Improving the efficiency of healthcare delivery system in underdeveloped rural areas

A low doctor-to-patient ratio in rural areas of under-developed regions results in an inefficient and expensive delivery of healthcare. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) could play an important role in improving the efficiency and making healthcare more affordable. In this position paper, we present an architectural framework to use ICT (specifically mobile technology) for efficient delivery of healthcare to masses. The proposed framework is (1) comprehensive to cover majority of critical diseases (2) sound from medical science point of view, (3) interfacable to Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system, and (4) self-learning in order automatically diagnose and predict future outbreaks. We present preliminary data and share social experiences from a pilot conducted for preliminary detection of Cardio Vascular Disease (CVD) in rural areas of Punjab, India. We also propose an outline for future study for diagnosing Leptospirosis in rural areas of Gujarat, India.