Vulnerable segments of the population, including children, the elderly and disabled and others are eligible for benefiting from the basic support package used in healthcare sector in Armenia. The package provides specific healthcare services, including primary health care and medication, at no charge to specified patients. However, being eligible is not the same as being covered. Very often people are not aware whether they are from a social segment which benefits from the state subsidies for healthcare services provision or what are the specific services which can be paid through social programmes.

Satik Badeyan, who had observed the healthcare sphere in Armenia and carried out research and assessment of healthcare sector in Armenia, came up with a technological solution to the issue of awareness and accessibility of healthcare services. Satik submitted her idea to Social Innovation camp on Healthcare and was shortlisted to participate in 3 days co-design innovative weekend camp. The idea was to create an online tool to help users know whether they are eligible for a specific type of state support in getting particular healthcare services.

Regulations and rules sometimes seem very complex; in addition, they are regularly updated with new conditions and sub-regulations. It is important to have an updated resource with a friendly user interface which allows the users to learn about their rights in several minutes by ticking relevant boxes (selecting social group, place of living, specifying special kind of treatment they need, etc..). Furthermore, by using this online app people can ask questions and get expert responses, as well as discuss questions and get tailored suggestions based on their issues and needs.

During the camp Satik’s team worked hard to figure out specific niche of needs to address, since the range of challenges in the sphere is quite large. As a result of intense brainstorming, discussions and co-design process the idea shaped into a web platform to provide information on the free and subsidized services that are paid for by the government, and how to access them. This tool will also act as a broker between the patient and the medical institution to solve issues related to the provision of healthcare services.

The fully functional prototype of the product will be released later in 2017, so follow the News section for more updates!