Teleradiology Solutions Inc, offering emergency radiology services to US hospitals is now awaiting high-capacity, low-cost bandwidths to launch its operations in India.
The two-year-old Bangalore-based company is the first of its kind in India to offer teleradiology solutions and provides services to over 50 hospitals in Bangalore.
According to Dr. Arjun Kalyanpur, CEO and chief radiologist, Teleradiology Solutions, there is a large scope for this service in India especially in rural areas but it will materialize only if there are high-speed bandwidths. “Teleradiology is novel to India and an innovative solution from the US.”
“It is difficult to transmit radiology data through ISRO satellite links since they have low bandwidths. Once India is connected with Reliance Infocomm, it will be easy to offer teleradiology service to districts,’’ he said.
Moreover, unlike in the west where the cost of installing and operating equipment is low, in India, this makes up a major component of the total cost. “For instance, a T1 line in Australia costs only $50 while in India it will cost $2,000 a month to use it,’’ informed Dr. Kalyanpur.
When there is a nighttime emergency in the US, patients could go without the required care because doctors may not be available round the clock. This is where teleradiology comes in. The patient’s diagnostic reports like CT scan, MRI and X-ray are instantly transmitted across the globe to India, where a US-trained doctor, in his normal waking hours, studies the report and immediately faxes the result back to the US.
The hardware behind this swift operation includes a HIPPA-compliant, web-driven teleradiology system with a broadband Internet access of T1 Lines to transfer image data from the hospital server. There is a 128-bit encrypted virtual private networking and password protected secure access for patient confidentiality. Communication is through electronic fax and telephone.
In India, Teleradiology Solutions provides second opinions to hospitals like Narayana Hrudayalaya and Sri Satya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences in Bangalore. The company is looking at tie-ups and the Apollo Group has approached them as they want to enter the US market.
India is the fourth country after Australia, Israel and France, identified by the US for this service. “India has turned out to be a preferred choice because it not only happens to be in the ideal time zone but also because of the consistent results that the medical emergency centres in the US have been getting from here,’’ he said Dr Kalyanpur.
The response from India has been only from businessmen and venture capital firms, whereas, teleradiology is a high-end niche market where it is mandatory to have a US-Board certified radiologist and it is a doctor-run enterprise.