Telemedicine brings better healthcare to rural India

With the help of a trained ophthalmic technician, a patient from Aravind Eye Hospital’s vision centre, Ambasamudram consults with an ophthalmologist doctor in Theni in Tamil Nadu.

Benefits of telemedicine:

• Reduces the cost for rural patients who have to travel long distances to the town where the doctor is located and also stay there, alongwith their family members, for the duration of the consultation.
• Provides access to specialists.
• Health coverage for remote and difficult to reach areas.

Examples of other hospitals providing telemedicine services are:

• Narayana Hrudalaya, Bangalore: Narayana Hrudalaya Telemedicine Network runs through 26 locations in India and abroad, offering video consultation round-the-clock, primarily for heart patients from remote areas. Using ordinary telephone lines, a large number of ‘family physicians’ are networked with Narayana Hrudalaya for early diagnosis of heart attacks.
• Apollo Hospitals Group has a very large telemedicine network including remote locations such as Aizawl, Mizoram.
• Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi has a unique mobile unit which is as well equipped as a small hospital.

To expand the telemedicine network, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has signed Memorandum of Understanding with the following hospitals:

• Manipal Hospital, Bangalore.
• Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi.
• Madras Diabetic Research Foundation, Chennai.
• Dr Venkatrao Dawle Medical Foundation, Ambajogai (Maharashtra).