The flagship service model of Apollo Telemedicine Networking Foundation, the Digital Dispensary is a 360-degree solution for handling the healthcare needs of people in underserved rural communities. Using paramedics, Point of Care Diagnostic Devices and ICT, Apollo’s telemedicine setup allows rural beneficiaries to receive quality medical care from Apollo Hospitals’ highly qualified doctors virtually....
They also get instant diagnostics courtesy the laboratory, access to 20+ specialty and super-specialty doctors, and essential drugs against a doctor’s prescription. All of it is unlimited + absolutely free for patients
Taking healthcare to the villages and to the doorstep is the best way to ensure that the community develops better health indicators, starts having health-seeking behaviour and is empowered to ask for help when they need it - using modern technology....
The Mobile Medical Unit is the most effective way to do that, but not in the conventional sense. Apollo’s MMU is a totally self–contained clinic-on-wheels which houses medical equipment and diagnostic equipment along with skilled medical staff to provide medical services to remote communities - including preventive, primary health care along with diagnostic services. The Mobile Medical Unit will travel to a pre-decided location on a fixed day and fixed time, conducting medical camps, OPD work and virtual consults with specialists.
The MMU can be used to run:
NCD Screening camps
Doctor on site for consultations
Medicine dispensation
Electronic records that afford automated follow-ups
Eye screening and spectacle delivery
Cancer awareness and screening
Follow-up teleconsultations
Social Health Education and Awareness programs
Community outreach and direct impact
Apollo promotes preventive healthcare among the disadvantaged and marginalized groups to improve the overall health and wellbeing of the community. Reeling from the surge in Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), India has been waging a battle against heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and other such conditions for the last two decades....
Apollo has been on the vanguard of that fight. Besides promoting healthy living through mass community awareness programs and Social Health Education (SHE) initiatives, we have been conducting mass screening and treatment drives in rural areas to help people detect and manage their diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol, hemoglobin levels and much more. When a condition is detected, ATNF uses technology to follow-up with patients to ensure continuum of care and even facilitates virtual consultations with its army of doctors and specialists using the telemedicine network. This program can be operated for corporate partners as an end-to-end solution that is part of their CSR initiatives, under the Apollo Telemedicine Networking Foundation, a not-for-profit body.
Social Health Education (SHE) plays a very important role in providing awareness on health issues in the community. However, the approach towards delivering health education must be specific, systematic and accessible to the local communities. For achieving better outcomes with Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), health education will be provided through dedicated social workers and allied health workers. ...
Special focus will be provided to awareness sessions on health issues pertaining to women, children and adolescent girls regarding pregnancy and child birth, importance of ante-natal and pre-natal care, importance of nutrition, immunization for children, menstrual hygiene, breast and cervical cancer awareness, etc.
Audio-Visual content and graphical illustrations in the vernacular language will be deployed to seamlessly communicate with communities. The program would be implemented in an outreach mode, where the Apollo staff will visit villages as per a pre-agreed upon roster and impart programs based on the prevailing disease burden there.
Apollo provides preventive eyecare services through their tried-and-tested Tele Ophthalmology service for screening eye conditions and reducing the burden of eye diseases through mobile or static models. The static center model has created a revolution in Andhra Pradesh, with over 24 lakh beneficiaries having been screened and given custom-made spectacles....
This will be done through the:
• Screening for refractive errors
• Fundus Imaging for screening eye conditions
• Spectacle Prescription and Spectacle Custom Manufacturing Delivery of spectacles to patients
• Automated follow-up mechanism
• Referral of higher eye conditions to ophthalmic centers Post-surgical follow-up and eye checks
Chronic diseases such as diabetes, Congestive Heart Failure, asthma, hypertension, depression, arthritis, etc develop slowly, last long, and often are never cured. While some conditions cause few problems, others cause only episodic problems or symptoms that can be controlled with medication but need regular monitoring....
Apollo provides condition management for chronic diseases through health screening and periodic rescreening of select three high-burden diseases, identification of patients at high risk and facilitation of their consultations with doctors virtually, provision of counselling services to the patients in need through dedicated follow-up sessions by Apollo health personnel and helps them cope with ailments and guidance on availing healthcare services from government healthcare systems ensuring the best possible care to the patients in need.
Every Apollo TeleEmergency suite is fully equipped to handle most emergency cases that are brought in. As soon as it is notified that a case is on the way, the paramedic on duty get one of Apollo Hospitals’ emergency care specialists to connect to the TeleEmergency suite. Though they are thousands of miles away, the HD cameras, microphones and transmission protocols ensure that they can see, analyse and treat the patients almost as if they were right there....
The Apollo Hospitals group provides 24x7x365 remote critical care services to over 300 beds across various states in India through Apollo TeleICU model. The critical care team has been able to prevent more than 20,000 adverse events in the connected ICUs, which in turn has resulted in the saving of multiple lives.
Benefits of TeleICU:
• 24×7 availability of trained critical care doctors to monitor patients.
• Reduced patient mortality in the connected ICUs
• Reduced average length of stay for ICU patients
• Stabilization of patients in case they need transfer to a healthcare facility for higher level of care.
• Enhanced staff competency level of the connected hospital; knowledge transfer and regular training sessions.
• Increased overall quality of care in the connected hospital.
• Access to good quality critical care for the people of the respective region
• Connect between multiple ICUs/hospitals enabling the networked hospitals to share and utilize clinical resources virtually.
• Internal CME’s and meetings.
With India still grappling with a shortage in clinicians who can interpret essential scans, Apollo TeleHealth Services created the perfect ICT-driven solution. If the doctor cannot be brought to thousands of scan centers, then the scan centers must be brought to the doctors – virtually! Apollo’s TeleRadiology centers use cutting-edge technology to transmit radiographic images like X-rays, CTs and MRIs to centrally-located Apollo specialists for speedy interpretation and/or consultation....
So, no matter how small a village or remote a district, patients can get access to top-notch scan and diagnostic reports to aid their healthcare recovery in minutes – from the best radiologists this country has to offer, even if they are thousands of kilometers away.
Apollo provides primary healthcare service to the people at the grassroots level virtual consultations with expert doctors from Apollo Hospitals ecosytem scheduled and facilitated by paramedics operating out of the MMU. Patients seeking treatment are consulted by the MBBS doctor, while the paramedic does the diagnostic tests if advised by doctor, and shares a printed or e-prescription based on the doctor’s order....
Appointment-based specialty and super specialty teleconsultation services at the health facility are facilitated by an Apollo coordinator and it will be ensured that the details and outcomes of the consultations are explained to the patients in English/Hindi/ any regional language by the telemedicine coordinator.
Advanced diagnostic services are enabled in every Digital Dispensary, TeleClinic or Mobile Medical Unit for rendering a wide range of laboratory tests to study a patient’s health, diagnose inherent medical conditions and help doctors make informed clinical decisions. Lab services are offered two ways:...
The all in laboratory model is capable of comprehensive tests like haemoglobin, serum creatinine, blood urea, clotting time, sputum for AFB, uric acid, urine analysis, Complete Blood Count, Liver Function Test, Kidney Function Test, Hepatitis B and C, VDRL, ESR, lipid profile assessment, Typhoid, pregnancy test, SGOT, serum alkaline phosphatase, HbA1C, Serology, malaria, filariasis, dengue et al to provide holistic diagnosis of all ailments of the field. It is manned by a lab technician. Partial laboratory is capable of basic pathological tests to support diagnosis of most commonly occurring diseases. Done by paramedics.
