Sumedh Supe
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An image promoting Sirhanna, with the tagline 'Empowering the Urban Poor with digitized health records.' On the right, an elderly woman dressed in traditional attire sits with a young child on her lap inside a modest home. On the left, a yellow circle features an illustration of a hand holding a smartphone. Below, the logo for Bay Area Global Health Alliance is displayed.

Image of a family whose healthcare data is being digitized with smartphone

Sirhaana

A data driven emergency care solution for the Indian urban poor designed on the biometric ID system called the National Health Stack.

Service Design
Healthcare
Entrepreneurship
Data

ACHIEVEMENTS

The project was selected as the global top 16 finalists in the Bay Area Global Health Innovation Challenge of 2021.

The project was mentored by the Public Health Departments of UC Berkeley for an initial trial in Madhya Pradesh.

DURATION

  • 14 months
  • Jan, 2021 - May, 2022

TEAM (x4)

  • Sumedh Supe, Product and UX Research
  • Ayushi Gupta, Design and Research
  • Sehej Jain, Engineering and Research
  • Swati Ramtilak, Bioengineering

CONTRIBUTIONS: Product and Research

I was the major hustler of the team. Getting the team together, identifying opportunities and developing the product according to the needs of the users.

As Product Manager, I was responsible to manage the team, strategize, conduct research on existing markets and understand how the biometric ID National Health Stack can help us.

As a UX researcher, I was also responsible in conducting on-field interviews with Subject Matter Experts and the urban poor of India.

FINAL OUTCOME

A diagram titled 'The Offering' explaining Sirhanna's process. The Sirhanna logo is at the center, with lines connecting three key elements: on the left, a circle labeled 'Urban Poor' showing a black-and-white photo of a person carrying goods on their head; in the middle, a circle labeled 'Local Respondent' featuring a woman in traditional attire; and on the right, a circle labeled 'Healthcare System' showing a healthcare worker in a mask and hairnet. Icons of phones and messaging apps indicate communication between the elements, with an ambulance icon above symbolizing healthcare support.

A conceptualized service with an expected trial run to take place soon in Madhya Pradesh, India.


Sirhaana is the digitization layer between the local respondent and the modern healthcare system. Sirhaana enables digitization of medical records and also enables easy access to patient insights and Electronic Health Records through the secure National Health Stack authorized by the Indian biometric ID.


A visual representation of the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM). At the center is a yellow circle labeled 'NDHM,' surrounded by six key components: 01 - Personalized Health ID, 02 - Standardized Health Registry, 03 - Federated Health Records, 04 - Coverage and Claims Platform, 05 - Open Telemedicine & E-Pharmacy Network, and 06 - Health Data Analytics. Each component is accompanied by a yellow circular icon illustrating its concept, with lines connecting them to the central NDHM circle. The design uses a clean, modern layout with a yellow border.

Sirhaana would help digitize and automate with the help of the above features of the NDHM

PROBLEM AND INSIGHTS

A two-panel black-and-white illustration. The left panel shows a snake coiled around a person's leg, appearing to have bitten them. The right panel depicts a calm individual, possibly a healer or guru, sitting cross-legged with one hand raised, seemingly providing guidance or treatment. Another person lies on the ground in front of the healer, possibly the snakebite victim, shown in a reclined position.

A person getting a snake bite(left), the person getting the snake bite cured through a voodoo healer(right)

In India, 16,00,000 people die every year due to poor quality of care. Most of these happen because people neglect any issues till the last possible moment and don't trust the healthcare system. Instead, most of them have misplaced trust in traditional medicine and voodoo practices.

It is estimated that by 2031, there would be around 600 million urban dwellers in India alone. And from our user study we realized that only 20.3% of the participants were actually aware of the common causes of prevalent illnesses and their prevention.

Most of these urban dwellers do not have a record of healthcare that they carry with them.

TARGET USER

An image of a young man in an urban setting using a hand pump to fill a plastic bottle with water. The scene includes a weathered street, small shops, and signs in the background. Text on the image reads, '600 Million - 92% of people don’t trust Modern Healthcare,' highlighting distrust in modern healthcare systems. The image is bordered with a bright yellow frame.

The target user is the urban dweller who has to migrate constantly in search of work

Age: 18-40

Gender: M/F/O

Goals: To provide for the family and sustain the household

Frustrations :

  • - Leaving work one day may result in loss of income for the day.
  • - Long waiting lines in hospitals and the very confusing government policies.
  • - Sub-par standards of treatment due to presence of inexperienced, unqualified doctors.
  • - Generational lack of trust that is exaggerated by the problems mentioned above.
  • - Home-makers try to put on a strong face and ignore health problems till they escalate to very serious points.
  • - People put more faith in voodoo and black magic than medicine.

