BPL's Health Management Solutions division is in talks with the six state governments to implement its e -Clinic project. A pilot study of the e-clinic has taken off with the government of Andhra Pradesh with HMRI (Health Management and Research Institute).

The division installed its tele medicine ECG in the pilot study unit at Vallabhi village, Khammam district in Andhra Pradesh. HMRI's IT-enabled technology which is a 24/7 health helpline and a 104 mobile known as the Fixed Day Health Services integrates with the BPL pilot unit to serve the patients in the region. The unit is linked to Hyderabad Call Centre which is manned by doctors who interpret the ECG reports and administer the required treatment.

"Following the success in the AP, we are in a talks with another six states to set-up the pilot study unit which is equipped with medical devices manufactured by BPL. The discussions with states have been largely positive and we are confident to ink a couple of public-private partnerships (PPP) to offer our first point-of-care at the primary health centres (PHCs)," said Vijay Simha, COO and vice president, Health Management Solutions, BPL Limited.

The key objective of the e-Clinic pilot study is to propagate the concept of how tele medicine enables a well-equipped clinic. It will require the support of both nurses and paramedics and BPL is looking to impart the required skill development training to junior doctors, nurses and paramedics.

With the Union government's National Rural Health Mission of 2005-2012, the division intends to capitalize every opportunity to offer healthcare to rural population. "We hope to increase the penetration and enhance the reach of health services into remote rural areas. The e: clinic, the first point of care, is a platform for the public to ensure preventive healthcare measures. This model offers economies of scale in terms of cost of accessibility and treatment, he added.

The division which has 76 products which are designed at its RD wing in Bangalore and manufactured at its facility in Pallakkad in Kerala has invested Rs 2 crore to strengthen its marketing and distribution efforts in the medical devices space. As part of its efforts to increase the product base, the company has entered into an alliance with Welch Allyn, a global leader in diagnostic products which will double its product base to 150 devices.

The division which clocked a sales of Rs 110 crore during this fiscal with a 20 per cent growth has over 1.30 lakh installations. Efforts are on to garner around 20,000 orders annually. Going by the Centre's efforts to increase public spending on health from 0.9 to 2-3 per cent of GDP and through NRHM which has already seen several tenders coming through, BPL has been able to offer its life saving, pre hospital and preventive health diagnostics devices and increase its presence in the rural healthcare landscape, said Simha.