Cisco India’s TeleMedicine technology initiative has been able to complete 9,300 consultations within a span of 16 months from the two states of Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. Now the company plans to validate the model in India and to take this globally to the emerging markets of Africa, South-East Asia, Central & Latin America, West Asia and China.
Under its Cisco’s Inclusive Growth business model which has a HealthPresence solution, the company has utilized technology to enable and empower rural and remote areas to have access to healthcare.
Cisco HealthPresence is one of the solutions used in the TeleMedicine technology designed to deliver video-based quality healthcare through a cloud using the company’s collaboration platform. It also provides the project and equipment management support.
Following the success with its Project Samudaya to address specialty healthcare to rural population, Cisco was keen to look at scalable, replicable, and affordable business model for which it partnered with governments of Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. “Now we have completed 9,300 consultations, of which about 50 per cent are specialty and super-specialty consultations. Women form nearly half of the patients who use the system and are bringing their children for consultation, since its introduction in January 2011 for gynaecology, paediatrics, dermatology, cardiology and general medicine,” Aravind Sitaraman, president, Inclusive Growth, Cisco India told Pharmabiz in an email interaction.
The consultations doubled every month and the key factor which led to the rapid adoption of TeleMedicine was the total inaccessibility to basic healthcare. When a solution to reach doctors was provided it was maximized. Moreover, deployment of the solution was in close collaboration with the state governments where the patient and doctor met each other virtually through the video without having to commute long distances. The diagnostics data transmitted to the remote doctor enabled prescribing the treatment based on not just the symptoms. “The two governments have been supportive and we have also inked a pact outside India with the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB) to explore opportunities,” he added.
The technology which was developed from Bengaluru which is the second global headquarters manned by around 12,000 engineers, Cisco works to make it a global solution. “A regional solution will not necessarily make sense commercially. Historically, India has always been the source of development and knowledge for the world. Therefore, we are in a position to create these solutions for the emerging world,” Sitaraman said.