sPOTLIGHT shortage of healthcare professionals and facilities delivering quality healthcare services to the citizens. According to the NCAER, in nearly 20 percent of cases rural households travelled more than 10 km for treatment. In Meghalaya, in 54.56 percent of rural illness cases and in Orissa in 33.47 percent of rural illness cases, patients travelled more than 10 km. Even when patients do get to the health centre there is no guarantee that the staff will be present. According to a survey by the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, only 38 percent of all PHCs have all the critical staff. A survey by the International Institute of Population Sciences found that only 69 percent of PHCs have at least one bed, and only 20 percent have a telephone.
Opportunities Asia Pacific has been characterised as a region that has significantly low quality healthcare when compared to the western world. There are opportunities galore for online and mobile healthcare due to the deprivation of quality health to those in the underprivileged areas. The introduction of web cameras and internet in rural areas along with other mobile technologies can aid in extending health services in these areas. Another area would be to improve healthcare surveillance in rural areas. With the advent of mobile technology in the rural areas, efforts can be taken to provide real-time monitoring of health related issues. SMS alerts can be used to target people in areas where clinics and healthcare workers are limited. Last year, Bihar State Government has announced to give free mobile phone services to its doctors in an attempt to reduce truancy. Many government doctors neglect their official duties by practising privately on the side. The main purpose of the move is to be able to get in touch with the doctors at any time. Their movements will also be tracked by a system. Similarly, for the first time in India, a mobile phone doctor-to-patient service called ‘Doctor on Call’ was launched. The 9 to 9 service that provides live interaction was pioneered by BPL Mobile, Mumbai’s leading mobile service. Data collection is yet another area that is of vital importance in healthcare. Data collection programs can be offered through
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smart phones, mobile phones and PDAs than manual entry which can contribute to bridging the gap that exists in the current scenario. Implementation of remote monitoring applications can improve the outcome of various chronic diseases whilst also opening newer avenues of treating patients in an outpatient setting. Usage of mobile phones can be helpful in improving communication amongst the healthcare providers to enhance patient care. This can also be used to monitor the incidence and outbreak of infectious diseases. The use of mobile phones as a point-of-care device can enable patients to receive diagnosis and treatment assistance at their homes and villages itself thereby averting expensive hospital visits. The fragmented state of the healthcare services in India today leaves a lot of room for innovation and a potential for aggregation from a patient’s perspective. There is a great push now to make IT work in healthcare–both in developed and developing countries, especially in areas such as tele-
> www.ehealthonline.org > June 2011
medicine. The developed countries have an ageing population, not enough medical professionals, and very high cost of healthcare. In developing countries, healthcare is not accessible to the entire population and they lack basic infrastructure. There are some challenges–gaining acceptance from medical fraternity, interoperability, broadband coverage across the country, and funding. But there is awareness and convergence across quarters in addressing these challenges in a systematic manner. Although healthcare needs still require visiting a doctor, it is still worthwhile to have minor issues sorted out virtually. By enabling patients to video conference with their physicians and allowing doctors to have immediate access to the patient’s medical record, online healthcare services can become a new conduit for exchange of health information. With the widespread use of mobile phones, deployment of 3G and Wi-Max services, and leveraging India’s IT expertise, we will be able to see more innovative, creative and low-cost healthcare IT based solutions.