Nimhans, Mysore hospital connect for telemedicine

NIMHANS, Bangalore, and Mysore's K R Hospital established connectivity today for their maiden telemedicine project, launched in collaboration with Larsen & Toubro Ltd in Bangalore.

L&T has gifted telemedicine solutions and equipment worth Rs 6 lakh to both the medical centres, as part of a private-public participation programme.

Initially, neurology and neuro-radiology departments of the K R Hospital will be linked with NIMHANS, to be followed by neuro-psychiatry, cardiology and surgery departments. Patients of six districts covered by the hospital will benefit from the project.

Mysore Medical College & Research Institute's Telemedicine Co-ordinator M A Shekar said here the two hospitals had established direct link with broadband connectivity. If ISRO provides satellite transmission, the connectivity will be good and smoother. Patients suffering from neurological problems, particularly in remote places like Chamarajanagar, will benefit from the project, as they need not go to Bangalore for treatment, except in case of surgery.

NIMHANS Director D Nagaraja, who inaugurated the project, said telemedicine link with K R Hospital would help reduce the pressure on NIMHANS as it attends to 1,000 outpatients a day. Neuro patients in the area can now secure treatment at the K R Hospital itself.

Telemedicine will also help upgrade teaching programmes and interaction between doctors, besides treating patients. Online training had enabled NIMHANS to reduce the duration of its training programmes. Instead of six months, it trained 2,400 medical personnel in a fortnight.

NIMHANS was also co-operating with L&T and other Indian companies in respect of their new gadgets, sharing its experience.

Telemedicine projects in government hospitals suffer chiefly due to Doctors being transferred. There were a number of practical difficulties, particularly in rural parts. Despite this, 168 cardiac patients had benefited from telemedicine in Chamarajanagar, the NIMHANS director said.

"NIMHANS would like to connect with all the medical colleges. It is for the state government to come forward. Except for the cost of the equipment, Rs 4-6 lakh, it has no running cost," Nagaraja said.

Mysore Medical College Director D Venkatesha said telemedicine project would help upgradation of the college, as it can go in for distance education and super specialisation.

L&T General Manager Rohit Mehta said the telelink project was the first one. "We are working on a number of other projects," he added.