Dr Pavan Kumar– Head of Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Head of Telemedicine Centre, Dr Balabhai Nanavati Hospital, has taken the hospital to a new peak of success by introducing super efficient tele-medicine services

What is your take on the Indian healthcare sector?
Use of advanced technologies in the medical sector has completely redefined its services. Today India has become a popular destination for medical tourism. This shows the rapid growth rate of healthcare sector in India.

How do you think the upcoming technologies can help in providing healthcare to all?
Technologies have always played a major role in healthcare sector. Be it any surgery or treatments, the use of advanced technologies have always been a boon. Technology for healthcare includes machinery/equipments/devices or methods for diagnostics as well as for therapeutics that may be used in relation to provision of healthcare services. This helps to save the lives of people in the earlier stage of their disease avoiding future complications.

Kindly tell us about the telemedicine services have been launched in Nanavati?
Tele medicine centre was established in 2006 under CSR by Nanavati Hospital to provide healthcare to unreachable India, with the help of information technology tools of video- conferencing and connectivity. This state-of- art centre houses all essential gadgets and connectivity by Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), broadband, satellite and fibre optic cable network, the centre is presently connected via broadband connectivity to 57 district and sub district hospitals of state of Maharashtra, through ISDN connectivity to 15 district hospitals in Madhya Pradesh, through ISDN connectivity to five private nursing homes and via Pan African e-network of Ministry of External Affairs (GOI) is connected to 35 African countries. This makes the center the largest telemedicine service provider in western India.

What benefits it has offered? What was the investment involved?
These are the following benefits: Tele “ consultations: Through this centre, 150 top medical specialists have provided over 6000 tele-consultation till date. Out of which 3548 tele-consultations have resulted in diagnosing and treatment of far living patients in 37 medical colleges.

Tele “ CME lecture programs: Total 252 such lectures via telemedicine have been delivered in this period benefited 6452 doctors and paramedics, nurses in African countries, Maharashtra and Union territory hospital.

Tele radiology program: Recently introduced in 2010, it provides CT scan and MRI image reading by radiologist for peripheral centres where no such facility is available. 385 patients have benefited through this program till date

Tele ICU management program: Telemedicine centre through its connectivity provides management of ICU patients to two different hospitals currently.

Tele ECG program: An in-house research project and a country first, tele-ECG ma- chine developed, tested and commercially produced for benefit of ECG recording at home and transfer over phone to centre and diagnosis by specialist. It has served to over 1000 heart patients in Mumbai in last two years and was helpful in getting the correct and timely treatment to them.

ECG on mobile program: An offshoot of tele-ECG project, successfully launched countrywide in partnership with Blackberry smartphone MNC and Vodafone carriers in 2010, this center has special partnership status with blackberry for development of mobile health applications.

Support to orphanage for healthcare needs: Takwe village near Pune houses and orphanage run by a Fazlani Group of philanthropic organisation for 200 children. The center has established telemedicine unit for healthcare needs of these children and for nearby villages as well.

Supporting national school health program: This tele medicine centre sup- ports National school health program run by NRHM especially in cities of Silvassa and Dadra Nagar haveli of UT where over 80,000 children have been screened for delayed milestones, deficiency diseases, infections and congenital diseases.

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