NephroLife Care, a Bangalore based company and funded by ROI Capital Advisors, has now installed the GPS vehicle tracking system in all its ambulances. The GPS tracker allows the dedicated nephro-care centre to monitor vehicles within one metre radius through satellite imaging.

"The advanced technology allows us to enhance safety and ensure timeliness for dialysis patients. We are India's first dialysis centre to have GPS enabled patient vans and the first in South Asia to network our dialysis machines," said Shriram Vijayakumar, managing director & founder, NephroLife.

GPS will help to save time and lives with faster access to care, he added. The Renal Disease Management Centre has also announced completion of 2000 dialysis since its inception early this year. The dedicated renal care centre was set up after a fund infusion of Rs 13.5 crore (US$ 3 million) from ROI Capital Advisors. Out of this, the nephro major has allocated Rs 4.5 crore to open up a state-of-the-art facility in Bangalore.

According to Dr Sushma Rani, nephrologist, "NephroLife completing 2000 dialysis represents a major milestone in delivering high quality holistic care to patients with end stage renal disease."

The hospital has also provided its patients easy access for faster appointments through registrations via its website. The patients could also request for a pick n drop vehicles.

According to a recent estimate, in India one out of every nine cases suffer from chronic kidney disease. Currently, there are 700 dialysis centres in the country. These centres perform 4,000 dialysis sessions a day that amounts to around 2.5 lakh a month and 30 lakh annually. Cost of dialysis including medication is Rs 1.2 lakh before a transplant. Kidney transplant is between Rs 50,000 at government hospitals to Rs 3 lakh at corporate centres. Post transplant expenses for patients is around Rs 1.3 lakh annually. Around 3,000 kidney transplants are performed annually at the 170 government approved centres. Maximum transplants are done at New Delhi followed by Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai.