More than a dozen doctors employed with technology major Cognizant for its healthcare and life sciences practice in Mumbai have volunteered to be a part of a telephonic helpline for addressing questions on COVID-19.
The COVID-19 helpline has been set up by a group of physicians, led by Mumbai-based consulting physician Tushar Shah, to contain fear, panic and speculation by providing people with relevant, non-prescriptive information.
"Responding to the COVID-19 crisis has put frontline healthcare personnel under a severe strain. Our helpline is an attempt to ease the pressure on hospitals and doctors, enable those in need to get treatment on priority, and equip citizens with useful and accurate medical information," Shah said.
He added that the participation from Cognizant employees has expanded the helpline's reach across marginalised communities and areas with limited access to medical expertise.
Before joining the helpline team, Cognizant's doctor volunteers took a two-week virtual training from Shah on various aspects of running a helpline, such as gathering information from callers, reading symptoms, and responding to various types of questions.
Cognizant has over 2,700 medical professionals globally, including physicians, nurses, and pharmacists who provide critical services such as pharmacovigilance, clinical data management, medical management and claims management, among others, to healthcare and life sciences organisations globally.
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The US-based company's healthcare and life sciences business revenue was about USD 4.7 billion and accounted for 28 per cent of its overall topline for 2019.
Under Cognizant's employee-led volunteering program Outreach, Cognizant employees are supporting several governmental and non-governmental organisations across India on COVID-19 initiatives. The company has about two lakh employees in India.
Ramkumar Ramamoorthy, Chairman and Managing Director at Cognizant India said most questions to date on the helpline have been about likely symptoms, self-isolation, diet, hygiene and testing of COVID-19.
"Through the helpline, Cognizant volunteers have been able to provide non-prescriptive advice to marginalised and underserved communities as well," he added.
Similarly, KONE Elevator India, a fully-owned subsidiary of Finland-based KONE Corporation, said it is offering its cloud technology for free to its customers operating medical facilities.
The KONE 24/7 Connected Services technology can better predict, maintain and take action before breakage, thereby ensuring less equipment downtime and fewer faults, a statement said.
This preventive maintenance system helps the elevator work seamlessly in hospitals 24/7 and in the current pandemic situation, it is absolutely critical that elevators or escalators run smoothly without any setbacks, it added.
In collaboration with IBM Watson, the cloud-based solution uses sensors that collect data on a range of parameters on equipment performance and powerful analytics to identify deviations. If the system identifies the need for maintenance, it alerts a technician immediately. "...one area where movement is crucial is hospitals where doctors, nurses, assistants and volunteers continue to work tirelessly to ensure patients are looked after. KONE's 24/7 Connected Services, now available free for our current customers who operate medical facilities, will help ensure that their people flow is safe and reliable," Amit Gossain, Managing Director at KONE Elevator India, said.