Vikram Thaploo
CEO, Apollo Tele Health Services and HealthNet Global Ltd

By synergising healthcare services, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), medical equipment and patient information system, Apollo Telehealth Services (ATHS) is tapping its full potential in delivering and reaching remote and inaccessible locations as well as meeting urban healthcare needs, Vikram Thaploo, CEO, Apollo Tele Health Services and HealthNet Global Ltd tells Elets News Network (ENN).

The Indian Healthcare system has notched up several significant achievements in last 50 years particularly in terms of life expectancy, infant mortality rate and success in dealing with various dreaded diseases. While Medical Tourism has become a reality in some of the states in India and private healthcare in India is comparable to the best in the world, large segments of our population have no access to them. We have the best doctors in the world; we also have one of the biggest gaps in healthcare manpower. This widespread and inherent variance in our healthcare system has a profound impact on the health of our nation. India contributes to 16.5% of the total global population and 1/5th of the worlds share of diseases. But the true import of this statistic becomes clear when you consider the pre-existing inequality in healthcare services provisioning; this skew is further compounded by geographical, socio-economic bottlenecks.

With the vision of bringing international healthcare standards within the reach of every individual, Dr Prathap C Reddy in 1999 established Apollo Telemedicine Networking Foundation (ATNF) and Apollo Telehealth Services (ATHS), which is the largest and oldest multi-speciality telemedicine network in South Asia.

With the vision of providing healthcare services to rural and remote locations across India, Apollo has been able to quickly connect to 60,000 rural endpoints under the aegis of Digital India, a central government initiative to help them become Rural TeleClinics; thereby delivering quality healthcare to the rural population seamlessly from their neighbourhoods. By enabling remote doctor access through Telemedicine at Common Service Centres (CSCs), Apollo Hospitals has been able to penetrate geographies which have remained disconnected over a long time.

The increased usage of internet-enabled mobile devices is changing the way we communicate. Apollo has recently launched the next generation web-based Telemedicine platform Ask Apollo, with a pool of Apollo specialists available for consultation online. Through the website Ask Apollo, patients from across the world can connect to Apollo renowned doctors via voice, video, web.

In a first of its kind healthcare service delivery innovation in India, Apollos Himachal Pradesh Tele Health Programme has been providing the much needed emergency, specialty and super-specialty consultation services to locations at 14,000 feet above sea-level in the Himalayan mountain range. Due to high altitude, rugged terrain and extremely cold winters, these areas remain cut off from the rest of the country for five-six months. Providing essential services in this region poses challenges to the state administration.

Apollo recently launched another innovative PPP model with the Government of Andhra Pradesh to manage and operate 164 eUPHCs (Electronic Urban Primary Healthcare Centres) across nine districts in Andhra Pradesh for three years. eUPHCs will serve the urban poor families which are below and near the poverty line, thereby catering to the healthcare needs of approximately 20% of the total population of Andhra Pradesh. Such innovations show that Tele Health PPPs that apply technological advancements in healthcare can change the healthcare landscape, thereby bridging the gap between quality of healthcare services and equitable access for all.

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