Telemedicine

Prakhar Kasar
Harish Thimmappa

Team 9

Team 9
Healthcare Scenario in India

• Limited networking among doctors or hospitals

• Private providers are fragmented and unregulated

• 117 tertiary medical colleges and hospitals

• 4,400 Districts and Taluk hospitals

• 3,300 CHCs
• 23,000 PHCs
• 1,50,000 SHCs

• Health infrastructure is concentrated in urban areas

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Purpose of the Telemedicine Project

• Level 1: District Hospitals

• Level 2: Community Hospitals
• Level 3: Primary Health Centers
• Level 4: Sub Health Centers

People that are catered to by the level 4 sub health

centers are the most under privileged lot.

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Reasons of inability to provide quality healthcare in rural region

Four factors:

• High cost of health care

• Problem of retaining doctors
• Inadequate medical facilities and
inaccessible terrain.
• Lack of investment in health care.

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Major Diseases that can be tackled with telemedicine

About 60% of all diseases can be tackled with

telemedicine and 70% of the rest need physical
examination by a health worker.

That’s 60% + .7 * 40% = [88%]

• Communicable diseases like Malaria, Filaria,

Diarrhea, Acute respiratory diseases etc.
• Nutritional diseases : Protein energy malnutrition
like Kwashiorkor and Marasmus etc.
• Non Communicable diseases - Hypertension,
Diabetes etc.
• Pregnancy complications

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Pioneers:

• ISRO’s initiative in Telemedicine

• Apollo Hospital’s initiative in Telemedicine

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What we propose to do?

• Provide the health centers at all four levels with

required hardware and software to equip them with
telemedical facilities.
• Focus will be on SHCs (the lowest level)
• Overview of functioning of the system

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The components of the proposed structure

• Networks

• Network Equipment

• Tele-health Equipment

• Room Evaluation

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How it will work

• Every Govt. medical college will act as a

nodal centre for the operation.

• Every health center will have a computer

with an attached web-cam, audio speakers,
internet facility.

• A website will be established to which

every health center can log on using a
unique username and password.

• The web-site will be divided into two

sections: the demand side and the supply
side.

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The supply side:
• Manned system
• Daily availability updates
• Unexpected availability and emergency needs
The demand side:
• Basic diagnosis and specialist location
• Request updating
• Channel establishment
• Medication disbursement

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FEATURES

ompatibility

. Interoperability

. Scalability

. Reliability Team 9
Milestones

• Equipment procurement
• Installation
• Training
• Testing
• Implementation
1. Phase 1
2. Phase 2
• Maintenance
• Security

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Finances

Initial cost
Initial cost per village:
– System + modem cost
Rs 11,000
– Webcam
Rs 1,000
– UPS
Rs 1,000
– Initial telephone and internet cost
Rs 1,000
– Training and installation cost
Rs 1,000
– Total [approx] per Health Centre
Rs 15,000

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These will be the machines that will serve
• SHCs 1,46,026
• PHCs 23,236
• CHCs 3,346

Total No. of Centers: 1,72,608

Total Cost: Rs. 258,91,20,000 (1,72,608 * 15,000)

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• The 4400 District and Taluk hospitals will have computers of higher
capacity
Cost :20,000 per computer.
Total Cost: Rs8,80,00,000 (4400 * 20000)

• At 117 medical hospitals, a server will have to be set up. Because of

higher configuration the cost per computer will be Rs 40,000
Total Cost: 46,80,000 (117 * 40,000)

Total project costs: Rs.268,18,00,000

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Periodic/Running costs:

For each center

• Medicine ,will be per hospital basis

• Personnel salary:
• Power cost( approx Rs.200)
• Internet cost (approx Rs.300)

Nominal charges per patient.

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SWOT Analysis
• Strengths
1. Cost
2. Good quality service to people at even remote
villages
3. System is upgradeable and almost
maintenance free
4. Interoperability is feasible and scaling is
possible due to the atomic structure
• Weaknesses (and their remedies)
1. The system at present will not be able to treat
complex cases.
2. We are going to depend on an external
network (internet) which is not fully reliable.
3. The use of ‘sense of touch and feel’ is very
important for both doctors and patients and
will be lacking in telemedicine.
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pportunities
1. Leveraging existing network at low costs to provide a
diversified service and integrating add on benefits.
2. The whole system is very easy to operate once it is
established
3. Pooling of medical expertise for service and growth
4. Link up with foreign hospitals

hreats (and their counter measures)

1. Patients may not trust the system.
2. Resistance to changes inside the organization.
3. Misuse of systems at the nodes.
4. Interruptions in power supply.

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Further Improvements

• Foreign collaboration for medical hospital

• Telemedicine to homes
• Mobile and connected ambulances, and highway
patrol ambulances
• Rural Prisons
• Extension of the service to charity, missionary,
NGOs, and corporate hospitals, factory hospitals,
ESI dispensaries, CGHS etc
• Training of personnel at various health centers
using the existing network

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