✍️By Special Correspondent
Karkinos launched a cancer cure app in Kolkata to break barriers towards providing access to cancer care Karkinos Healthcare Pvt Ltd, founded in July 2020, a technology-driven, oncology focused, managed healthcare platform was launched in Kolkata. The mission of the company is to ensure no person is deprived of quality care either by lack of access or affordability. Karkinos is backed by the best of organizations as the Tata Group, Reliance Industries, Mayo Clinic (US), Rakuten Medical Inc. Karkinos Healthcare Pvt Ltd is proud to collaborate with Tata Memorial Hospital, Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust (UK) along with several research collaborations with leading academic institutions in the United States to ensure we are at the frontier of oncology treatment and care.
Common forms of cancer can be treated easily and at low cost when detected early. Karkinos app is supporting many services in the app such as early detection risk assessment for six cancer types, booking consultations with doctors and tests, along with reports.
The Unique feature of the APP is Risk Assessment which is backed by technology, medicine and research and provides the citizen an accurate assessment of their cancer risk.Bridging the gap between the citizen and the hospital, the app reduces out of pocket costs for the citizen along with doctor consultations. The basic premise of the app is that ‘early detection of cancer saves lives’. The focus is to detect the disease at an initial phase before the arrival of prominent symptoms. This is done by strategically implementing a population-level risk assessment and screening for all eligible populations, categorizing them into elevated risk and screened positive, respectively. The survival rates in cancer patients who are detected at early stages are high.
Key features that Karkinos App Providing are:
· Take Risk assessment for 6 cancer types: Breast Cancer, Cervical Cancer, Oral Cancer, Lung Cancer, Colon Cancer, Prostate Cancer.
· Book a consultation for a general practitioner and oncologist from the app itself.
· Easily book the HPV test for females.
· Users are able to see the payment done by them for any services they book through the app. That can be GP consultation, Onco-consultation, Risk assessment, or HPV test booking.
· Users can also upload their health records at one place in the app for easy access to all the reports and no need to carry many papers or documents for the same.
· Tele-consultation from the app itself, reports and booking lots of services such as lab tests, chemotherapy, radiology and expert opinion shall be available shortly
“In West Bengal, we are trying to reach out to the entire population for risk assessment and screening through various mediums including massive community outreach through NGO’s and like-minded organizations, and various digital channels”, says Dr.JawadeAkhter, Director East, Karkinos Healthcare. Currently, the company has partnered with some of the renowned establishments such as Parkview Hospital, Narayan Memorial and many more are coming up shortly.
With today’s technology, it is easier to get primary and preventive care without having to visit the doctor’s chamber.This Is done uniquely through the Karkinosapp-based community risk assessment form, available in Google Play Store and Apple Store, where a series of clinically validated questions covering six common cancers are self-administered to assess if a person is at elevated risk. Those at elevated risk are navigated by Karkinos Command Center to the nearest Karkinos center for consultation and further investigation, as required.
Karkinos mission is to decentralise cancer care by establishing a distributed network of cancer care in partnership with private and government health faculties. We want to break the barrier of access to cancer care by offering the care in a distributed fashion in small towns and districts, closer to the patients, convenient to the family. The availability of the care closer to home will encourage the patients to visit the doctors at the first signs of any symptoms, seeking the help faster, earlier.
The pilot programmes implemented in Kerala during the COVID pandemic of 2021 with several health facilities, and now we wish to start the operations in West Bengal.The burden of cancer is very high in the state and the historic out-migration of patients to Metros cities for treatment is a huge socio-economic burden for the people of the state.
To build the distributed cancer care network in Bengal, we are inviting care delivery centers who will provide the necessary end to end care to the patient. It includes multidisciplinary care from general physician care, gynecology, oral care, oncology, etc. along with pathology, imaging, as well as treatment such as surgical care, chemotherapy, radiation, and targeted therapy. Karkinos has on boarded several partners across the state and many are in advanced stages of discussion. Once the citizen has been screened positive or at risk for any of the six cancers, a report is sent to them and if screened positive or at risk, then the citizen is referred to our nearest partner hospital for further screening and diagnostic tests, along with doctor consultation.
Mr R Venkataraman, CEO and Founder, Karkinos Healthcare, “Weintend to cover the entire population of West Bengal to detect cancer early. This in turn will avoid the unnecessary financial and human resource expenditure.We strive to improve the cancer care delivery in the state and make a significant impact in the lives of people of West Bengal.”Karkinos Medical team from India and abroad developed this App.
The entire Karkinos cancer care ecosystem is available to the public and patients in the Karkinos App. The App is being developed further to connect you to a host of cancer care services, world-renowned oncology experts, second-opinion, forum and information on latest advancements in prevention, diagnosis, treatment in cancer along with the research.