PROCESS

A slide titled 'User Study' with a question at the top asking, 'How might we get the Indian Urban Poor Population involved into the healthcare system through convenient and accessible healthcare by leveraging the available technologies and Humanizing the system?' Below, a double diamond diagram illustrates the process with four phases: Discover, Define, Develop, and Deliver. Under 'Discover,' methods like direct interviews, questionnaires, desk research, and expert interviews are listed. Under 'Define,' techniques like affinity mapping and brainstorming are included. 'Develop' lists ideation, brainstorming, journey mapping, and system mapping, while 'Deliver' includes service prototype, success metrics, and user testing and feedback. A note at the bottom explains that users were involved from the beginning, incorporating field expert inputs to improve the service.

The double diamond iterative design thinking process

Desk Research: We looked at the entire healthcare system in depth to understand its nuances.

Interviews: With the urban poor, doctors and medical business owners.

Questionnaires: Sent to doctors and students from an urban poor background to understand their opinions and hardships.

Ideation: An iterative process between the research phase and interviews.

System Map: Structuring of the service with a system map.

Business Model: Came up with financial plan to support the implementation of the service using a business innovation canvas and a value proposition canvas.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

With all that information, and through numerous iterations, this was the problem statement we set to solve.

How might we get the Indian Urban poor population involved into the healthcare system & PHR through convenient and accessible healthcare by leveraging the available technologies and humanizing the system.

SIRHAANA: THE SET-UP

Sirhaana would be a free of cost service that would help establish trust and would connect the urban poor to the structured health care system with the help of the National Health Stack.

A line drawing showing a researcher taking notes while observing two women sitting on a doorstep in conversation. The setting appears to be a modest urban area.

1. Sirhaana visits an urban dwelling, identifies the influential/respected members, major diseases and major first-aid requirements.

A line drawing of a teacher or healthcare professional pointing to a whiteboard that depicts steps or a process, possibly for education or health awareness, with a person seated in the foreground.

2. Sirhaana employs and trains the influential members as local respondents.(More emphasis is given to recruiting women for their empowerment)

3. The local respondents/partners of Sirhaana in the urban dwellings are then provided with a smart-kit, that includes a smartphone, important vitals checking machines and area specific first-aid kit.

A line drawing of a hand holding a smartphone with an empty screen, ready for input or interaction.

4. The smartphone has a chat-bot that can help with the documentation of every person's health records. The Sirhaana partner also has access to a 24*7 helpline that will provide expert directions to the partner.

SIRHAANA: IN ACTION

Sirhaana would be a free of cost service that would help establish trust and would connect the urban poor to the structured health care system with the help of the National Health Stack.

A line drawing of a woman sitting on the ground with her head resting in one hand, appearing distressed or deep in thought.

1. A person is sick and calls the local respondent/partner immediately.

2. The local respondent quickly attends the person and calls the helpline, which helps it assess whether the case is an emergency or not and deals with necessary first aid. In case of an emergency, the helpline calls an ambulance and details of any prevalent conditions like diabetes, heart ailments(from the Personal Health Record of the person) are forwarded to the doctor who will attend the patient at the hospital through the helpline.

A line drawing of a hand holding a smartphone displaying a conversation or messages on the screen, indicating interaction.

3. In case the situation is not serious, the local respondent takes to the chat-bot for information. The nearest hospital details are then forwarded. The vitals of the person are measured and are then input into the Personal Health Record of the person.

A line drawing of a woman standing while a hand reaches toward her, suggesting an interaction, possibly related to medical care or an examination.

4. The person is taken to the nearest hospital for a checkup. The prescription is uploaded to the person's Personal Health Record.

5. The person then comes back home, the National Health Stack system is queried for the benefits that the person might be entitled to and dispenses the medicines either by home delivery or by creating an advance bill that can be availed at a drug store.

Thus all records of the person are accurately stored in their Personal Health Records and there are reduced chances of them being exploited.

REFLECTIONS

The project was very difficult, considering it was initiated by us, observing issues that people around us face everyday. Just asking about the issues to the people around us, makes them feel so inceredibly valued.

We had to ensure that the people and their problems are dealt in a conscious manner so as to not impose any of our thoughts on them. We had to carefully craft the business plan so as to not have exploitative ways of healthcare data collection and ensure informed consent even for people with low literacy.

This project would have not been possible without mentors at the Bay Area Global Health Alliance and the mentors at UC Berkeley, School of Public Health.


Status: The NDHM health stack is still under-development and it's features are yet to be fully realised in India.