Apollo introduces telemedicine link-up with NE
EHM News Bureau - New Delhi

Apollo Hospitals Telemedicine project, started in 2000 in a sleepy village in Andhra Pradesh, is now present in over 11 remote locations in India, connecting them to centres of medical excellence in Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai. The project has already benefited over 3749 patients. In a move that will strengthen the reach of medical excellence to the North-East region of the country, Apollo Hospitals Group recently launched its telemedicine link between Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals at Delhi and Naga Hospital at Kohima (Nagaland), the third consecutive link by the group to the region.

The Telemedicine Center at Nagaland has been set up by Apollo in collaboration with Marubeni India Pvt. Ltd. and the active support of the Ministry of Information and Technology.

The link will enable medical practitioners of the state to access expert advice from specialists at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, allowing for live and real time discussions of cases, ready transferability of medical records and images and even real time assistance from Delhi for complex procedures being undertaken at Kohima.

The Delhi-Kohima Telemedicine Link was inaugurated from Delhi by Pramod Mahajan, minister for Parliamentary affairs, Communications and Information Technology with S C Jamir, chief minister, Nagaland who presided at the inauguration from Kohima. Also present at Delhi were Rajeev Ratna Shah, secretary, Department of Information Technology and Dr Prathap C Reddy, chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group.

Speaking at the launch, Mahajan said, “The need for quality healthcare is today emerging as one of the most fundamental issues for the nation. With medical centres of excellence located only at the major metros, it is imperative for the development of the nation that concepts such as telemedicine, that bridge these critical healthcare divides must succeed. I congratulate Apollo Hospitals Group in taking the lead, yet again, in bringing the international quality healthcare within the reach of our people and addressing this critical need of even our most distant fellow countrymen.”

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Prathap Reddy said, “Telemedicine as a technology has not only emerged as a tool to expand the reach of medical facilities to the lengths and breadths of the nation, it has emerged as a driver of societal change, bringing traditionally distant communities closer to each other. We believe that telemedicine, as a concept, will go the distance in bringing the people of the country closer together while furthering our mission here at Apollo of bringing healthcare of international quality within easy reach of every Indian.”

The Delhi-Kohima telemedicine link will enable the transfer of valuable opinion and interpretations to complex medical cases, and also the transfer of Patient data and images using the telemedicine software MedIntegra. It will also enable specialists from Delhi to view, in real time, images such as Color Doppler, Ultrasound, PFT, TMT, ECG, Digital Stethoscope, Digital Microscope, among others. In addition to these, facilities such as Color Doppler, Ultrasound, PFT, TMT, ECG, X-ray have also been provided at the center at Kohima.

It is expected that the telemedicine facility will do away with the cost of travelling from Kohima to bigger cities for medical treatment as well as improve the quality of medical expertise available at Kohima itself. The telemedicine facility will also be used for Continuing Medical Education (CME) for the local doctors of Nagaland, enabling them to upgrade their skills by attending video-conferencing based medical programmes offered by Apollo specialists.

The Apollo Hospitals Group is an acknowledged leader in telemedicine in India. Under the aegis of its division called The Apollo Telemedicine Enterprises Ltd., the group has already set up over 10 telemedicine link ups between the Apollo Institutions at Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai and distant locations across the country. The group also partners with government organisations such as ISRO to provide telemedicine facilities to the far-flung areas of India.