SynPhNe has followed an omni-channel strategy

Abhijeet Pandit, Director & CEO, SynPhNe India, VP Global Business Dev & Marketing explains how digital technologies are being leveraged during the pandemic

Abhijeet Pandit, Director & CEO, SynPhNe India, VP Global Business Dev & Marketing explains how digital technologies are being leveraged during the pandemic

1.  

   What are the solutions and services in the SynPhNe portfolio?

    

   The SynPhNe device helps improve functional independence in individuals with physical disabilities resulting from neurological pathologies such as stroke, traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, learning disorders, early dementia and Parkinsons.

    

   SynPhNe was founded in Singapore in 2014 and formally started commercial operations in India in July 2019. More than 150 patients have used the SynPhNe technology in Singapore and India logging more than five thousand hours of therapy already. Chronic patients with neurological conditions of more than one-year ago have been majority of the patients, benefitting greatly using the device. The patients started with using the technology at the SynPhNe Care Centre and then shifted to use it at home.

    

   SynPhNe has adopted an Omnichannel strategy i.e. the patient may choose to take therapy at SynPhNe Care Centre, or at home by purchasing or renting the SynPhNe device. In case, the patient cannot be reached a device at home because of Covid-19 related restrictions, SynPhNe offers online sessions using the same protocol. The SynPhNe Care Centre is currently located in Mumbai with many more coming up, in the near future, in the south and north of the country.

    

   How are digital technologies being leveraged by SynPhNe especially in the current pandemic situation?

    

   Since the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, we adapted to an online therapy model, which brought about a 100% increase in patients being treated compared to pre-COVID-19 times. The pandemic has dramatically raised the demand for tele-health, which we see continuing in the near future, even after the pandemic impact lessens. With this initiative, we aimed to provide care and therapy to our patients in the lockdown and noticed a remarkable response from them.

    

   After a thorough patient assessment, a trained therapist from SynPhNe guides the patients through a personalised exercise routine following SynPhNe protocol that helps them in achieving mutually set goals.

    

   How is teletriage being used especially after the telemedicine guidelines?

    

   Tele-health is one of the most effective methods of remote monitoring and assessment. Keeping in mind the increased trend of patients following social distance norms, we adopted this initiative to cater to our patients’ evolving needs and to essentially supplement what we do offline.

    

   We started online therapy sessions for patients affected with stroke and other neuromuscular disorders to ensure continual improvement even during the lockdown. These virtual sessions are designed considering the need for stroke patients with co-morbidities such as diabetes, who are required to do some level of physical activity. These sessions also address the need for patients suffering from cognition deficit who are guided to perform tasks like reading, writing alphabets, doing a simple puzzle, etc.

    

   What is the GTM strategy followed by SynPhNe?

    

   In July 2019, SynPhNe opened its fully owned centre in south Mumbai and has plans to open satellite centers in other parts of the city. A few other centers will be set up in the future by our franchise partners in Bangalore, Hyderabad in South, and NCR in the North. In the coming years, we will initiate our plan to build a SynPhNe network across the country, starting from tier I cities. We also plan to go through the e-business route in the near future as our technology is equally effective to be accessed online.

    

   Which are the hospitals that have become your clients and what are their use cases?

    

   As a part of our expansion plan, we have partnered with prominent hospital chains in India like Wockhardt and Nanavati to conduct joint pilot on specified number of patients. Having completed these pilots successfully, we are currently under discussions to finalise using SynPhNe in the hospitals. With the pandemic effects slowly abating, we hope the Hospitals will be in a better position to focus on other needs.

    

   What are the business and operating models of SynPhNe?

    

   SynPhNe follows the omni-channel strategy to provide their services to patients. Additionally, we have launched the virtual therapy model that aims to serve the needs of our patients during the ongoing pandemic.

    

   What are the technology and business trends in the med-tech arena post the pandemic?

    

   Given the immense benefits seen, there are likely to be many trends pertaining to Telehealth including tele-rehab post the Pandemic.

    

   We believe that the post-pandemic number of people purchasing home monitoring health devices will increase. The steep growth can already be seen in the last few months and will continue post-pandemic.

    

   The pandemic has given an impetus to digitally enabled innovations. For e.g. AI enabled molecular technologies making gene editing faster and more accurate.

    

   There is likely to be a big spike in portable, wearable or implantable devices that can monitor health and fitness information, directly engage patients with Doctors, HCP’s & also drive self-regulated therapies.

    

   There would be anincrease in the influx of funds in research and development of wearable, portable, and app-based medical technology to cater to the need of people needing ready data for self-monitoring and self-assessment.