The PHR

DRiefcase is India's first licensed Personal Health Record (PHR) app to be approved . It was approved in 2022 by the National Health Authority (NHA) for the roll-out of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM).

The DRiefcase Health Locker app allows users and their families to securely store and access medical records anytime , and from anywhere. With a focus on personal health records management, the app offers easy upload and quick retrieval of patient data, enabling safe remote care.

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DRiefcase also offers a clinic management system for doctors and healthcare providers called DRiefcase Connect. This is a comprehensive practice management platform for individual doctors, polyclinics, and small hospitals, designed to enhance productivity for healthcare professionals.

(DRiefcase Health-Tech, 2024)

History

DRiefcase was founded in 2016 by Sohit Kapoor and Harsh Parikh, both former investment bankers motivated by their personal experiences with the healthcare system. Observing the inefficiencies and lack of digitisation paperwork in healthcare, they aimed wanted to replicate bring the advancements seen in financial services. They believed that, in India, where As healthcare data is scattered across multiple providers in India, they believed patients should be the central decision-makers and aggregators of their own healthcare information. This vision led to the creation of DRiefcase as a Personal Health Record (PHR) platform, designed to PHR. Quick and easy access to medical histories would simplify the burden of health records management and bridge the information gap between patients and doctors by facilitating quick and easy access to medical histories.At the time of its inception, digital .

Digital health was still in its infancy in India, with national conversations about it only beginning in 2017. Despite the early challenges, DRiefcase has been self-funded by the founders funded DRiefcase and has gradually expanded its capabilities and user base.

The company’s Minimum Viable Product (MVP) was a basic storage platform for photos of medical records, followed by . Next was a rapid data retrieval feature—an essential service in India, where doctors see hundreds of patients daily in brief consultations.Today, the digital health landscape in feature: essential for India’s short consultations with doctors.

India has evolved, with many records now being digital and citizens able to create a unique health ID known as ABHA. This system digital identifier for health (ABHA). DRiefcase links patient records to their ABHA accounts, although widespread adoption is still in progress, with a . A governmental directive requiring requests all providers to connect within the next three yearsto the the ABDM framework by 2027.

In February 2022, India’s National Health Authority approved the integration of DRiefcase with the Ayushman Bharat Digital Health Mission (ABDM), enabling DRiefcase to launch a faster check-in service for ABDM.

Today, DRiefcase is India’s only fully ABDM-integrated health-tech solution that also allows users to securely store, access, and share their medical records within the healthcare ecosystem.

(PKB interviews, 2024)

Features

The primary use of the platform involves functionalities related to the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), such as the creation of an ABHA, management of consent and health records, and the ability for individuals to scan or capture images of their health documents for uploading. Patients can then share their records with doctors (DRiefcase Health-Tech, 2024-a; PKB interviews, 2024).

PHR

In addition to inputting their own information, patients will have access to data entered by their doctors , but this feature is only available if the clinic has purchased and is utilising DRiefcase (or another into an ABDM-compliant platformEHR (such as DRiefcase’a Connect).

Patients can upload:

• Radiology reports

• Pathology reports

• Laboratory reports

They can also take notes about their health in a journal. Auto-tagging and indexing help patients DRiefcase automatically tags and indexes to easily locate and retrieve any record. Patients can create profiles for all family members using within a single account.

(DRiefcase Health-Tech, 2024-a; PKB interviews, 2024).

EHR

If the clinic is using DRiefcase Connect (the EHR developed by the same company) and doctors have opted to share records with patients, the latter each patient will have access to:

• Their diagnosis

• Medication

• Immunisations

• Procedure history

• Appointments (with reminders)

• The ability to book new appointments

• Video consultations

At the beginning of December 2023, DRiefcase launched a new app feature called "Call for Blood," (DRiefcase Health-Tech, 2024-a; PKB interviews, 2024).

Ask for blood donors

“Call for Blood” is designed to address the critical need for timely blood donations during medical emergencies. Users Launched in December 2023, "users seeking blood within a city can connect with willing donors through the app. Harsh Parikh, Co-Founder of DRiefcase, states, "This app”.

“This is not just an app feature; it's a lifeline for those in need. Our goal is to save lives and ensure that vital resources are always at hand." To use the feature, the recipient must download the DRiefcase app, click the (Harsh Parikh, Co-Founder of DRiefcase, PKB interviews.)

