Improving India’s critical care infrastructure

Founder Srikanth Nadhamuni got the idea for 10BedICU during the devastating 2021 Delta wave of COVID-19, which saw over 20 million cases in just a few months. With only 2.3 ICU beds per 100,000 people, India’s healthcare infrastructure was quickly overwhelmed. 10BedICU responded swiftly, setting up ICU units in government hospitals and equipping them with the latest medical technology and a telehealth platform called CARE. This platform facilitated remote consultations with specialists, bringing critical care to more rural areas.

“10BedICU is partnering with government hospitals because that’s where the majority of people who cannot afford private hospitals go for critical care,” Nadhamuni explains. “10BedICU provides cutting-edge medical equipment and the government covers ongoing operating costs, including physical hospital space.”

This public-private partnership model enabled 10BedICU to rapidly fundraise and scale in India’s time of need. Today, 10BedICU is a network of over 200 hospitals across nine states, connected through the CARE electronic medical record (EMR) platform.

Now, with the worst of COVID-19 behind us, 10BedICU is set up to deliver ongoing specialized medical care in government hospitals where it previously did not exist. “With 10BedICU, we can now treat patients who otherwise would have needed referrals to specialized medical centers, such as patients with cardiac, cerebrovascular, and respiratory failure cases. We are lowering the barrier to quality healthcare,” says Dr. Subranshu Bhattacharya, Senior Medical Officer at Karimganj Civil Hospital in Assam.

There still remains a shortage of healthcare specialists in the country. “Our telehealth solution is attempting to bridge this gap, but there are still not enough specialists even in major cities,” Nadhamuni explains. “AI can take us many steps further by simplifying medical providers’ jobs so they have capacity to serve more patients in a day.”