HeyPatient develops digital health solutions in Nepal

(CONNECT) In the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, the British organization Partnership Catalyst has brought together one local and one Swiss company from each of three focus areas with high impact potential: fintech, healthcare, and food logistics and agriculture. Regula and Matthias Spühler, founders of the Technopark Winterthur-based healthcare company heyPatient, also took part in the workshop from 3 to 6 February, which was organized and moderated by the Competence Center for Social Innovation at the University of St.Gallen (CSI-HSG).

The so-called Innovation Sprint was conceived as part of DIGI Nepal, a project led by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation to promote digital innovation in Nepal. It aims to improve access to affordable basic services, especially for disadvantaged groups and communities outside Kathmandu. Due to Nepal's topographical challenges, digital technologies were recognized as a key factor, according to a statement from the HSG.

heyPatient's contribution to digitalization consists of a patient portal operated in Switzerland, which patients can use to access all their medical documents and appointments. In the Nepalese project, heyPatient is working together with the social entrepreneur Dr. Bishal Dhakal and his company Health at Home.

In Nepal, patients have to pay 80 percent of hospital costs themselves, and there are very few general practitioners, according to heyPatient in a separate press release. As a result, "patients often have to bear high costs for unnecessary or inefficient treatments without professional advice. This is where we want to start." In the next phase of collaboration, initial ideas for solutions would be fleshed out in virtual workshops and a detailed plan drawn up. ce/mm