The PHR
DRIEFCASE is India's first PHR app to be approved by the National Health Association (NHA) for Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) roll-out.
The DRIEFCASE Health Locker app enables the user and their family to securely maintain and access their medical records anytime and anywhere. The app has a focus on personal health records management that provides ease of upload and ensures fast retrieval of patient’s data, to enable safe remote care.
To access and share their health records digitally, people need an ABHA account (previously called Health ID), which serves as a unique health account.
There are some premium versions of the app with additional features (more details below in the ‘features’ section.
DRIEFCASE also has a clinic management system for Doctors and Providers – DRIEFCASE Connect. This is a comprehensive practice management platform for individual doctors, polyclinics and small hospitals that helps improve productivity for Doctors.
India is a very interesting case: as Forbes remarked, because of the large population of India, any precedent for data management in the ABDM will establish a model for other national health programs to study
History
DRIEFCASE was founded in 2018, to simplify the burden of health records management and reduce the information gap between patients and doctors by making access to medical history quick and easy.
The problem statement was simple – patients and doctors take care of health, not health records. This leads to a serious information gap, not only between the doctor and the patient but also between other stakeholders such as insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and the Government.
In February 2022, India's National Health Authority signed off the integration of DRiefcase with the Ayushman Bharat Digital Health Mission (ABDM).
Today, DRIEFCASE is India′s only fully ABDM-integrated health-tech solution that allows users to easily securely store, access and share their medical records in the healthcare ecosystem.
Features
The primary use of the platform involves individuals scanning or capturing images of their health documents and then uploading them. Patients can then share their record with doctors.
Besides inputting their own information, patients will have access to data entered by their doctor, but this feature is only available if the clinic has purchased and is utilizing the platform.
Patients can upload
radiology reports
pathology reports
laboratory reports
Patients can take notes about their health in a journal
Auto-tagging and indexing helps patients locate & retrieve any record easily
Patients can create profiles of all family members with a single account
If the clinic is using DRIEFCASE connect (the EHR by the same company), and therefore doctors have decided to share records with patients, the latter will get access to:
their diagnosis,
medication,
immunizations
procedure history.
their appointments (and get reminders)
patients would also be able to book new appointments.
video consultations
At the beginning of December 2023, DRiefcase launched a new app feature, 'Call for Blood', whose aim is to address the critical need for timely blood donations during medical emergencies. Now, users seeking blood within a city can connect with willing donors through the app. Harsh Parikh, Co-Founder of DRiefcase says, "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 needs to download the DRiefcase app, click the 'Call for Blood' icon listed under the main menu, and provide basic essential details, including the name, blood group, contact details, 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 users within the same geographical area.
One additional service (rather than a feature) offered by the company is the ‘Scan at Home’, to help people digitise their medical history: on request, their team can go to people's homes and scan all their records. Some of these services offered by DRIEFCASE are premium and are subject to a price of 1000 (equivalent to 12 US dollars).
Challenges and areas for improvement
Patients can access data entered by their doctor, provided that the clinic assisting the patient has acquired and is actively using the platform.
There is no ability for patients to view an access log i.e. unlike other platforms, users of Driefcase can’t see who accessed their record and when.
Published outcomes - statistics
At the beginning of December 2023, the platform counted 6 Million+ users (Business Standard, 2023)
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 [Accessed 26 July 2024].
Driefcase Health-Tech, n.d. FAQs. Available at: https://driefcase.doctor/Faq.aspx (Accessed 11 January 2024)
Driefcase Health-Tech, n.d. Homepage. Available at: https://www.driefcase.com/ (Accessed 11 January 2024)
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