As part of a collective effort to provide care at home, various leading Home healthcare providers including Portea Medical have come together to form the Home Healthcare Association. The association has been engaging various government bodies and healthcare federations to offer solutions on the ground to jointly fight the COVID-19 health crisis. One of the key solutions offered by this industry group is Home Quarantine management.
As part of this, Portea has launched a home quarantine solution called ‘Fit to Fight Corona’. The offering comes as a part of the company’s ongoing effort to help its consumers tackle the Coronavirus health crisis. Portea is offering its direct customers and corporate partners, a 14-day home quarantine management service to enable them to stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic and manage symptoms if any.
The symptoms of Coronavirus resemble many other respiratory ailments and flu. There is thus a lot of confusion among people on how to manage the condition, when to get tested, etc. The virus can also harm people with low immunity such as the elderly, more so if they have associated conditions like high blood pressure. Given this, Portea has undertaken initiatives to not only sensitize people about the condition but also offer support in more ways than one.
Meena Ganesh, MD, and CEO, Portea Medical, said, “The novel-Coronavirus (COVID-19) has emerged as one of the biggest threats to global healthcare in modern times. With over 200,000 infections and a mortality rate of 4%, this virus has once again underscored the role that health-tech startups can play in such a scenario. Apart from accurate information and awareness on Coronavirus, there is a need to also ensure that people with low immunity such as the elderly are provided with basic healthcare services at home. This will ensure that they do not come into contact with those who have the infection given their susceptibility.”
“Home quarantine can be of help in this regard and it is also essential for anyone who is at risk of contracting the infection. Through the Fit to Fight Corona solution, we aim to ensure that our customers can remote assessments at home and are continuously monitored by health professionals. This helps them know early on as to whether their symptoms require them to take any proactive action e.g testing or visiting a hospital. We also plan to partner with some hospitals for home quarantine solutions. This is our way of ensuring that we fight this public health crisis together and take collective action by preventing it from spreading further,” she added.
The 14-day home quarantine package for Portea’s regular customers starts with an onboarding call for assessment and education on home quarantine. There will be daily calls to check for the next 5 days including temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, and questions on an increase of or any new symptoms. They will also be advised on isolation and nutrition and there will be an essential call by a doctor on 0, 7th and 14th day. In case there are symptoms that require escalation e.g. testing or visit a COVID-19 hospital, then they would be advised and provided the appropriate guidance.
Portea has been focusing on raising awareness and on-ground action against the pandemic. It recently partnered with the Government of Goa and Verloop to launch the Cobot-19 Information and Awareness Chatbot. It is aimed at helping people resolve their queries around precautions to be taken to avoid getting infected, among other things and as a one-stop source of authentic information.
