Information technology major HP and Share India, a non-government organization, signed a memorandum of understanding to work together to improve the access to quality healthcare in rural India.
Share (Society for Health Awareness & Rural Enlightenment) is recognized as a scientific and industrial research organization (SIRO) by the Union Ministry of Science & Technology for its work in improving healthcare awareness and facilities to the underprivileged in the country through community welfare initiatives.
HP and Share will collaborate to deploy HP’s cloud-enabled healthcare solutions in rural Andhra Pradesh. They are also planing to roll-out similar initiatives in other parts of Andhra Pradesh, the north-eastern states of India and Rajasthan, according to a press release on Friday.
As part of the MoU, HP intends to transform an existing rural health centre in Aliyabad, located 45 kms from here, into an eHealth centre by deploying a fully integrated cloud technology solution. The solution will connect the medical equipment deployed at the eHealth centre with an eHealth cloud and collect basic patient health data to enable better medical diagnosis. The eHealth centre will also provide remote consultation using built-in video conferencing options.
The eHealth centre is expected to give close to 20,000 people across 10 villages an opportunity to receive quality diagnosis and treatment from doctors seated at a telemedicine studio in Share India - MediCiti Hospital at Ghanpur village in Rangareddy district of Andhra Pradesh. The patients will have direct interface with doctors remotely through a video conferencing facility and will be assisted on-the-ground by interns, paramedics and nurses from the MediCiti Institute of Medical Sciences (MIMS). MIMS will also provide weekly supplies of medicines and other consumables to the eHealth centre.
In December 2012, HP and the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) launched the first rapidly deployable and fully integrated cloud-enabled eHealth centre in Chausala village of Kaithal district, Haryana. Over 4000 patient visits were recorded in the first 100 days of operation.
“The launch of our first eHealth centre with CSIR late last year was a catalyst in helping address the challenges of delivering scalable healthcare options across the country,” said Jaijit Bhattacharya, director, government advisory, south Asia HP.
Share chairman, PS Reddy, stated that both the organisations were looking to involve the rural community and educate them about preventive healthcare, in addition to curative medicine.
