Glocal Healthcare, a private company that is pioneering the use of technology to make healthcare more affordable and accessible, has developed a software that allows doctors to diagnose common diseases quicker and prescribe medicines with greater ease.

Dr Sabahat Azim, founder and CEO of Glocal, told Business Line the software – called LitmusDx – helps a physician diagnose and treat routine diseases with their associated symptoms. “Our goal was to offer the latest evidence-based medicine to doctors in a relevant, easy-to-use and digestible form," he explained.

There are some clinical decision support systems, but these are fragmented and available only for management of advanced treatment pathways. Dr Azim said that LitmusDx, however, is a cloud-based end-to-end solution that can be used in any setting “for error-free healthcare”.

Glocal’s focus was on common diseases that practicing physicians in this country encounter every day. “This need has emerged from our personal experience in secondary healthcare delivery," Glocal CEO said.

A physician today works in a universe characterised by over 3,000 symptoms (represented by 6,000 synonyms and acronyms), 2,000 risk factors, 10,000 diseases, 300 tests and investigations (with 6,000 possible outcomes), 5,000 branded drugs, and 20,000 prescription-related risk factors.

Statistics further suggest that there are over 22 million research papers available in the field of medicine and biology and journals in these fields recorded a 200 per cent growth in less than two decades.

“Our software helps a doctor to find his or her way out of this maze of information”, Soura Bhattacharyya, (Technology Head for Glocal) said, ahead of the soft launch of the product.

LitmusDx, according to him, will factor in test and investigation results before medicine selection. “It also will help the doctor to identify drug-related risks and choose the right combination of medications,” he said.

Glocal has initiated the process of patent registration in India and abroad. “We plan to market the product ourselves. We will shortly begin marketing it to hospitals and doctors”, he said.

>jayanta.mallick@thehindu.co.in

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