The 'Call for Blood' icon in the main menu, and asks the user to provide essential details, including name, blood group, contact information, and location. Following the submission of this data, the recipient's request will be displayed within the app, and a notification will be sent to DRiefcase DRiefcase will notify other users in the same geographical area.

An additional service offered by the company is ‘Scan at Home’, which (Business Standard, 2023).

Scan at Home

“Scan at Home” helps people digitise their medical history. Upon request, their paper medical notes. Scanning is free if the user sends and picks up the paper. Alternatively a team can visit homes to scan all medical records. Some of these services are premium and are priced at for ₹1,000 (equivalent to $12 USD).List of services, as available on the DRiefcase official website:

• Patients can ship or deliver their medical records to DRiefcase . They can then pick them up or request delivery to their premises. This service is free of charge.DRiefcase can collect medical documents from the patient’s premises, scan them, and return them. This service costs ₹1,000 and is available throughout India.

• DRiefcase can scan and upload medical documents at the patient’s premises. This service costs ₹1,000 and is available in select Indian cities.

• Once the patient’s records are uploaded, DRiefcase can send a digital copy of their record on a flash drive or CD with a copy of the data. This service costs ₹1,000 and is available across India.

...

(DRiefcase Health-Tech, 2024-b)

Commissions for transactions

DRiefcase earns commissions on services booked through the platform. Launched in June 2024, the company , together with and its partners , launched healthcare provide services such as pathology, health loans, insurance, and teleconsultations , with DRiefcase earning commissions on transactions. For instance, when booked through the platform, the company receives a commission for the services(PKB interviews, 2024).

Challenges and areas for improvement

Despite its many successes, DRiefcase faces several challenges. A significant one is the adoption and data flow of the ABHA ID system by healthcare providers, which relies heavily on the federal government’s management. Although

DRiefcase currently receives between 25,000 and 30,000 patient records daily from the 80,000 new users registering each day, . But these records primarily consist of PDFs and basic consultation summaries. For many patients, data from hospitals is still not flowing seamlessly.

Another area for improvement is the ability for patients to view an access log, which would allow them to see who accessed their records and when. This feature is currently lacking in DRiefcase.

Furthermore, Monetisation is difficult, even while the app has captured 50% of the market share, DRiefcase is still in the early stages of monetisation. The company has not yet fully calculated the Return on Investment (ROI) or the lifetime value of its users, as its healthcare services, such as pathology and health loans, were only recently launched.

(PKB interviews, 2024)

Published outcomes - statistics

As of August 2024, DRiefcase has 16 million registered users (PKB interviews,2 024). Each day, 80,000 patients register for an ABHA ID through DRiefcase, aided by informative posters in hospitals and on-site interns stationed in 150 hospitals across India. The user acquisition cost remains notably low - at a few cents per user.

To better understand these figures, it's helpful to consider them in the context of India’s broader statistics:

Currently, around 600 million Indians possess ABHA IDs, with . Government programmes generated 80% of these having been generated through government programmes, leaving many patients , therefore patients are unaware of their existence. Approximately one-sixth of these users—about 80 to 100 million—have voluntarily created an ABHA ID. Each day, 250,000 people either register for or use their ABHA IDs.

Of these 250,000 daily users, 50% utilise use DRiefcase, whether either for registering or for returning visits.

(PKB interviews, 2024)

Screenshots

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Bibliography

• Business Standard, 2023. DRiefcase Launches a New App Feature - Call for Blood: Connecting Donors and Patients in Need. 2 December. Available at: https://www.business-standard.com/content/press-releases-ani/driefcase-launches-a-new-app-feature-call-for-blood-connecting-donors-and-patients-in-need-123120200591_1.html

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• (accessed 26 July 2024

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• ).

• DRiefcase Health-Tech

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• , 2024-c, FAQs. Available at: https://driefcase.doctor/Faq.aspx (

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• accessed 11 January 2024).

• DRiefcase Health-Tech,

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• 2024-b, Premium Services. Available at: https://www.driefcase.com/premium-scanning-services/ (accessed 11 January 2024).

• DRiefcase Health-Tech, 2024-a, Homepage. Available at: https://www.driefcase.com/ (

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• accessed 11 January 2024).

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