TELE MEDICINE
TELEMEDICINE FOR HEALTHCARE SECTOR IN INDIA
The involvement of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) is increasing exponentially in almost all the socio-economic activities in India. One can behold the fusion of ICT and Medical Sciences that has fuelled researches and innovations in the healthcare sector round the globe and Telemedicine is one of the most precious gifts of this technological amalgamation. Telemedicine is the use of telecommunications and information technology to provide clinical healthcare at a distance. Telemedicine is not only confined to the dissemination of medical information from one nodal point to another with the help of electronic communications but it also includes a variety of applications such as Telepathology, Telecardiology, Teleradiology, Telesurgery, Teleopthalmology. The latest wireless and mobility technologies have spread both tentacles and benefits of this revolutionary discipline and after the advent of digital stethoscopes, Otoscopes and blood pressure monitors, consultation through telemedicine has become more scientific and authentic.The healthcare sector in India faces the challenge of skewed distribution of health professionals in urban India. In a country like India, where 70 percent of its population is non-agrarian whereas 75 percent of its qualified doctors live in urban areas, Telemedicine can emerge as a panacea to Indian health sector’s existing problems.
Advantages of Telemedicine in India: Telemedicine has multiple advantages for healthcare sector in India. It bridges the gap between the people and medical institutions in a vast and diversified country like India. Telemedicine can resolve resource crisis in India’s healthcare sector to a great extent and it can act as a boon for a country where the majority of patients in the rural areas are still deprived of basic health care facilities. Secondly, Telemedicine helps to overcome the shortage of healthcare professionals in India. India currently has only 0.7 physicians per 1000 people while China and Russia have 5 and 1.5 respectively. On long term basis, it would also reduce the financial and infrastructure burden on governments for provision of healthcare services to its population. Telemedicine would reduce the inequalities in distribution and provision of quality healthcare services to its population. Telemedicine is also very useful in Tele-education and Tele- CME.
Challenges for Telemedicine in India: The potential of telemedicine technology in transforming the healthcare sector of India is marred with multiple challenges. It is to be noted that out of a 2.16 million health workforce in India, a large section is not familiar with the ICT technology and computer aided tools and software. The shortage of power supply and frequent cuts is a big issue in rural areas. In the nascent stage of Telemedicine in India, non-availability of technology at a relevant cost and a poor internet connectivity in rural areas pose a greater challenge for its effective implementation. The proper management of information collected through telemedicine processes is also a big challenge. All the information that has been collected should be media rich (containing video, image, text, etc.). This information needs to be properly archived, accessible, retrievable, secure and readable from remote location using different technology platforms. One patient-one record needs to be implemented, so as to avoid duplication of information.
The multiple challenges in implementation of telemedicine are creating bottlenecks in the rise and growth of telemedicine in India. But, through an effective public private partnership (PPP) model, these blocks can be easily averted and India can witness an anticipated boom in the health care sector in future. Moreover, the Government of India should join hands with the global ICT players for more cost effective, easy to install and pragmatic telemedicine solutions. Private hospitals can also play a big role in educating the masses about the benefits of telemedicine and can also provide training to doctors, technicians and paramedical professionals. In America, more than one million patients are satisfactorily availing the Telemedicine and India too can reap the benefits of this unconventional approach, the only thing required is good cooperation between governments and private hospitals. If USA healthcare sector can satisfactorily deliver the results through telemedicine then a country like India with ‘Demographic Dividend’ of its young population must harness on this technology to keep its manpower healthy and economically productive by utilising latest technologies in healthcare sector. Remember the twenty first century belongs to Asia and India can emerge as a leader through its healthy and economically productive manpower resources.
(The author of this article ,Lt Col (Dr) Satish Dhage, is an ex Army officer and has been qualified for IPS (Indian Police Services) through IPS LCE 2012. Presently, he is Director, MGM Institute of Competitive Exams Aurangabad.
For any queries or feedback, he can be contacted on email id : drsatishdhage@gmail.com)