Corporate hospital chains, big and small, are increasingly investing in telemedicine infrastructure and are finding technology partners to conquer distance in a country that stretches from Himalayas to offshore islands of Andaman and Lakshadweep.
That is very important considering the poor state of affairs in rural areas. Consider this, 80% of towns in the country have a facility compared to 24% in rural areas, with 90% of the facilities there manned by sole practitioners. Only technology can bring access to healthcare to a comparable status in towns. Healthcare industry players say they are committed to make tele-medicine a viable option.
“Telemedicine is yet to get its due as a healthcare delivery system the world over. The main reason for the slow progress in this area is lack of connectivity in medically under-served areas. Lack of easy availability of low-cost treatment and diagnostic technologies that are tele-medicine-compatible and lack of regulations that are crucial for patient security and information sharing between two parties are also responsible. The low acceptance of tele-medicine by both patients and even doctors in certain locations is also a reason. The good news, however, is that things are changing”, Apollo Hospitals group’s strategic initiatives president Ashvani Srivastava told ET.
Apollo Hospitals is one example of the private sector using tele-medicine to reach out to medically inaccessible areas to bridge the sharp rural urban divide. It developed India’s first model tele-medicine village at Aragonda in Chittor district.
The village has gained repute for using tele-medicine for curative and preventive healthcare, said Mr Srivastava. Apollo Tele-medicine provides hospitals in remote areas with specialist care for second opinions and diagnosis. “Our doctors use tele-medicine to review and follow up the care of patients from other cities and states. It has been of great help to our international patients for review consultations”, said Mr Srivastava.
“We have over 140 tele-medicine centres across the country and in other countries like Maldives and Srilanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Sudan and Muscat. We plan to expand this network to about 500 centres with private and government partnership. We are already a partner to the government for providing tele-medicine in their community centers. All our super speciality hospitals have tele-medicine speciality centers providing consultation”, he added.
Wockhardt hospitals, another leading corporate hospital chain, is aggressively venturing into tele-medicine projects. It is setting up a tele medicine network for connecting rural and semi-urban health centres with its hospitals in tier two towns. The hospital group will focus on providing critical care solutions to health centres and hospitals, both government and private, in the rural areas.
“We are already in talks with Indian Space Research Organisation to use satellite connectivity for tele-medicine, which will help in doing away with the limitations of broad band based tele-medicine. Satellite communication is needed more for remote areas where internet connectivity is absent,” Vishal Bali, CEO Wockhardt Hospitals told ET.
Autor(en)/Author(s): Gunjan Pradhan Sinha & Gireesh Chandra Prasad
Quelle/Source: The Economic Times, 02.11.2007
