Dr. Sanjeev Gulati has been a healthcare warrior serving the medical fraternity for over three decades. As a renowned nephrologist, he has come across the entire plethora of kidney diseases and related conditions and has been deeply involved in treating kidney diseases and disorders to ensure the wellbeing of his patients.
In his words, “People with kidney diseases are complex patients and we need a decade of evaluation of their past records, all their investigation data – from the past as well as their recent examinations to optimize the treatment. In that sense, record keeping is extremely critical for doctors. Additionally, these records are also important from the medico legal perspective. In fact, data records are very important for all aspects of patient management, especially in nephrology. The trends of the past records and how the patient is doing at present often help doctors in quick decision making…and it’s quite vital across specialities, especially in complex cases. Accurate data keeping is synonymous to better patient care.”
Story of a Stage 5 Chronic Kidney Patient – an inspiring account of dreams and destiny
While talking about his most inspiring moments as a leading medical practitioner, Dr Sanjeev Gulati recounted the story of resilience and gumption of a young girl suffering from a chronic kidney disease.
In early 2008, Dr. Gulati came across a 12-year old girl with a Stage 5 Chronic Kidney disease. Her parents were in a dilemma about the treatment as the kidney specialists they had consulted earlier all advised them against advanced treatment, given the tender age of the child. When Dr. Gulati evaluated her condition, the only way out was a kidney transplant. This could have to be coupled with intervening dialysis as the only way forward for the little girl. Lucky for her, the mother happened to be a perfect match as the kidney donor. But the bigger challenge for the family was arranging for funds for this highly complex procedure.
Dr. Gulati resorted to scout funding – He wrote a letter to the girl’s school and the response from the Principal, faculty members and students was overwhelming. And soon the funds were ready for the transplant.
The young girl cooperated in every way possible, not once losing hope or giving up her innocent smile. Needless to say, the transplant was a success.
But that’s not where this story ends.
What is truly inspiring about this particular patient was that this child did not give up on her dreams even though she went through one of the toughest surgeries of life. She was in the 8th Standard when she underwent the kidney transplant. 2 years later, her parents came to Dr. Gulati with the news that she had scored 94% in her 10th Board Exams! It was one of the best news he had ever received. And guess what, another couple of years later, the amazing girl went on to score 96% in her 12th Boards.
Despite certain physical limitations, she wanted to pursue engineering, and with sheer hard work and will power, she made it to a leading engineering college. She shone in her academics and soon made it to IIT Kanpur for her Masters Degree. And today she is a faculty member in IIT Bhopal. All through her struggles, treatments, and wins, she has been under the care of Dr. Gulati, and at each phase of her life, her positivity and resilience continue to inspire the people around her.
And now comes the social part of this girl’s life. Before taking the next step, she consulted Dr. Gulatia about the implications of getting married. The doctor evaluated her past records, and present health trends, and came to the conclusion that it is absolutely fine. As her doctor, he met the girl with her prospective husband and explained the possibilities of complexities in child bearing.
They have been happily married for two years now, and this wonderful girl continues to live life on her own terms, nurturing her dreams, taking care of her family, and believing that she is as much capable of leading a normal life if not more than the others without her kind of health complications.
Dr Gulati wants everyone out there to know this, “Kidney Transplant is the best treatment for any patient with Stage 5 Chronic Kidney Disease, including children. The long-term outcome of these patients are also very good. Such patients have also battled the covid pandemic and have successfully warded off the infection.”
How does HealthPlix EMR fit into your practice?
Dr. Gulati has been using the HealthPlix EMR platform for over 3 years now.
“I was looking for a good Electronic Medical Record System a few years ago, and that’s when I came across HealthPlix. I asked some of my fellow doctors who have been using this system and got positive responses from them. Medically, we are required to maintain records of our practice as well as day-to-day consultation data, but what I loved about HealthPlix was the feature to access my patient’s past data at a click of a button. It made things quite easy and quick.
But I realized the true value of HealthPlix during the pandemic – When patients, even with serious kidney issues, were apprehensive about leaving their homes, traveling, or stepping into a clinic. That’s when I started tele-consultations on HealthPlix. With this platform, I had their past records at my fingertips (quite literally) that made managing my patients possible, even on a virtual medium.
Another great thing about HealthPlix is that it allows me to send prescriptions to my patients in the language they prefer such as Hindi, Bengali, etc. So now I do extensive telemedicine practice and also publish my experience in some of the leading journals – experiences that I found very useful in my kidney transplant patients.
Via tele consultations I could actually screen patients who were more likely to contract a covid infection and help them test for covid without putting them under pressure to visit the hospital/clinic (which were already overburdened) physically.
I think the HealthPlix EMR has been a great boon during the pandemic and I have spoken about this in several national and international conferences like the Congress of Nephrology, The APICON 2020, Journal of Organ Transplantation, The Journal of Internal Medical Association and so on.
What is the future of a tech-powered EMR in India?
Dr Gulati believes that smart EMR systems such as HealthPlix have the power to revolutionize the way healthcare is perceived in India.
First of all there is a huge cost benefit for patients.
He gives a real example where a patient from a remote village has to spend on travel, stay and food to come to the city for a physical follow up. It also means expenditure on the part of the caregiver, who probably has to take a day off from work to accompany the patient. The amount of money and time spent on these things are often much greater than the actual follow up or consultation.
But teleconsultation can change such logistics challenges and present a win-win situation for both the patient and the doctor – The doctor can be much more flexible and dedicate more time depending upon the cases and the cost of consultation also goes down which improves patient-compliance.
In the doctor’s words, “With some practice and understanding of which patients can be teleconsulted and who needs to be seen at the hospital, medical practitioners can perhaps see more patients and deliver better patient outcomes. HealthPlix makes it a win-win for doctors and patients.”
Check Dr. Sanjeev Gulati’s YouTube channel TheKidney Klinic to learn more about kidney health, treatments, and prevention of diseases.
If you want to explore the HeathPlix EMR with your fellow doctors, join our FREE upcoming webinar.