Using evidence and data to accelerate tech innovation in the healthcare space is need of the hour

Mridul Mehta, Co-founder & CEO, Decipher Health in an interaction with Express Healthcare highlights that while businesses were already exploring ground-breaking ways to provide care and ensure better disease management, the COVID-19 pandemic encouraged the adoption of digital technologies in this space.

Walk us through the journey of the company so far

We introduced our advanced AI-based self-care management solution in 2021 to help diabetes patients gain real-time insights and recommendations about food, activity and other self-care choices critical to their health. As of now, we are in the pre-launch stage of our app. Our focus remains on concluding India’s most extensive phenotyping study and building a strong waitlist of subscribers for the app launch. Once that happens, we will launch our services that enable personalised life care recommendations for diabetes management through live integrations with patients, doctors and their ecosystem.

India is facing a huge burden of diabetes and pre-diabetes. How do you see the role of technology in its management?

Living with diabetes can be a major challenge. Food and activity are a critical part of diabetes management and many people offer generic advice about what foods people should and should not eat. But one piece of advice is not fit for everyone as every person responds differently to the foods they consume, and that is what matters in keeping the blood sugar levels in check.

Tech-integrated diabetes care plays a critical role in the self-management of diabetes. Innovations in these services make it easy for diabetics and pre-diabetics to keep track of their blood glucose levels and manage diabetes in their day-to-day life with much less effort.

Even more importantly, AI-based technology can help understand your body better, it can predict the changes in glucose levels in your body with your daily routine i.e. diet, exercise or medication. This means you understand your body better and can make the right choices in your daily routine to manage your glucose levels.

To be most effective, AI technology in diabetes care needs to be available 24/7 – like a real-time coach helping you know and manage your sugar level better. It should provide patients with highly personalised recommendations for diabetes management.

Can you throw some light on the scalability of technology in Indian healthcare system?

The pandemic has taught us that to ensure the economic and social well-being of our country, we need to have a well-functioning healthcare system and a healthy population. This makes scaling up the country’s healthcare system a top priority, which means the focus should now be more on preventive care, and not just treatment, as well as using evidence and data to accelerate tech innovation in the healthcare space.

Using technology to gather and make data more accessible and usable is one of the biggest changes that has been introduced in the Indian healthcare system. The use of digital apps and wearable devices today that leverage AI can help patients gain real-time insights into their health and maintain good health-related behavior in the long term.

Do you think our healthcare system is still recessive towards the adoption of the technology as compared to other countries?

Over the past few decades, our country has made remarkable developments in its healthcare system. While businesses were already exploring ground-breaking ways to provide care and ensure better disease management, the COVID-19 pandemic encouraged the adoption of digital technologies in this space. Today, emerging technologies are being utilised to develop innovative treatments. The Government of India (GOI) has made some critical steps in fostering a better availability of healthcare, making health records more transparent and transferable as well as by enabling a robust funding ecosystem for healthcare startups. Moreover, the GOI’s ‘Make in India’ initiative encourages domestic healthtech device manufacturers and service providers to step in and contribute to developing a strong, robust healthcare system for the future.

What are the future plans of the company?

We intend to scale our business in India, where our product can allow everyone with diabetes (and likely prediabetes) to have complete control over their health conditions and the freedom to live their lives while managing their diabetes and staying healthy.