Orissa govt. to connect the district headquarters hospitals with premier government medical colleges through telemedicine network

Following report is from the Telegraph:

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 7: All district headquarters hospitals will be connected with the three premier government-run medical colleges in the state through telemedicine network.

“The work has already begun and the network will be functional by December,” said chief nodal officer of the Orissa telemedicine network B.N. Mohanty, who is also head of the department of experimental surgery of SCB Medical College, Cuttack.

Telemedicine is an emerging field that combines advances in computer and communication technologies with the practice of clinical medicine.

Through this medium, diagnosis and treatment of diseases can be conducted with the patients and doctors sitting at two ends.

District hospitals of Jajpur, Puri, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Dhenkanal and Keonjhar will be connected to the SCB Medical College. District hospitals of Cuttack, Rayagada, Koraput, Bhawanipatna, Sundergarh, Baripada and Capital Hospital, Bhubaneswar have already been connected to SCB.

The SCB Medical College has, in turn, been connected to the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Science (SGPGIMS), Lucknow.

Nayagarh, Gajapti, Boudha, Kandhamal, Nuapada, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur will be connected to MKCG Medical Collage and Hospital at Berhampur.

 Burla-based VSS Medical College will be connected to hospitals in Rourkela, Balangir, Angul, Jharsuguda, Baragarh and Deogarh. 

Talking to reporters here today, Mohanty said a state-level telemedicine resources centre would come up soon at Cuttack.

With the help of the state government, the SCB Medical College is going to organise the three-day 6th International Conference of Telemedicine Society of India (TSI) from November 14. Distance education in health science is the theme of the conference.

Representatives from ISRO, Space Application Centre, ministry of health, department of IT, Union government, AIIMS¸ IIT, Kharagpur, C-DAC-Pune, SGPGIMS, Lucknow and Central Law University, Cuttack would attend the conference. 

“Around 2,567 critical patients had already been cured through telemedicine. Patients, suffering mainly from thyroid cancers, arthritis and rheumatism, are opting for telemedicine consultation. With these facilities, we have been able to be in touch with the SGPIMS, Lucknow,” Mohanty said. 

The state government has also asked all additional district medical officers of all district headquarter hospitals to attend the meeting.

“We have invited students of medical and engineering colleges of the state to attend the meeting. They’ll get an opportunity to listen to nationally and internationally reputed telemedicine experts,” said Mohanty.