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The strategies undertaken by Public Health and Global Health organizations in 2020 are more critical than at any point in modern history. Besides a dire need for experienced leaders in infectious disease prevention, healthcare professionals must understand various communities’ cultural sensitivities. This task of educating populations at the community level appears to be a mandatory requirement to prevent outbreaks and effectively conduct contact tracing.

This is precisely why Public Health sectors require an ally that can develop advanced technology solutions and deploy health experts at the forefront.

Enter SciMetrika, a company that solves public and global health predicaments by fusing advanced technology with 20 years of experience accumulated by its large team of health experts. “With our epidemiologists, global health experts, and advanced technology, we are positioned to provide the well-needed support to fight this unforeseen pandemic, COVID 19 for the next decade and beyond,” says Meena Krishnan, the President and CEO of SciMetrika, a HUBZone certified, Woman-Owned Small Business that advances Public Health and Global Health by crafting scientific, technical, and logistical solutions for its customers.

The company specializes in not only fighting infectious diseases but educating the public on prevention measures. For example, SciMetrika has been aiding international communities in their battle with Malaria, Ebola, and HIV for years, driven through partnerships with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and The Indian Health Services (IHS). Through these engagements, SciMetrika supports both national and global health populations and maintains their population health effectively.

So, how does SciMetrika evaluate the impact of those diseases and stop them in their tracks?

It utilizes robust data analytics, programming, and complex statistical algorithms, following which the health experts at SciMetrika create educational material to ensure that various healthcare populations—within those regions— are not only aware of the dire situation of certain diseases but have the needed resources to adopt prevention tactics as necessary. SciMetrika’s projects assessing the impact of Ebola in Africa and Malaria in Mumbai, India utilize advanced data analysis techniques and statistical algorithms to solve problems associated with these diseases.

Adhering to Cultural Sensitivities

In providing clients with such holistic solutions to identify, assess, implement, and evaluate health determinants, programs, and initiatives, SciMetrika truly stands out from its competition owing to its ability to undertake unique approaches to tackle specific healthcare populations.

Just consider the work it is doing with the IHS, for instance. As part of the project, SciMetrika works closely with various tribal populations (Native Americans, Alaskan Natives) at the national level and is spearheading COVID-19 prevention within those populations. Furthermore, the company just proposed a unique approach to contact tracing within those populations, in a manner that “adheres to the cultural sensitivities” of the tribal communities. “While we are always in a position to rapidly deploy cutting edge technology, we can also scale back, as needed, if a tribal population requires a different approach,” explains Meena. Since some of these tribal populations may not be adept at digital technology, SciMetrika appoints cultural ambassadors with whom the populations feel comfortable sharing information. As a result, there is a better dialogue between SciMetrika and the populations, enabling faster data collection and analysis resulting in accurate solutions delivery.

With our epidemiologists, global health experts, and advanced technology, we are positioned to provide the well-needed support to fight this unforeseen pandemic COVID 19 for the next decade and beyond

“The methodologies are the same, but the mechanics are different, in terms of the delivery,” adds Meena. SciMetrika has started efforts to support COVID 19 vaccine distribution to the tribal populations.

Although COVID-19 prevention is a top priority presently, SciMetrika has helped the IHS prevent Sexually- Transmitted Diseases (STD) and HIVs among the tribal populations over the last several years.

As for its 20-year partnership with the CDC, SciMetrika has functioned—as a prime contractor—at just about every division of the CDC over the last two decades. Some of the assignments include performing studies for the Radiation Services Branch of CDC and most recently, working with the food industry and frontline food workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. After collaborating with worldrenowned radiation scientists, SciMetrika has presented several solutions for the CDC’s Radiation Services Branch towards preventing a Radiation Fallout. In the event of an unforeseen radiation outbreak, SciMetrika’s work will support CDC to ascertain the necessary preventive steps, enabling healthcare professionals to protect and provide care at various customer care centers. It is highly mission critical and extremely important work.

"While we are always in a position to rapidly deploy advanced technology, we can also scale back, as needed, if a tribal population requires a different approach "

Technology Prowess to Boot

Through all these client engagements, SciMetrika follows a tried-and-tested process to craft the optimal solution for a specific scenario and healthcare population. Once its nationally recognized epidemiologists gather data and conduct an environmental scan, they verify the results with the systems of CDC and other divisions where SciMetrika provides public health support. After that, the data is utilized by SciMetrika’s IT Solutions hub, which creates high-end statistical models and customized software if need be. While the data analysis is converted to educational material and shared with various healthcare populations, the software and algorithms are uploaded on the cloud, and SciMetrika has the ability to automate multiple tasks for its clients.

