Healthcare kiosk

Taking healthcare services to the doorstep of people in emerging countries requires huge skilled workforce along with equipment for medical testing and monitoring, which requires massive investment. These countries are still at a stage where they cannot afford the involved costs; and yet the number of diseases is growing, especially with the western lifestyle and stress factor in society increasing. We propose a technology and business model for providing diagnostic health-care services in an efficient manner, which could in time become as popular and pervasive as ATMs are today for financial activities. We propose a fusion of technologies - vital signs monitoring (VSM) and Web based prescriptive diagnosis. VSM technology is maturing with many companies integrating health sensors, while web-based self help sites are becoming popular with sites like webmd.com, being used with high degree of confidence by patients and practitioners alike. In our offering, we propose a kiosk like structure, where the vital signs of a patient are measured on the front- end; and with the data collected, a backend database (offline or tele-based) gives on-the-spot diagnosis. The user who already has logged in (like an ATM) is given his summary report, with either a preliminary solution or recommended to nearest speciality hospitals, and his record is updated with the new diagnosis and recommendations. The underlying business model is based on both service and advertising mode. For the sensing devices, the cost is extracted from the customer (minimal), while for the kiosk and display setup, the hospitals or Websites which are further recommended can pay in the form of advertisement revenue.