A3RMT and Neurosynaptic Communications changing healthcare picture of rural India

A3RMT, the healthcare startup funded by World Bank, connects the distance rural parts of the country with advanced healthcare methods. The startup distributes a small equipment which not only connects patients with doctors in Mumbai, Delhi and other cities through a live chat but can also perform quick diagnostics with little medical training. It is extensively used by a hospital run by a small, century-old Advaita Ashrama on the India-China border. While Meenakshi Mission Hospital & Research Centre uses devices of Neurosynaptic Communications to remotely connect villages of Tamil Nadu to its hospital in Madurai.

Such startups are changing the way medical services are delivered to people in remote locations in India. Both these companies rely heavily on their patented technology to work in low-bandwidth locations in far flung corners of the country. A3RMT, founded by engineers Shrikant Parikh and Sunil Lakdawala in 2008, has helped treat more than 56,000 patients over 450 locations in India and has saved more than 2,000 lives through emergency intervention. On the other hand, Neurosynaptic Communications, founded by engineers Sameer Sawarkar and Rajeev Kumar in 2003, helped treat about 2,50,000 patients in 2,300 villages last year alone.

Sameer Sawarkar, co-founder of Neurosynaptic Communications, said that “Our focus is on quality affordable to the last mile. The challenges are lack of bandwidth, lack of awareness and skilled health workers and mainly the inability to pay for healthcare. Many are pushed below the poverty line because of healthcare expenses”