The Tamil Nadu government has launched a pilot project in Madurai connecting the primary healthcare centres and hospitals in the region, according to Supriya Sahu, joint secretary, state Health and Family Welfare Department.
The pilot project was to study the possibility of scaling up and establishing a telemedicine network for the entire state and to assess the estimated expenses for setting up a dedicated telemedicine facility. The government was also exploring the medico-legal framework required to tackle the issues that could crop up after implementing a dedicated telemedicine network.
Telemedicine networking could be effectively implemented in Tamil Nadu because of its sound healthcare infrastructure, now being upgraded through the World Bank funded Health Systems Development Plan and Private-Public Participation (PPP) in health care programmes. With a basic computer, web camera and internet connectivity, it was possible to set up a dedicated and cost-effective telemedicine network, noted Supriya Sahu, while participating in a seminar on telemedicine organized by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII- South Zone) in Chennai.
According to BS Bedi, senior director, telemedicine, Union Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the government was in the process of formulating a set of guidelines for standardization of telemedicine as part of the efforts to create a national telemedicine network. By this, various systems of telemedicine in the country would be interoperable and compatible with one another and could be upgraded without having to replace the entire system.
According to Sunil Shroff, president, Medical Computer Society of India, the role of telemedicine in the country in the present context revolves around basic operations like the e-mail facility. The technology has immense possibilities like a doctor operating a patient in a remote city, country, or even in space, combining telemedicine and robotics, which would soon become a reality. Telemedicine could be applied to train rural healthcare workers and for remote health analysis.
K.Ganapathy, neurosurgeon and medical director of Apollo Telemedicine Networking Foundation said India would require Rs.25, 000 crore to create a comprehensive healthcare infrastructure as per a WHO study, and telemedicine could considerably reduce the healthcare cost. The price and complexity of telemedicine has come down in the past five years and has become economically viable, noted the doctor.
Alok Roy, chairman, Healthcare Sub-committee, CII South Zone, M.S.Senthil Kumar, telemedicine team of Madras Medical College, R. P.Sekhar, Pediatric cardiologist, Apollo Hospitals, etc. spoke at the seminar.