In conversation with Dr Kanav Kahol, Founder of DIVOC Health

1. Where do you think Indian Healthcare sector stands in terms of innovation and technology advances? How DIVOC Health is ensuring the same?

The healthtech industry in India is witnessing a period of tremendous growth and unprecedented advancements. The start-ups are catering to several broad categories like home healthcare, pharmacy, biotech, and appointments etc. Driven by greater health awareness, rising incomes and better health insurance, the ecosystem is constantly evolving. As a result, technology and business are going to be mutually driving each other in the future. Further, with a rapid shift from a treatment-specific approach to a therapeutic and holistic approach, the medicine is getting more personalized which signals the innovative application of machine learning, artificial intelligence, augmented analytics and blockchain. The future definitely looks bright.

AI-enabled and other technologically advanced solutions are revolutionising the healthcare industry, more prominently during the COVID-19 crisis. These innovative solutions are providing immediate returns by helping with new product development, through cost reduction and better consumer engagement. Today, an ever-increasing number of healthcare organizations are scaling up their AI investments by pairing with a robust strategy. Looking at the way AI is making many aspects of healthcare more efficient, it will likely play a significant role in supporting clinical and other applications, resulting in more insightful and effective care and operations.

We, at DIVOC, are bringing innovative healthcare products into the Indian market and striving to address the immediate need of the country to have access to high quality COVID-19 tests. DIVOC is also working on healthcare delivery models to enable quality healthcare through technology.

2. How is DIVOC Lab different from the other labs we have in India? How advanced labs will help the tele-medicine segment in India?

DIVOC Labs is dedicated to building the most advanced digital diagnostic laboratory network in India. We are focused on pushing forward advanced ideas and the latest developments for the benefit of patients and technicians. It is currently based on the Instant Home diagnostic device, the drug delivery device and the doctors. Their patient portal and website are coming soon.

We are essentially refining our protocols to allow a combination of high end molecular testing in our state of the art labs and conduct some of the important tests at the premises of the client using validated FDA approved Point of Care technologies. We are working with our home care agents who can provide end to end diagnostic services for our clients. It’s an exciting time where the lab comes to you and we are looking forward to widespread adoption of this service.

DIVOC Labs – the Labs of the future - diagnostics test and results at home with accuracy in less than 20 minutes – 1st DIVOC Lab opened in Delhi (plans to expand further. We have applied in India for regulatory clearance. The Indian regulatory framework has recently been updated and now includes a successful performance review by the Indian Medical Research Council, which DIVOC is pursuing.

We aim to provide a quality driven digital approach to laboratory operations to make it trustworthy, reliable, convenient and innovative for consumers. In addition to our already existing facilities, we are also introducing at-home diagnostics that would ensure instant delivery of test results for the tests conducted by phlebotomists at home. We are also working on the instant home test kit, a decentralised service where patients can enter test results into shared data monitoring systems or provide them manually. This will help us in our mission to empower patients to take a more active role in their own care. The instant at-home test results will enable a new generation of medicine as it will extend clinical laboratory operations into peoples’ homes and as a result, the diagnostic continuum will empower a truly connected, omnipresent vision of health.

Further, we are working with existing aggregators to provide doctors in addition to enabling instant drug delivery. Through these initiatives, we are helping clinical laboratory facilities to match the pace of advancements in medical science - telemedicine.

3. As the vaccination drive has begun, what are the key factors we should keep in mind to be able to successfully reach out to the whole population?

As the British variant and South African variant is emerging, it shows that the virus is evolving and colloquially speaking fighting back. The only way to fight back the virus is the vaccination of everyone so that the virus is wiped out. Regular testing and vaccinations are provided by the government to eliminate COVID-19 from the country. Awareness of the mass is the key. People should be aware about the disease, its symptoms and how important it is to take precautions to eliminate it. We should make the people aware about the effects of the vaccine and in case of any symptoms, ask them to report to the nearest facility for the care. Providing the mass with the secure testing and vaccination is important. We understand the importance and need of proper healthcare departments in the Indian market. Hence, we aim at providing the same for the healthier world.

At this time when the virus is continuously spreading in the country , we understand that availability of accurate and high quality tests is critical to our fight against the pandemic and therefore, we identified the GeneDrive RT PCR COVID-19 tests as being particularly well suited to the Indian market due to its reduced processing steps, thermo stability, and high quality manufacture. Our instant home test kit plays a vital role in telemedicine. We are also enabling instant drug delivery. Considering the virus as a red alarm, instead of hiding or ignoring the symptoms, people should visit the nearest lab facilities and get themselves treated properly as this will stop the virus from spreading into more groups.

4. What are your thoughts on the Union Budget for the healthcare sector? Will it be beneficiary for Health Tech startups?

The budget has recognized the importance of health in India’s growth story. The total budget outlay for healthcare is 2.23 lakh crore, which is an increase of 137% from last year. This shows the commitment by the government to address not only the healthcare’s immediate and urgent needs but fundamentally develop a program to strengthen Indian healthcare system. This budget will set the precedent for future budgets which will use this year's allocation as a baseline for future initiatives.

It will be beneficiary for health tech startups as Rs. 35,400 crore has been allocated by the government for vaccines. It shows the commitment beyond the initial phase of 30Cr people and that the government may be considering expanding the vaccine program to cover the poor and the vulnerable.

With the commitment to increase healthHR, the Government plans to bring in a National Allied Healthcare Bill which will streamline and support availability of skilled individuals in healthcare. This is a positive development which again can vastly increase the reach of healthcare in our vast country.