The technology can be expanded to other hospitals as well as rural health posts, and help connect patients with specialists across the country
When Tata Trusts and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) officially launched the Digital Never Centre (DiNC) initiative on Sunday, it did not just marry technology with cancer care, but also threw open the possibility of using technology to make the management of other diseases better as well.
A team of doctors and paramedics are manning the DiNC headquarter in Trivandrum, where patients from public-run cancer hospitals can call to seek any help, get updates about treatment and seek consultation from the experts. The technology aims to help hospitals streamline patient history and make sense of the database.
The technology can be expanded to other hospitals as well as rural health posts, and help connect patients with specialists across the country.
Currently four hospitals — Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai; Tata Medical Centre, Kolkata, Adyar Cancer Institute, Chennai and Regional Cancer Centre, Trivandrum — are part of the network. TCS is helping the hospitals to store patient data digitally so that doctors have access to patient history.
"The system will allow proper documentation and the large database will help us study disease patterns," said Dr Rajendra Badwe, Director, Tata Memorial Centre (TMC). Around 110 centres across the country have already joined hands to form the National Cancer Grid (NCG) that facilitates the exchange of information and joint research collaboration between hospitals. The technology will also facilitate research and patient referrals across the hospitals connected to the network.
"Around 16 programmers worked non-stop for six years to develop software that doctors could use for their clinical needs. Technology can make a huge difference to cancer care as well as the patient experience," Dr Mammen Chandy, Director, TMC, Kolkata.
While patients spend a lot of time and money travelling to far away hospitals for treatment, oncologists too find themselves saddled with administrative work which the DiNC hopes to cut down on.
The technology will help convert doctor's notes to text and taking this using technology to help doctors speak to patients in remote areas via video conferencing is on the anvil.
HOW IT WORKS
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A team of doctors and paramedics are manning the DiNC headquarter in Trivandrum, where patients from public-run cancer hospitals can call to seek any help, get updates about treatment and seek consultation from the experts.
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The DiNC can be reached on their toll-free number: 1800 419 5522
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