UK Trade & Investment Healthcare Team is planning to rope in the Indian Healthcare industry for implementing eHealth technologies. A team from the UK eHealth Association (UKeHA) and the department of trade and investment (dti) is now in India as part of this mission. The team is conducting a series of seminars and one-to-one meeting with leaders in Indian Healthcare industry and hospital industry from March 6-12.

Speaking to Pharmabiz, Mike Mccurry, Treasurer, UKeHA, which is representing organisations and individuals interested in the development of eHealth in the UK, said, "We are in constant touch with FICCI and CII to implement the eHealth technologies in Indian healthcare industry, especially, hospitals in India. Our major focus is on the 18, 000 hospitals in India." A number of leading hospitals, including the Mumbai-based Hinduja and Raheja Hospitals, have shown interest in implementing eHealth technologies.

On eHealth, Mike Mccurry said, "eHealth is the instrument for productivity gains in the context of existing healthcare systems but also provides the backbone for the future citizen centred healthcare environment." The clinical applications of eHealth include- tele consultations including videoconferencing, clinical decision-making support software, vital signs monitoring services, TeleHomecare, eNursing, Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS), he described. Lifetime Health Records-aggregation of individual electronic health records and population based tracking of health trends leading to prediction and anticipation of hostile disease trends and prevention are the salient features of eHealth technologies, he said.

Peter Ellis of People in Health, a UK-based health sector consulting and resourcing company, said, eHealth has its own relevance in Indian scenario, especially to deal with endemic diseases like TB and malaria. He claimed that eHealth can enable smooth TB management by ensuring access to quality-assured TB sputum microscopy; on-line advice; teleconferencing to referral centres; integrated record keeping; Information sharing; monitoring patients through mobile telephony; uninterrupted supply of quality-assured drugs (inventory management, prescription data) etc.

eHealth will provide advice and guidance to remote communities, allow better use of professional staff, allow faster initiation of appropriate treatment, allow tracking of patient and compliance monitoring, he informed.

The other industry leaders from UK, like Stuart Smalley, Department Of Health International, James Wellman, Welling CPD are with the team to assist in exploring the scope of eHealth technologies in Indian Helathcare scenario.

The UKeHA, established in April 1999 as the UK Telemedicine Association, is a non-profit making company limited by guarantee and governed by a Board of Trustees. Currently, there are approximately 90 members representing the wide scope of stakeholders in the UK health market.

Members of eHealth include service and equipment providers and manufacturers,
user organisations such as NHS Trusts, health economies, NHS Direct and the NHS Information Authority, local government, housing associations and health authorities
Professional bodies.

The UKeHA has an active Technical Special Interest Group (SIG) involved with the technical issues of telecommunications and connectivity of medical devices, transmission of images, international standards and quality assurance of service for remote care and communications.

The UK healthcare sector has a sale of £ 6 billion with earning of £ 3 billion from exporting.