As part of a workshop in Nepal, HeyPatient worked with local service providers and partners on digital healthcare solutions for better patient care. The ideas are now being concretised via video conferences and an implementation plan is being drawn up.
In the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, the British organisation Partnership Catalyst brought together one local and one Swiss company from each of three key areas with high impact potential: fintech, healthcare, food logistics and agriculture. Regula and Matthias Spühler, the founders of the Technopark Winterthur-based healthcare company heyPatient, also took part in the workshop from 3 to 6 February, which was organised and moderated by the Competence Centre for Social Innovation at the University of St.Gallen (CSI-HSG).
The so-called Innovation Sprint was conceived as part of DIGI Nepal, a project led by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation to promote digital innovation in Nepal. It aims to improve access to affordable basic services, especially for disadvantaged groups and communities outside Kathmandu. Due to Nepal’s topographical challenges, digital technologies were recognised as a key factor, according to a statement from the HSG.
heyPatient’s contribution to digitalisation consists of a patient portal operated in Switzerland, which patients can use to access all their medical documents and appointments. In the Nepalese project, heyPatient is working with social entrepreneur Dr Bishal Dhakal and his company Health at Home.
In Nepal, patients have to pay 80 per cent of hospital costs themselves, and there are very few general practitioners, heyPatient reported in a separate press release. As a result, ‘patients often have to bear high costs for unnecessary or inefficient treatment without professional advice. This is where we want to start.’ In the next phase of the collaboration, initial ideas for solutions will be concretised in virtual workshops and a detailed plan will be drawn up. ce/mm
