On a crowded film set in Delhi, filmmaker Shankh Chadha moves from one shot to another, his day stretching far beyond schedule. Somewhere between the lights, cables, and constant calls, his phone vibrates. It isn’t a meeting alert. It isn’t work. It’s a reminder asking a simple question: Have you taken your insulin? Shankh has lived with Type 1 diabetes for years. “Earlier, when I used to go on my shoots, I used to forget my insulin doses,” he says. Like many professionals juggling unpredictable days, he tried using phone alarms. But those reminders were easily dismissed. “I used to put reminders for meetings and everything, so I would just clear all notifications. My medication reminder would also go away like that.” Today, that no longer happens. His medication schedule is structured, persistent, and specific. “My medication is always on track now,” he says. “And because of that, I am much healthier.” This quiet intervention — a reminder that refuses to be lost in the noise — lies at the heart of MyDigiRecords (MDR), a personal health companion app founded in 2022. After two years of research and development, MDR officially launched its comprehensive healthcare app in August 2023, before going to market in April this year. The missing link in India’s healthcare story India’s healthcare conversations often revolve around infrastructure: hospitals, doctors, and equipment. However, for Dr Saroj Gupta, founder and CEO of MyDigiRecords, who has spent decades practising healthcare in both India and the United States, it is the fragmented information. What stood out to her wasn’t a lack of hospitals or doctors, but the fragile way patients carried their own medical histories. MDR allows users to manage health records for multiple family members through one account. “India is still very much in the paper system,” she says. “Doctors write a prescription, give it to the patient, and then anything can happen. A prescription can get lost, tea can spill on it — everyday things.” The consequences, she explains, go far beyond inconvenience. “People don’t remember what medications they are taking. They will say pink, white, or blue tablet. There are so many pink tablets — how do you identify what medication it is?” As populations grow and doctors’ time shrinks, this lack of reliable documentation becomes dangerous. “Because patients don’t have proper records, they go to multiple doctors, get prescribed the same medicines again, and sometimes end up overdosing,” she says. “A lot of the time, diagnosis gets delayed. And sometimes, people lose their lives.” What troubles her most is that digitisation alone doesn’t solve the problem. “People say, ‘Oh, we can save everything on Google Drive.’ But it is not a solid guarantee alone. It doesn’t organise your medications, immunisations, or allergies.” MDR, she says, was built to fill that gap — not as a hospital system, but as a patient-owned one. Built for families, not just individuals When Savi Aggarwal, a 38-year-old mother of two, first signed up for MDR, she was pregnant. “I wanted to keep track of medications, prescriptions, and after delivery, vaccinations for my children,” she says. Over time, MDR became her family’s single source of health trackers. “Even for my elder one, I’ve been recording everything on the application only. I just go to one place and figure out what vaccinations are due or what medicines were given earlier.” The moment she truly understood its value came unexpectedly. “I had forgotten about a vaccination for my younger one,” she recalls. “I got the notification from MyDigiRecords, and it was an important vaccination.” She was able to get the shot done on time. “That’s when I realised why this application is necessary.” This family-first approach is intentional, says COO Viren Aggarwal. “In India, families are at the centre of healthcare decisions. We are what people call the sandwich generation — managing kids and ageing parents at the same time.” MDR allows users to manage health records for multiple family members through one account. “Even if I’m in a different city, I can still access my parents’ records, remind them about medicines or appointments, and stay on top of their care.” Every access is permission-based. “Users can grant and revoke access at any time,” the team explains, ensuring privacy and control. “Health data is extremely sensitive, and users should decide who sees it and for how long.” At its core, MyDigiRecords works by helping individuals securely store, organise, and share their medical history in one place. Through the app, users can create or link their digital health identity, including ABHA, upload or receive medical documents such as prescriptions and lab reports, track medications with reminders, and monitor wellness data over time. When technology steps back, not forward Despite being AI-powered, MDR doesn’t foreground technology in a way that feels intimidating. One of its most talked-about features, SmartVitals, allows users to measure vitals like blood pressure through a short facial scan. For Savi, who struggles with low BP, this has been reassuring. “I can scan my face, see what my blood pressure is like, track it, and share it with my doctor during visits,” she says. SmartVitals utilises smartphone-based facial video analysis to estimate key wellness indicators such as heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure, offering users additional insight into their health between clinical visits. For Dr Saroj, the goal is psychological as much as medical. “A lot of people panic. They think, ‘My BP must be high.’ But when they see it’s normal, they calm down. That itself reduces stress.” CMO Chris Humphreys explains MDR’s philosophy is simple: “We want MDR to be a personal health companion — something you carry in your pocket.” Beyond storing records, MDR actively encourages users to make better health decisions. “It’s not just about logging medications,” he says. “It’s about reminding users so they stay compliant, whether it’s diabetes medication or vaccinations, and prevent diseases before they happen.” For Shankh, MDR didn’t just change how he manages his health — it changed how his doctor engages with him. “My doctor is in Mumbai, and I’m in Delhi,” he says. “I just share my MDR link with her, and she can see everything there. It’s much better than sharing documents on WhatsApp.” One of MDR’s most significant steps has been aligning with the Government of India’s Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM). The response has been encouraging. “Doctors get impressed. They feel this patient is serious about his health and proactive.” That shift is already visible at an institutional level. MyDigiRecords is recommended by clinicians across its 20 partner hospitals and clinics in India, including a National Institute. For healthcare providers, MDR Pro acts as the provider-facing system, enabling clinicians — with patient consent — to view a longitudinal picture of a patient’s health, manage workflows, and support continuity of care across visits. “When hospitals and doctors can access health summaries quickly, without flipping pages or repeating questions, diagnosis becomes faster and more accurate,” Viren says. One of MDR’s most significant steps has been aligning with the Government of India’s Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM). MDR enables users to create and manage their Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA ID) directly within the app, allowing them to seamlessly link their personal health records to India’s national digital health ecosystem. “They can understand what benefits they are eligible for and access them without having to depend on anyone,” says Dr Saroj. For many Indians, navigating public health schemes can be confusing and intimidating. MDR attempts to bridge that gap by integrating ABDM within the app — helping users generate their digital health ID, store records linked to it, and gradually participate in India’s growing digital health ecosystem. “This is about health equity,” Chris adds. “When people have access to their data on a mobile phone, even if they are not close to a healthcare provider, they can make better decisions and ask better questions.” Redefining what ‘healthcare success’ means For Dr Saroj, MDR’s success won’t be measured only in downloads — though the platform already supports over 40,000 app users in India. “The real impact,” she says, “is changing the way people think about their health.” Instead of blindly following prescriptions, she wants people to arrive informed. “I know what medications I’m taking. I know my allergies. I can discuss my health like an educated person.” She believes India has a rare opportunity. “The US has been digitised for decades, and we have seen the mistakes. India is just starting. We cannot afford to repeat them.” Her vision is simple, but ambitious: “Why are we so careful about managing our money, but not our health? Health is wealth.” For users like Shankh and Savi, MDR hasn’t made healthcare dramatic. It has made it calmer, clearer, and more manageable. And sometimes, that’s the biggest innovation of all. All images from Viren Aggarwal.