I had the good fortune to recently interview inspiring Stanford student Vineet Singal who is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Anjna Patient Education — a rising healthcare nonprofit that aims to use technology to create health education programs at free clinics — enjoy and thank you Vineet!
Who are you and what is Anjna Patient Education?
My name is Vineet Singal and I am a Stanford University student majoring in Biological Sciences. I want to use my skills as a student social entrepreneur to fight for greater access to quality and affordable healthcare for under-served communities. My resolve solidified in Galveston, TX during the fall of 2009, when I took a leave of absence from Stanford to volunteer full time at St. Vincent’s free clinic. Galveston then was a community ravaged by Hurricane Ike and the failing economy. At this under-resourced clinic, I started a health education program and motivated patients by sharing my own battle overcoming obesity. Back at Stanford, I co-founded Anjna Patient Education with my good friend Donovan Barfield, a national nonprofit organization that aims to utilize technology to create health education programs at free clinics.
How are you planning to use Technology for Good?
Interactive online education shows promise, but has not been attempted in free clinic environments beyond a few exploratory studies. Studies show that using interactive online learning modules in low-income environments is a highly effective education tool. Patients waiting in clinics are already primed to willingly address their health needs. The waiting period (often up to three hours in some free clinics) is a prime opportunity to educate patients.
Computers equipped with headphones can be installed at waiting room kiosks, with instructions on how to access specific modules. By devising a method for patients to take interactive quizzes, become informed about the health issues that concern them, and then print their surveys for their appointments, doctors may begin to recognize chronic disease concerns that may not be identified in a standard, rushed visit. These modules will be designed to maximize their impact on unique cultural groups. Specialized wording and images will be utilized and translated so both culture and language barriers are addressed. This tool is empowering for the patient, efficient for the health care practitioner and cost-effective for the health care provider as it leads to more accurate diagnosis and more effective treatment.
To empower free clinics with an effective follow-up system for their patients, we aim to implement a mobile-outreach program utilizing FrontlineSMS, an open-source, highly secure platform already used in healthcare settings worldwide. Some of the principle services that we propose to offer are:
1) Restatement of doctors’ instructions in the patients’ native language
2) Reminders to take medication as directed
3) Reminders for follow-up appointments
4) Reminders to record blood sugar/blood pressure readings, among others.
These specific functionalities are the outstanding possibilities as of now; we will tailor our functionalities to meet the needs of our partner organizations.
There is persuasive evidence that a venture such as this has potential. Firstly, it is feasible in the low-income population we aim to serve. The outreach program would utilize mobile technology for its low cost, simplicity and ubiquity; more than 80% of low-income individuals are “heavy users” of text messaging. Moreover, successful proofs of concept for mobile-based interventions can be seen through Delaware’s Medicaid program and the CDC’s HEALTH-87000 program, the former utilizing text-messaging outreach to increase the number of patients who adhered to Diabetes self-management from 52.3% to 70.5% over a six-month period.
What is the biggest misconception about the clinics and people you are trying to serve?
I think the biggest misconception is that people who go to free clinics do not want to learn. I think that couldn’t be further from the truth. When we were prototyping our depression module in free clinics, a lot of patients responded that they wanted more information, and they liked the detailed explanations about the different categories of antidepressants. That just goes to show you how willing patients are to learn about their disease and fight it, and all they need are the right resources.
Why focus on technology for supporting Free Clinics?
I feel that technology is the next best thing to having a live human being explaining or quizzing patients about different diseases. Often times free clinics are already constrained by resources (not enough volunteers, etc.) to make sure that they can see every patient, let alone allocate people to sit in waiting rooms and explain different diseases. Further, a lot of people just prefer technology because they can learn at their own pace. For example, there was a study done by Timothy Bickmore and Laura Pfeifer from Northeastern University in which they used a virtual nurse to explain to patients their outpatient procedure. One of the patients commented, “Sometimes doctors just talk and assume you understand what they’re saying. With a computer you can go slow, go over things again and she checks that you understand” Plus, our technology is interactive and requires direct user-interaction, which is much more engaging than hearing a person talk for fifteen minutes straight!
What new idea or innovation is having the most significant impact in your mission?
Using the intuitive touch-screen platform afforded by iPad technology, we will be able to present crucial aspects of health education to patients in an interface that is both highly accessible and more entertaining than standard scientific fact sheets. Additionally, the electronic format will provide a means for accessing improvements in knowledge by offering interactive games that test a patient’s knowledge about the particular disease that is relevant to their lives. Our pilot clinic, Schuman-Liles, will benefit immensely from these kiosks by providing a useful activity for patients to engage as they wait to see a physician. We are also creating a series of short videos for access on the kiosks and our website about chronic disease. Entitled “Not Alone”, these videos will help patients seek out treatment for chronic diseases and will also help simplify the application process for low-cost health insurance and Medicaid.
What’s an emerging trend in tech you see that could drastically change the nonprofit sector?
I think Cloud Computing is a novel trend that can definitely change the nonprofit sector. By having the ability to access software from anywhere, it will make collaborations and work-flow much easier since files are accessible from anywhere. It will also make communication much easier since everyone will have access to the same set of files and will thus be on the “same page.” I’m excited to see the future of cloud computing, and excited to use it within my own nonprofit organization.
What do you think it would take to get more young people to engage in social action?
I think a lot of young people don’t think they have what it takes to create real change. I think organizations like DOSomething.org are great in that they inspire teenagers to create change by showcasing those who already are creating change. I feel that providing teenagers with examples, and telling them that yes, you too can create change, will encourage more to engage in social action.
Vineet Singal’s TED Talk:
Portrait of Vineet Singal:











