Apollo Hospitals launches Virtual Clinic in apartment complex

Last year the company said that it will roll out technology products and solutions such as wearable devices

As part of its healthcare IT strategy, Apollo Hospitals has launched its virtual clinic model in Chennai. The company would be offering the service to an apartment complex, set up by Jain Housing and Constructions, to provide its 24×7 telemedicine services to the occupants. The company has earlier launched an android app for emergency support to smart phone users.

Jain Housing & Constructions is coming up with a new complex, Inseli Park at Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR), Padur, in which it would provide with healthcare services round the clock in tie up with .

"With over 80,000 tele-consultations in 25 different specialties, Apollo Telemedicine the largest and oldest multi-specialty TeleHealth network in South Asia has now embarked on providing healthcare in apartment complexes," informed a communication from the hospital network.

The model will be operational using high speed Internet, TeleHealth enabled peripheral medical devices and customized software (MedeIntegra) and high quality video conferencing. The patient can directly interact with an Apollo family physician, specialist or super specialist through this and ECG?s can be done in the telemedicine room in the apartment complex and sent to a cardiologist, it said.

Using the facilities, a stethoscope can be placed over the patient?s chest and the heart sounds and respiratory sounds monitored remotely. The software has an inbuilt Electronic Medical Record, Images and Lab Reports can all be uploaded in a user-friendly manner. Following a tele-diagnosis, an "e - Prescription" will be sent directly to the patients. There would also be arrangements for home delivery of medicines and carrying out laboratory investigations. If further investigations or inpatient management is required, it would also be facilitated, added the hospital network.

The company has earlier launched a free android application which facilitates the user to contact a guardian at the time of emergency, switch on a siren that rings out loud in case of emergency, show a near by hospital and the directions to reach there, call a hospital or any other medical centre linked with it, among others.

Last year, the company has said that it is planning to roll out technology products and solutions such as wearable devices related to telemedicine technology in near future.

It was carrying out a pilot stage project on telemedicine over the mobile phone and has said that this would become a scalable intrinsic part of everyday practice in near future, the company officials said during the time.