IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Health and healthcare have always been a huge concern in Africa, especially when doctors and hospitals can get isolated in remote areas where care is often most needed.

Video compression technologies continue to evolve. Emerson says that ‘best quality video can now be available at the lowest bandwidth’.

Dr. David Nott had succeeded in carrying out a life saving operation using his mobile phone where he text a colleague in Britain for procedures and instruction. He had never performed such an operation before.

Despite the old joke about anaesthetists checking stock prices in the newspaper during an uneventful period in a lengthy operation, has the ready availability of hand-held technology made it easier for healthcare professionals to be distracted from their work?

Hospitals and medical schools are supplying devices such as iPads and smartphones to encourage more efficient working by offering instant access to patient data and drug information. But it seems an unintended side effect is emerging: doctors and nurses are focusing on the screen – and not the patient.

The first rheumatology telemedicine outpatient clinic attended by four patients was held in Roscommon on Friday, October 7, and involved them linking up via computer with Consultant Rheumatologist Dr Robert Coughlan in Merlin Park.

Telemedicine is the process of providing healthcare using telecommunication and information technology to patients who are out of reach for direct communication. This process is a part of telehealth, which encompasses other health-related services like administration, health education, information sharing via telecommunication.

Bangalore-based Biocon Ltd, a global bio-pharmaceutical enterprise, has proposed to create infrastructure for offering telemedicine services in rural areas of Odisha. The initiative aims to offer employment to unemployed rural youth.

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, chairman-cum-managing director, Biocon called on Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and presented a detailed proposal.

An increasing number of hospitals are now using customised and popular mobile applications to reach out to patients.

These mobile apps are also helping patients to seek appointments, get ready reckoners and get laboratory reports on their smartphones, saving them a visit to the hospital.

Max Healthcare launched Max MyHealth application for Android and iOS users last month. The app provides patients immediate access to doctors, emergency services, cost transparency and personal healthcare. The app can be also used to book and pay for an annual health check-up, home-care services, cancel appointments, find directions to the nearest Max hospital, view lab reports and use payment option for non-paid appointments using multiple payment methods.

Internet of Things (IoT) and smartphone app are seen to reinforce the developments in the areas of medical devices and teleradiology. This could strengthen the healthcare system particularly in the rural areas, according to industry experts.

Designing IoT devices is creating massive opportunities for existing businesses and giving rise to brand new markets and companies. Engineering simulation helps engineers develop the best possible in IoT. The engineering challenges of designing IoT devices have proven that the simulation-driven product development approach is even more applicable to designing the connected, low-power devices of tomorrow, whether they are wearable consumer devices, medical implants, connected cars or industrial turbines, said Shital Joshi, senior manager, ANSYS.

A meeting was held yesterday chaired by Pradipta kumar Mohapatra Commissioner-cum-Secretary Health & Family welfare Department to review on functioning of Tele-Medicine Network in Odisha. After a detailed discussion it was decided that patients from District Headquarters Hospital before being referred to Medical College Hospital should have pre-referral screening utilizing the Telemedicine Facility.

Treating severely wounded personnel on board Indian Navy ships will be easier now as specialists sitting far away can advise the best possible treatment through video-conferencing via India's military satellite 'Rukmini'.

The government has recently sanctioned a Rs 61.59-crore telemedicine project for the Navy.

"It would bring a revolutionary change in attending to severely injured patients in remote locations where a specialist is not available," a senior Navy official said.

Replying to a question in Lok Sabha, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said Rs 1.43 crore was provided for Onconet India project and Rs 3.37 crore for Tele-Ophthalmology.

The service will commence at 10 places in the state, using Skype, a popular video conferencing platform. The platform would also be used by the CRPF to treat its personnel suffering from psychiatric disorders like depression and stress.

Telemedicine facility is being introduced at the Apollo Specialty Hospitals, Nellore, to help the patients in remote locations to reduce their costs of treatment and expenditure on medical travel.

Apollo unit head Dr Vishnu Vardhan said that having been recently inaugurated, their hospital here was celebrating the World Health Day celebrations by taking the medical help closer to the people in all respects.

The once-a-week telemedicine facility is scheduled to be launched next month at Vadacheepurupalli, but given the problems such as perpetual dearth of doctors and technicians in primary health centres (PHCs), internet connectivity, massive power cuts and difficulty in maintenance of modems, the project seems doomed. Doctors also admit that the project may not progress much. Besides, three years ago, the state government's 'dial-a-doctor' project could not take off because of financial constraints, they point out.

Future of Indian medicare is Telemedicine, opined experts in the field, which is evolving into a promising technological intervention to provide quick and super-specialty medical care to even people residing in a remote place.

At the first-ever real-time demonstration of Telemedicine at Dr. Ramesh Hospitals in the city on Monday, the Medtel Health Chief Executive Officer L.S. Satyamurthy said that this facility should be developed by the private/corporate medical and health professionals as it makes business sense for them too, while the people benefit immensely.

The use of Telemedicine for the management of patients under intensive care is not far away. The Sri Ramachandra Medical College (SRMC) Telemedicine Department Chairman K. Selvakumar said that the college had procured a robot that will be used in the hospital wards and ICUs to manage patients. Former President of India A.P.J Abdul Kalam will inaugurate telerobotics at the SRMC on January 19, he informed a gathering here on Sunday. The SRMC has been a pioneer in telemedicine in the country. Dr. Selvakumar, a neuro-surgeon by specialisation, spoke at a Seminar on Telemedicine organised by the Ramesh Hospitals here.

A memorandum of understanding was signed between Apollo Group and CSC under the Department of Electronics and Information Technology in Delhi, said a release. Apollo Hospitals started telemedicine 13 years back, in an effort to bring healthcare closer to patients of both urban and rural areas. Apollo Tele Health Services, a group company of Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Limited, has signed a MoU with CSC.

Ministry of AYUSH has conceptualised AYUSH GRID Project for digitising its healthcare delivery at all levels which will serve as IT backbone for the entire sector covering the healthcare systems Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa and Homoeopathy.

AYUSH Grid is envisaged as an omnibus digital eco-system that would lead to all round development of the AYUSH sector in fields of healthcare delivery at all levels, research, education, schemes and various health programs.

Keonics, a Karnataka government-owned enterprise, and KTwo Technology Solutions, a healthcare products company is expanding the rural telemedicine project National Rural Tele Medicine Ayush Network (NARTAN) to Bihar. The project includes the setting up of telemedicine delivery systems in 212 Primary Health Centers (PHC), 38 District Hospitals (DH) and a central unit at Patna.