TELEMEDICINE

• A Radiologist Interprets Medical Images Coming From Clinics Across The State

• A Surgeon Operates On A Patient Located 300 Miles Away

• A Nurse Takes The Blood Pressure Of A Homebound Patient Without Ever Leaving The Office

• A Cardiologist Sees And Checks Up On A Heart Transplant Patient While Away On A Business Trip

TELEMEDICINE

• Telemedicine Has Been Defined As The Use Of Telecommunications To Provide Medical Information And Services

• Video Conferencing

• It Helps Eliminate Distance Barriers

WHY TELEMEDICINE?

WHY TELEMEDICINE?

• Improved Access

• Cost Efficiency

• Patient Demand

• No Availability Of Full Medical Staff

• Telemedicine is used in optimization of resources

• War or disaster affected areas

• Remote villages

DEFINING TELEMEDICINE

• Investment By Health Care Institutions In Either

Information Technology Or The Delivery Of Clinical Care

• No Distinction Between Services

TYPES OF SERVICES

• Specialist And Primary Care

Consultations

• Imaging Services

• Remote Patient Monitoring

• Remote Medical Education And

Consumer Information

•Networked Programs

•Primary Or Specialty Care To The Home Connections

•Home To Monitoring Center

•Web-based E-health Patient Service Sites

DELIVERY MECHANISM

APOLLO HOSPITALS

• Estd. in Year 1979 and operations started in 1983-84

• Chairman – Dr. Pratap C. Reddy

• 8500 beds across 50 hospitals

• 3 main hospitals in Chennai, Delhi and Hyderabad

• Apollo Telemedicine

APOLLO TELEMEDICINE-JOURNEY

• Apollo Telemedicine Networking Foundation: A 12 Year Journey

• World’s first V-SAT enabled village Hospital commissioned in March 2000 by President Bill Clinton

• 135 Telemedicine centers including 10 overseas

• 71,000 Teleconsultations in more than 25 specialties

• Distances covered 100 to 4500 miles

• Pioneer in proof of concept validation studies in mHealth using 3G

CASE STUDY

• 10.1.1.99.8584.pdf

AARAGONDA PROJECT

Purpose

Commercializing the concept

Specialty Centers

TECHNOLOGY

• Polycam, web camera, microscope, PC, microphone, speaker, telephones, facsimile machines and a modem.

• Internet, digital imagery, trans-telephonic ECG

TELEMEDICINE NETWORK

ISSUES CONCERNING THE TELEMEDICINE PROJECT

• Cultural Issues

COSTS BENEFITS

Individual interaction via telemedicine platform

Patients saves on travel and post treatment expenses

Marketing cost Savings on physician expenses

• Legal and Safety Issues

• Technological Issues

• Economic Issues

• End user satisfaction

CONTROVERSY ABOUT TELEMEDICINE CONSULTATIONS

• If You Can’t Touch A Patient, How Can You Accurately

Diagnose His Condition?

• Can A Patient And Doctor Who See Each Other On A TV

Screen Actually Bond?

• Does The Patient ‘Feel’ He Got A Medical Consultation?

• Is The Doctor At The Other End Legally Liable For

Diagnoses Delivered Via A Telemedicine Link?

SO WHY IS IT THAT IT HAS NOT HAD A HUGE IMPACT IN OUR COUNTRY?

• Infrastructural Issues 

• Implementation Issues

• Acceptance

• Viability Issues

IN INDIA

AWARENESS AND FUTURE OF TELEMEDICINE

AWARENESS

• Number of Initiatives - Deployed or Near Completion

• Major Support –

• By DIT Through ISRO

• SPGPI

• Private Players –

• Asia Heart Foundation

• Apollo Hospital

• SGRH

• Max

FUTURE OF TELEMEDICINE IN INDIA

• Mobile Telemedicine

• Telemedicine Project Is Gaining More Acceptability

• Some States Have Come Forward To Introduce

Telemedicine In An Operational Mode

• Both For Ambulatory & Intensive Care For Cardiac

Related Treatment

FUTURE OF TELEMEDICINE IN INDIA

• Technically A Feasible Concept

• But It Needs Substantial Investments

• Only Two Ways In Which It Could Be Made

Economically Viable

• Obtaining Government Support For The Infrastructure

• Providing A Bundle Of Shared Services Using The

Same Infrastructure

THANK YOU