Personalised care plan ensures that elderly parents receive the most effective care possible, taking into account their medical history, current condition, and treatment preferences.
Pakistanis are fed up with rushed doctor visits, long wait times, medical errors in clinics and hospitals, and the fee-for-service model. A group of physicians from Pakistan in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada have launched “personalized healthcare,” an innovative care model.
The startup plans to serve all major cities by the end of 2023, beginning with a primary care service in Karachi and serving the elderly population at their homes.
Human Health Care Services announced that they will provide primary personalized healthcare services to Karachi-based parents of overseas living away from Pakistan.
A team of highly professional and skilled doctors from Pakistan, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom collaborate with a team of nurses and care coordinators to develop a primary personalised healthcare plan tailored to the specific needs and circumstances of elderly patients in Pakistan.
The personalised care plan ensures that the elderly parents receive the most effective and appropriate care possible, taking into account their medical history, current condition, and treatment preferences.
When compared to the routine traditional medical care provided in clinics and hospitals across Pakistan, the benefit of “personalized” healthcare is that medical therapies, lifestyle changes, and other interventions are all tailored to the individual’s unique needs and circumstances. This necessitates more time with patients and a distinct set of skills, which HumanHealthcare.com will bring to Pakistani healthcare in 2023.
HumanHealthcare.com was conceived a few years ago. Dr. Atif Zafar, the startup’s co-founder, returned home one day after a 36-hour hospital shift as part of his US residency training.
He was sleep-deprived and exhausted when he received an unexpected phone call from his father in Karachi: “Tumhari Ammi ko doctors ne cancer diagnose kia hai” (Your mom has been diagnosed with cancer). Atif was overcome with shock, distress, and a sense of complete helplessness as he sat thousands of miles away from the family he adored and valued, especially at a time when they needed him the most.
Wracked with guilt, Atif reluctantly abandoned his training in the United States to care for his mother. He called a few of his physician friends who were in Karachi at the time, just before he left. They reassured Atif that he did not need to leave the United States and that they would arrange all the necessary appointments and tests for a second opinion with an oncologist in his place. Atif’s friends came through, much to his relief.
Following an evaluation and review of previous scans, it was discovered that his mother’s uterine mass was a benign growth that had also been present on previous scans. Atif, relieved and grateful beyond words, had resolved to assist others who were in a similar situation at the time. so that others would never have to feel that sense of helplessness in arranging appropriate medical care for their loved ones when they cannot be physically present with them.
Atif had resolved to assist others who were in a similar situation at the time. so that others would never have to feel that sense of helplessness in arranging appropriate medical care for their loved ones when they cannot be physically present with them.
He elaborates further, “We are hoping elderly parents in Karachi can experience the latest technology, humanistic personalized service, plus American & British medical expertise without going out of their homes.”
When Dr. Zafar discussed his startup idea with his other physician colleagues, he realised how prevalent this issue was in the lives of Pakistanis living in other countries. Dr. Shoib Ghayas, a Dow graduate from Karachi who works in the UK, was one of them. He is now the startup’s Chief Medical Officer.
“The COVID-19 pandemic hit me while I was working as a family physician in England,” says Dr. Shoib Ghayas. It was shocking to learn that my father had a severe COVID-19 infection during the peak of the pandemic. I returned to Pakistan, risking my job and leaving my wife and daughter in the UK to spend a few months in Karachi focusing on my father’s health. Alhamdulillah, he recovered, but it was a challenging time for our family and my professional life. Although I was fortunate enough to do so, I have heard many stories of expats struggling to travel back home due to work, visa, or household commitments.
“We launched Human-Healthcare.com in recognition of how overseas Pakistanis balance their careers, family life abroad, and ensuring that their parents are well cared for back in Pakistan.” Our team is developing a model to provide the best care possible for our parents. Dr. Shoib Ghayas shared that this work is very close to his heart.
“We actively listen to our subscribers’ stories and pay close attention to verbal and nonverbal cues to ensure that our subscribers’ messages are understood. Our employees are highly trained and have a thorough understanding of our subscribers’ concerns, needs, and preferences. We foster trust and respect between practitioners and subscribers in order to achieve better communication, better outcomes, and higher levels of patient satisfaction,” shared Dr. Shoib Ghayas, who is also a co-founder of the startup.
One of the ways Human-Healthcare.com is able to provide personalized healthcare to its subscribers is through well-designed and organized technology framework. With a secure electronic medical record integrated with electronic hi-tech gadgets (such as blood pressure, ECG machine, otoscope, dermatoscope, among other tools) the care teams are accurately diagnosing and making appropriate treatment plan.
“I was having trouble getting my mother to have her tests done on a regular basis and to take her medications on time, but Human Healthcare fixed that. They dispatched a lovely team that appeared to genuinely care about her. They communicate with her on a regular basis and provide the best service at home,” said one Human-early Healthcare.com subscriber who lives in the US and has parents in Karachi.