician

Established in April 2017, Cloudphysician Healthcare is a tele ICU solution where they remotely connect to hospitals and provide critical care expertise. Set up by two ICU specialists, Dr. Dhruv Joshi and Dr. Dileep Raman, the duo trained at the Cleveland Clinic, USA and hold extensive experience when it comes to using several technology platforms used for tele ICU services across the world. Cloudphysician aims to provide international quality of care and expertise to ICU patients in India since they require the maximum care and treatment. The three year old company works with hospitals in Maharashtra, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, as well as Karnataka and has taken care of more than 10,000 ICU patients to date. In the near future, Cloudphysician Healthcare is looking to expand its footprint by identifying the right partners across the country.

About ACT Grants

ACT Grants is an INR 100 crore grant created by India’s VC and start-up community to provide stimulus to ideas that could combat COVID-19 with immediate impact. ACT stands for ‘Action Covid-19 Team’ and supports teams and start-ups in the areas of prevention of COVID-19 spread, scaling testing, disease management at home, enhanced support for healthcare workers and hospitals, management of critically-ill patients and support for mental health. ACT Grants is seeking capital-efficient, scalable solutions from NGOs and innovative start-ups which need an initial seed grant to fight the spread of the pandemic. Its mission is to seed and empower teams that are harnessing technology to create large-scale impact in the detection, prevention and eradication of Covid-19.