These 'Health ATMs' invented by 3 IITians are slowly taking over the traditional clinic-based model of treating Indian patients

There was a time when we had to walk up to a bank every time our work involved bank services, until ATMs came into being and changed our lives forever. It is exactly this revolution this IIT trio is trying to bring about in the healthcare sector with their health ATMs.

Their products are basically kiosks that can provide basic and primary healthcare services without a person having to go to the clinic.

Dhilly Babu and Shreyans Gandhi, who graduated from IIT Bombay, and Arpit Mishra, a graduate from IIT Kharagpur, came up the idea to cater to patients in remote areas where people have little or no access to doctors or healthcare facilities. They soon started their company Yolo Health (Yolo means You Live Only Once) and installed their kiosks in different areas of the country, including two in Mumbai and one in Thane.

From delivering basic diagnosis to connecting patients to doctors, this kiosk has proved to be an efficient means of healthcare diagnosis and delivery so far.

The Health ATMs are equipped with tool and sensors to perform basic diagnosis such as check blood pressure, body mass index (BMI) and fat and muscle percentage, perform various blood and urine tests, as well as cardiac and respiratory check-ups. It has proven to be efficient because reports are generated instantly.

For any patient requiring further diagnosis, they are connected to a doctor through video-conferencing. If you are thinking, how will a person guide himself through the diagnoses, you are not alone at these kiosks. There's always a full-time attendant, who could be a community worker or a para-medic who will assist you. While the general health check-up is provided free of cost, more advanced tests could be charged for.

Another big problem the IIT trio has solved is that their product doesn't require too much electricity to run. In fact, a single Uninterrupted Power Supply unit can run one kiosk easily.

Every day, the founders claim, around 40-50 patients are visiting the kiosks.

Furthermore, to expand beyond the 18 kiosks set up so far, the founders have joined hands with corporate firms and state governments to get funding and infrastructure. They are also tieing up with local hospitals, whose doctors will remain available for telemedicine and authenticating the diagnostic reports.