The healthcare industry perennially grapples with a shortage of human resources, right from doctors and nurses to paramedical personnel. Healthtech companies are attempting to lend a helping hand through digital solutions. One such company, Dozee, has developed an artificial intelligence-based contactless remote patient monitoring (RPM) and early warning system (EWS) for continuous patient monitoring and care.
Dozee’s device, placed under a patient’s mattress, non-invasively monitors vital signs such as heart rate, respiration rate, and blood pressure without any direct contact with the patient. It can also connect to wireless peripherals to collect data such as oxygen saturation levels and ECG reading.
“This data is continuously collected and analysed by AI to identify trends and alert healthcare professionals if a patient enters a high-risk zone. The alerts are sent to nurses and clinicians at central nursing stations for timely intervention,” says Mudit Dandwate, the CEO and co-founder of the company.
On the impact made by the product in patient care, Dandwate says that a recent clinical study showed that “every 100 Dozee beds produce nearly about 210 lifesaving alerts”, pre-empting the patient’s decline into a high-risk zone or deteriorating health, almost eight hours in advance.
In fact, he says, a leading private healthcare provider has reported that the device has led to a significant reduction in code blue incidents — where a patient requires resuscitation or other immediate medical attention, most often due to a respiratory or cardiac arrest.
The product, named Dozee Pro Ex, was launched in May 2019 and has since been deployed on more than 10,000 beds in over 200 hospitals across India. The company aims to reach the 20 lakh-bed mark over time, even though not many are currently aware of the device’s utility, he says.
The start-up, which was founded about eight years ago, has secured $24 million funding across four rounds and plans to raise a larger growth fund in the next 6-9 months. “This would be a much larger round as we scale up the business and operations to newer places,” Dandwate says.
The company eyes a presence in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the US, among other global markets. It also aims to launch a home version of its device within six months.
The product, manufactured entirely in India by the company, complies with global standards, including FDA ISO 13485 and ISO 27,001, for data security and privacy.