Lifeline Group goes for hub & spoke model in rural areas

Acquires one hospital, 15 clinics in Tamil Nadu to implement the model

Chennai-based Lifeline Multispeciality Hospital has taken over S & V Loga Hospital in Karur and 15 clinics in 13 nearby locations to provide medical care in the remote areas of Tamil Nadu through hub and spoke model.

S & V Loga Hospital, a 120-bed multispeciality hospital with 3 operation theatres and 30 doctors, has been taken over on a 15 year lease and will be rechristened S & V Loga Lifeline Hospital. About Rs 50 lakh is expected to be spent to renovate the hospital. Lifeline will take 35 per cent of the profit generated by S & V Loga. Lifeline Group owns Lifeline Multispeciality Hospital, a 225-bed hospital, located on the IT corridor of Chennai.

Addressing a press conference, J S Rajkumar, chairman, Lifeline Group, said through the acquisition of S V Loga Hospital and 15 clinics, Lifeline Multispeciality Hospital will operate in a hub and spokes model. Each of these medical centres will have telemedicine capabilities in the next two or three months. Specialists from Lifeline Chennai will be visiting Karur on a weekly basis.

The 15 lifeline clinics are located in Periar Nagar, Perundurai, Pallipalayam, Namakkal, Gobichettipalayam, Erode, Sathyamangalam, Rasipuram, Bhavani, Tiruchengode, Kangeyam, Dharapuram and Karur. Each of these clinics will have one or two consultants depending on the size of the clinic, a pharmacy and a laboratory with ECG and x-ray facilities.

Telemedicine is expected to facilitate quick diagnosis and decisions to patients in these 13 locations. However, in most of the locations it will be sending only static images due to lack of higher bandwidth.

The patients who require treatment, which the clinics cannot offer, will be sent to Loga Lifeline Hospital, Karur. If the patients still require specialised surgery like cardiothoracic and replacement surgery which is not available in Loga Lifeline, they will be referred to Lifeline Multispeciality Hospital in Chennai.

Rajkumar said that the medical costs have been arrived at based on the existing rates in these locations and Lifeline was also planning to promote familiy physicians concept. It will also standardise the medical treatment, he added.

Lifeline is looking to duplicate the hub and spokes model in other districts of the state in the next 18-24 months. "We will network the hospitals in the entire state," said Selva Annamalai, director, Lifeline Hospitals.

Started in October, Lifeline Multispeciality, is looking to generate a revenue of 5-6 lakh a day. The Lifeline group is also planning to increase the number of beds in the Lifeline Multispeciality Hospital to about 550 in the next two years.

Lifeline Group of Hospitals consists of Lifeline Multispeciality Hospitals in Perungudi, Lifeline Rigid Hospital in Kilpauk and Lifeline Clinic in Adayar.