“Pandemics and plagues have a way of shifting the course of history, and not always in a manner immediately evident to the survivors,” writes Canadian anthropologist Wade Davis in Rolling Stone Magazine.
“COVID-19 didn’t lay America low,” continued Davis, “it simply revealed what had long been forsaken…a country that once turned out fighter planes by the hour could not manage to produce the paper masks or cotton swabs essential for tracking the disease”.
America is not the only country struggling to contain COVID-19.
Cases in Egypt, Pakistan, Brazil, Peru, Nigeria, Russia and India are also surging.
On August 12, 2020 Predictmedix (PMED.C) announced that it will be deploying its COVID-19 screening technology along with alcohol and impairment screening technology at Indian Oil Corporation (IOC.NS) – an Indian Public Sector Undertaking FORTUNE 500 company.
India has an underfunded medical systems, making traditional COVID-19 testing financially challenging.
Predictmedix’s COVID-19 screening technology is designed to mass screen for symptomatic individuals to help reduce the risk of transmission in places which have a large movement of people.
“Predictmedix’ solution involves multispectral imaging, which captures image information along specific wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum,” reports Equity Guru’s Chris Parry, “There is no need for any bodily fluids and there is no human exposure, as the screening is carried out using multispectral cameras, which can be installed at any facility.
- Elevated temperature? Check.
- Heavy breathing? Check.
- Heavy sweating? Check.
Time to go in for a secondary screening, friend”.
In April, 2020 Predictmedix filed a Patent Application in the U.S. for its AI-driven rapid screening system for infectious diseases, including COVID-19. This tech can also detect cannabis and alcohol impairment.
Predictmedix has appointed Kapil Raval to be the Chairman of its Advisory Board. Kapil is currently a director at the $1.4 trillion Microsoft (MSFT.NASDAQ).
Impairment is an expensive problem at the workplace and Predictmedix impairment detection technology is also designed to identify alcohol and cannabis impairment. The two Predictmedix technologies will be deployed at Indian Oil Bhawan, New Delhi within the next 3-4 weeks.
The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed other health issues into the background, but impairment in heavy industry is a serious and expensive problem.
In India about 40% of work accidents have been attributed to alcohol use.
Identifying impaired employees before they punch in, can save a big factory a lot of money.
Not all partnerships are created equal.
In this all-noise-is-good-noise era – when some A.I. companies are press releasing partnerships with the Costa Rican forestry department – a deal with Indian Oil is significant news.
Indian Oil company profile:
- Ranked 1st in Fortune India 500 list (2016)
- 117th in Fortune Global 500 list (2019).
- India’s largest downstream oil company
- Workforce of more than 33,000 employees
- 2019 revenue of $85 billion USD.
“The deployment of our COVID-19 screening and impairment technology at IOCL marks our entry into the Oil & Gas sector,” stated Dr. Kushwah, COO of Predictmedix, “and it further highlights the market need for the suite of technologies developed by Predictmedix”.
Predictmedix has now appointed Kiran Kumari – a senior Oil & Gas executive – to the advisory board to assist with business development in Asia Pacific.
Also on August 12, 2020 Predictmedix announced that it has filed a U.S. patent application, 63058567 – which “utilises healthcare providers network effect to increase compliance for better health outcomes”.
The patent covers a partner reward management system and method for care partners/care providers to collectively contribute to improved health of the patient and accordingly rewarding the care providers and other wellness partners.
PMED is methodically creating a patented eco-system to disrupt current screening protocols.
Two months ago, PMED announced the acquisition of MobileWellbeing, a Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) platform that will integrate with Predictmedix’ A.I-driven rapid screening systems.
Remote Patient Monitoring is a method of healthcare delivery that uses cell phones and other gadgets to gather patient data outside of traditional healthcare settings.
MobileWellbeing’s targeted customers include Hospitals, Home Healthcare Agencies, Physicians Groups, Pharmacies, Medical Clinics, Health Plans, NGOs and Clinical Research Organizations.
“The combined solution will now allow us to take healthcare delivery to the next level,” states Says Rajiv Muradia, Founder & CEO of MobileWellbeing, “The integration will enable workplaces as well as clinicians to remotely manage patients outside their physical environments.”
For PMED – India is a low-lying fruit.
“India’s total healthcare spending is 3.6% of GDP,” reports Livemint, “The average for OECD countries in 2018 was 8.8% of GDP. Developed nations like the US (16.9%) Germany (11.2%), France (11.2%) and Japan (10.9%)—spend even more. India spends the least among BRICS countries.
“As a number of countries moved expeditiously to contain the virus, the United States stumbled along in denial, as if willfully blind,” reports Wade Davis.
Given the disorganized COVID-19 response in the U.S. – it’s not hard to imagine a scenario where PMED’s technology could also find a home there.
– Lukas Kane
Full Disclosure: Predictmedix is an Equity Guru marketing client.