“That’s where we make the biggest difference,” stresses Meena while emphasizing that SciMetrika’s frontend process goes through a chain of Communication, Evaluation, Data Collection, and Statistical Analysis. Meena reiterates that SciMetrika creates only customized solutions and does not believe in a “one-size-fits-all” approach. SciMetrika understands that, although it supports public health, the company is also in the business of helping its clients “save money and resources” to ensure they don’t repeat mundane tasks.

Speaking of automating tasks, Meena cites a case study to explain the impact they had working with The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). As part of the project, they created a HealthShare Referral Manager (HSRM) community portal—including cutting edge software and cloud-based applications—to facilitate easier Health Information Exchange (HIE) between community providers and the VA through one unified platform. “At times, Veterans, prefer to get the needed care at the community level. We have simplified the process for the National Medical Center to refer the Veterans to the community care providers,” notes Meena.

The portal, presently used by over 30,000 users, gives the flexibility to refer Veterans for other specialized care and allows community providers to submit Requests for Services (RFS). According to Meena, over 2.7M referrals have been made in the past year, and “veterans love the portal” since it has simplified various tedious processes.

Meena added that they are “extremely proud of the project” and the innovative approach to improve the platform.

Social Impact Just as Important

It is critical to highlight that while crafting innovative solutions for its clients, SciMetrika is very cognizant of the social impact it brings about through all its undertakings. That perhaps explains why 35 percent of SciMetrika’s employees are from Hub Zones or historically-underutilized populations. Meena believes that SciMetrika’s willingness to be culturally and socially mindful also lends to its clients impacting social change, albeit indirectly. “Our clients reap not just monetary benefits, but they indirectly promote social change by working with us. Therefore clients love the fact that we’re so culturally and socially mindful,” she says.

Although Meena has succeeded in her 20-year journey as a businesswoman, she plans to eventually focus on just non-profit initiatives, of which she already has a few. However, Meena understands that only through a business venture can she create ample resources to aid financially disadvantaged people properly. She passionately states, “I want to help as many disadvantaged people as possible, and I’m on that journey right now to eventually make that a reality.”

She began on that journey a little over 14 years ago, following an adverse event in her life. After losing her entire family she grew up with in a car accident, Meena went through a lengthy reflection stage and decided to attend business school to complete an advanced management program from Wharton despite already having two master’s degrees and a PhD (ABD). Meena recounts, “I told myself, ‘I want to leave a legacy for the people who left me behind.’” Gradually, Meena and her team at SciMetrika became ensconced in the public health space and haven’t looked back. She adds, “Since I have a background in data science, and I want to be involved in helping the community, venturing into public health only seemed natural.”

As Meena continues on that journey, an exceptionally bright future awaits SciMetrika, which has earned the trust of its clients over the last 20 years. The company continues to expand its clientele to newer domains and craft solutions for emerging customer problems. As an example, they recently worked with the United States Census Bureau to develop customized software for the Decennial year 2020 and to automate a lot of the systems for the federal agency. SciMetrika also provided solutions for CDC’s Violence Prevention, including educational material for people subjected to abuse at various levels and the precautions they need to take.

Diving ahead, SciMetrika is focused on expanding its COVID-19 prevention solutions—such as improving existing contact tracing methods through advanced technologies. Furthermore, SciMetrika is actively collaborating with more modern technology partners, providing them both business opportunities and a window into the vast sphere of public health. These partnerships also lend to SciMetrika’s commitment to continually upgrade on the technology front, as evidenced by the recently launched Health Cloud solution that runs on the AWS platform. Furthermore, SciMetrika offers its clients unique procurement methodologies, enabling healthcare providers to procure work more efficiently. Meena explains, “It’s not always easy for contacting officers to look through various proposals. With our proven track record in public health, we make it easier on them.”

As a data-driven company, SciMetrika has also shored up its global data center, which continues to gather data on both existing and emerging diseases. After all, nobody predicted that SARS-CoV-2 would impact the world the way it has last year. On a closing note, Meena says, “Our goal is to excel as a public health IT company that is also socially impactful. I believe this mindset places us in a unique spot in this specialized public health area.”