MUMBAI, India — The Research Society for the Study of Diabetes in India (RSSDI) is the largest association of physicians dedicated to the care of people with diabetes in Asia, with over 11,500 members across 23 states in India. Koita Foundation (www.koitafoundation.org) is a not-for-profit organization focused on driving Digital Health Adoption and NGO Transformation in India.
RSSDI and Koita Foundation have established a long-term partnership to set up the RSSDI–Koita Centre for Digital Diabetology (KCDD). KCDD will create a strong healthcare technology team, which will define and execute national digital programs in diabetes management & research.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in the presence of Dr. Rakesh Sahay, President RSSDI; Dr. Sanjay Agarwal, Secretary General, RSSDI; Ms. Rekha Koita, Director Koita Foundation; and Ms. Surabhi Goel, COO – Koita Foundation, at the RSSDI Annual Research Retreat 2024 in Jaipur on 13th April 2024.
RSSDI–KCDD is a first-of-its-kind centre to focus on Digital Diabetology. Its focus areas will include:
- Quality: Leverage digital technology to improve diabetes treatment workflows and patient experience; including the use of Electronic Medical Records (EMRs), clinical quality measures, guideline adherence, patient engagement, AI/ML
- Affordability: Identify areas for cost reduction using Digital Health technology, data sharing, etc., to make diabetes care more affordable e.g., cost of care benchmarking
- Access: Leverage digital technology to improve access to high-quality diabetes care, especially in non-urban, rural areas, e.g., telemedicine
- Productivity: Leverage digital tools and automation to improve clinical and administrative workflows, to help reduce manual and redundant activities
- Best Practices: Identify and share best practices in digital technology in diabetes management
- Training and Capacity Building: Use Digital Health tools for continuous learning and skill development for various user groups, such as doctors, nurses, technicians
- Research and Development: Partner with healthcare startups, pharma, healthcare companies, and other organizations to drive R&D in diabetes
Underlining the importance of this initiative, Dr. Rakesh Sahay, President, RSSDI, said, “This centre is going to play an important role in the coming years in the development of newer technologies and innovations for improving diabetes care management. Getting access to timely and accurate patient data has been a challenge in diabetes management, and KCDD will help us bridge this important gap. We foresee this centre to become globally relevant in driving the use of digital technology for diabetes management.”
Commenting on this initiative, Dr. Sanjay Agarwal, Secretary General, RSSDI, said, “It’s a very proud moment for us to announce the launch of RSSDI–Koita Centre for Digital Diabetology. We need to leverage digital tools to support patient, doctors and healthcare systems, and the centre will stand as an example for revolutionising digital technologies in diabetes care.”
Speaking on the partnership, Mr. Rizwan Koita, Co-founder & Director, Koita Foundation, said, “Given the scale and breadth of RSSDI and its 50-year track record, it is ideally positioned to provide leadership in this new and emerging space. RSSDI–KCDD initiatives are closely tied with the government of India’s focus on driving Digital Health adoption, including the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. Moreover, the ability to aggregate patient data at scale will help RSSDI–KCDD drive use of advanced technologies like AI and Machine Learning in diabetes management, and provide tools for developing public health programs.”
RSSDI–KCDD will work closely and leverage learnings from the Koita Centre for Digital Oncology (KCDO), established in partnership with Tata Memorial Centre and the National Cancer Grid in 2022.
