Center for Health Market Innovations (CHMI)

Programs

AMCARE-Diabetes Management Bangladesh

last updated Apr 5, 2013

Overview

Implementing organization: 
Telemedicine Reference Center Ltd. (TRCL), Diabetic Association of Bangladesh
Legal Status: 
Private (unspecified)
Year Launched: 
2009
Stage: 
Existing/expansion stage
Income Level of Target Population: 
All income levels

Funding

Primary Source of Funding: 
Membership/subscription fees

Technology

Technology Used: 
Phones › Apps/Software, Phones › Voice
Technology Purpose: 
Extending Geographic Access
Technology Partner(s): 
Telemedicine Reference Center Ltd. (TRCL)

Scale

Number of Clients Served: 
1920
Summary: 

AMCARE is a membership-based program that aims to meet the daily necessities of diabetes patients through a call center model. The popularity of the AMCARE pilot has encouraged the Diabetic Association of Bangladesh to continue collaborating with TRCL to scale up the project to reach total 6 million diabetic patients in Bangladesh by 2013.

Key program components: 

AMCARE is a subscription-based membership program that aims to encourage patient at-home compliance with diabetes care protocol and build stronger relationships between the patient and provider. The program's main feature is a diabetes call center staffed by licensed physicians and nurses that is reachable by a hotline number. The basic membership is open to all diabetic patients through a monthly fee starting from US$ 0.60 to US$ 20.00. The hotline has decreased the cost of seeking health care by eliminating the cost of transportation to a hospital and consultation fees for services for a significant number of patients.

Technical Platform:
AMCARE's technical platform is based on cloud computing and uses Oracle CCA and Siebel CRM On Demand. The telephone system acts as the core networking component between patients, providers and partners, and uses unified communication tools for adherence and monitoring. The TRCL Medical Portal is the clinical process warehouse and maintains a record of all processes, (e.g. algorithms and protocols). The smart phone applications connect patients, doctors, and field staff (clinical, sales, and administrative) in real-time.

A total of 1,920 patients participated in the pilot phase of this project: (1) 77% of diabetic patients had mobile phones; (2) all patients under the pilot had java enabled mobile handsets; (3) 11% were irregular; (4) among the irregular patients, 62% improved their compliance to treatment following home monitoring and education; (5) most importantly, 61.2% reduced doctor/hospital visits from 5-6 to 1-2 per year.

Program history: 

AMCARE is a service of Telemedicine Reference Center Limited (TRCL), which has a unique 10-year history of innovative electronic and mobile health solutions in Bangladesh (including HealthLine 7-8-9 for GrameenPhone). AMCARE’s quality and credibility is bolstered by a close collaboration with the renowned Diabetic Association of Bangladesh (DAB). DAB founded and runs the famous BIRDEM hospital and a cardiac hospital, national network of diagnostic centers, a medical college and institute of health sciences, and other facilities. While DAB provides high-quality care to 1.5 million registered patients, AMCARE takes DAB’s high quality treatment, doctors, and diabetes educators to 4.5 million unreached patients in the country through the mobile phone. AMCARE’s service for diabetes and hypertension is the brainchild of Dr. Sikder Zakir, founder of TRCL and Prof. A. K. Azad Khan, President of DAB.

PreviewAttachmentSize
amcare-diabetes-MiddleEast[1].pdf653.72 KB
Hide this

Need help?

Using the CHMI Programs Database

  • Browse: Browse the database by applying one or more filters to narrow your search by characteristics. Click the "x" to remove any of the filters you've selected. Click "reset search" to remove all filters and start over.
  • Search: Search the database for a specific program by typing a name or keyword into the search box.
  • Add: If the program you're looking for is not in the CHMI database, submit the program to the CHMI pipeline by clicking here to add a program profile.
  • Update: If you notice incorrect or outdated information, or would like to help complete a profile for a CHMI pipeline program, request a change by clicking here, or at the top of the program profile.

Have a question? Check the FAQs first. Don’t see your question? Contact us.