Navigating Pandemic Challenges: Kokilaben Hospital's Transition to Telehealth with CometChat

Located in Andheri West, Mumbai, Kokilaben Hospital stands as a premier multispeciality healthcare institution in India, offering comprehensive treatments and surgeries for a wide range of ailments. Launched in January 2009 as a notable initiative by the Reliance Group, the hospital aims to elevate India's reputation in global healthcare through its commitment to clinical excellence, state-of-the-art diagnostic facilities, and pioneering research.

Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Kokilaben Hospital's 400+ doctors catered to 30k-40k patients monthly through in-person consultations. However, the pandemic and the subsequent nationwide lockdown caused a significant drop in these numbers. 

The KDAH IT team was tasked with finding a way to virtually connect their patients and doctors. Their initial move to Skype for consultations proved to be inadequate. The platform was not only impersonal and cumbersome but also lacked the essential security features to safeguard doctors' and patients' personal data. The team's primary considerations for a new solution included advanced security features, medical compliance for safe conversation storage, and the ability to keep doctors' personal information confidential.

In their quest for a more personalized and secure communication solution, the Kokilaben IT team explored various platforms. Their search led them to CometChat, which stood out primarily due to the exceptional support and customization options offered by the CometChat engineering team.

In January 2021, Kokilaben Hospital unveiled their revamped mobile app, streamlining the patient experience. This app facilitates easy appointment bookings, medication tracking, direct doctor consultations, and even alerts for loved ones during medical emergencies.

Collaborating closely with CometChat's development team, Kokilaben Hospital is in the process of introducing innovative features. These include the capability for patients to include overseas family members in consultations and a picture-in-picture functionality, enabling doctors to present reports on-screen, guiding patients through them.

The shift to virtual consultations has been met with enthusiasm from the medical community at Kokilaben Hospital. Doctors find the virtual model more agile, enabling them to cater to patients outside regular hours, leading to a noticeable boost in overall productivity.

Patients, too, have embraced the technological upgrade. The occasional delay in doctor appointments, a common occurrence in in-person visits, becomes less of an issue in the virtual realm. The app's auto-call feature keeps patients informed if their doctor is running behind schedule.

Reflecting on the broader implications, Mehta, from Kokilaben Hospital, emphasizes that the adoption of telehealth isn't just a temporary response to the pandemic. It represents a lasting change in healthcare delivery, with both doctors and patients showing a strong preference for this mode of consultation.