GPNow Helps Ukrainians with Global Humanitarian Telehealth Service Built on AWS

In addition to localization challenges to prepare the platform for its European launch, GPNow also needed to ensure compliance with EU data regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). GPNow was able to comply with the GDPR requirements that applied to its activities by using services and resources offered by AWS. For example, GPNow has ownership and control over its customer data at all times and is able to determine where customer data is stored by selecting the geographical region of that storage.

It also needed to protect the platform from potential cyber threats. GPNow uses Amazon GuardDuty, a threat detection service that continuously monitors AWS accounts and workloads for malicious activity and delivers detailed security findings for visibility and remediation.

While developing the service, GPNow received assistance from its AWS account team with recommended services and advice for developing an architecture that would support growing demand with heightened compliance and security.

With the infrastructure in place, GPNow needed a simple way for patients to sign up and request help. It created a website in Ukrainian where patients can connect with doctors in a range of specialties, including family doctors, pediatricians, neurologists, obstetricians, oncologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and even a veterinarian to help with pets. 
To forge connections in the local medical community and find doctors who could provide care in Ukrainian, GPNow appointed Dr. Vadim Ilyashenko as its chief medical officer (CMO). Ilyashenko is a highly respected Ukrainian neurosurgeon from the Oberig Clinic in Kyiv and still based in the country. 

GPNow launched its Ukrainian service at the start of April 2022 having completed 128 test consultations from locations that were under regular bombardment, including Kharkiv, Kiev, and Odessa. The initial test consultations went well and GPNow ended 2022 having connected 5,331 Ukrainian patients with their virtual clinic, which now lists almost 100 doctors.

Demand is quickly increasing. Patients learn about the service through advertising, word of mouth, and GPNow staff handing out leaflets at the Ukrainian borders and war-damaged Ukrainian towns as well as refugee centers across Europe. The team manages to hold regular meetings with staff in Australia and Ukraine, despite the unstable environment. “Dr. Ilyashenko took part in a recent meeting from a bunker while missiles landed overhead,” says Hicken. “Other GPNow staff members don’t have power and work by candlelight. This team is extraordinary and inspirational.” 

The project has achieved Hicken’s goal—to use technology to provide medical care to those affected by the war in Ukraine. “Most projects are about increasing revenue, reducing costs or improving service,” says Hicken. “Our main KPI is saving lives.”  

Building the GPNow platform on AWS means that it’s scalable, flexible, and easy for Hicken’s small team to maintain. As a result, GPNow can focus on developing new capabilities and expanding the service to other vulnerable communities around the world. “We have the capacity to scale the platform to hit 175 million consultations a month,” says Hicken. “We don’t care who you are—race, creed, religion. If you are a person and you need medical help, we will provide help. There are so many people we could be helping right now, and because we have the capacity, we just need to get the word out there.” 

What began as one person’s idea to provide assistance to those in need has turned into a full-scale humanitarian effort with global reach. “Without AWS, we wouldn’t have been able to build this service and help all these people,” says Hicken. “It just wasn’t feasible for us to do it on our own.”