Launch of eHealth Centre (eHC)

News Release                                  Launch of Rapidly Deployable fully integrated cloud-enabled eHealth Centre

C-DEP provided support to Hewlett Packard (HP) and the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) for the thought leadership and deployment of the eHealth Centre. The rapidly deployable fully integrated cloud-enabled eHealth Centre (eHC) was launched on December 11th, 2012. The first eHC , is being implemented in partnership with O.P. Jindal Sansthan, 3M India,  Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Medical Research & Education and Orion eServices  at Chausala village in Kaithal district, Haryana.

Details about the eHC can be found at http://jaijitb.blogspot.in/2012/12/ehealth-centre-rapidly-deployable-cloud.html

The launch video can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d96mQ3fv5x8

The eHealth Center is a fully integrated cloud enabled  healthcare solution[DB3]  that can be set up to provide affordable and preliminary healthcare in remote areas that have no immediate access to primary healthcare. The solution integrates medical instruments that collect basic patient health data, with the Health Cloud, enabling medical diagnosis through remote medical consultation, using videoconferencing.

The basic health care infrastructure in rural areas in India is based on the population norms of having one Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) for every 30,000 people and one Sub-Centre for every 5000 people[1]. However, the existing public health infrastructure is challenged by absence of tools for remote management and monitoring. In addition, PHCs and other government medical facilities face the problem of poor uptime of essential equipment. The existing infrastructure also has a challenge of  not being able to cover the last mile of healthcare as there is lack of electricity and connectivity in remote parts of the country.

A study conducted by the Indian Institute of Public Opinion found that 89 percent of rural Indian patients have to travel an average of 8 kilometres (5 miles) to access basic medical treatment and the rest have to travel even further.

The eHC  solution addresses these challenges. It is a solution that is housed in a standard shipping container which can be quickly transported to remote areas of the country by rail, air or by land transport. It is affordable and easily deployable as compared to brick and mortar alternatives and is equipped with basic cloud-integrated diagnostic equipment, telemedicine studio, laboratory and a pharmacy. The eHC is staffed by paramedics and nurses, with specialist medical interventions provided through remote medical consultation. This minimizes the need for onsite skilled doctors in isolated locations. Remote monitoring of the eHC functioning and its equipment is done through the health cloud.



The first shipping container has been deployed in Chausala village in Kaithal district, Haryana, in northern India. On arrival, it transformed into a sophisticated eHealth Center (eHC) with medical instruments to collect basic patient health data, and an IT infrastructure comprising IT equipment, an eHC Health Cloud, and an electronic medical records (EMR) solution with remote monitoring and consultation (videoconferencing facilities), and a health policy dashboard. Staff at the eHC can consult with senior doctors located at any larger medical center or hospital, enabling provision of accurate diagnoses and high-quality healthcare.

The eHC a Health Cloud platform is also to be used for conducting scientific research and, maintaining centralized  patient information. The Health Cloud will aid in disease surveillance by tracking disease patterns and risk factors. It will also provide efficient collection, storage and analysis of patient health data through a centralized health database. The health profile of a the region as well as monitoring of the daily use of the eHC is enabled by a Integrated eHC Dashboard. The dashboard also provides analytics that will help health policymakers.

The first eHC solution deployed in Chausala has an average  new patient registrations of 36  per day. Over 4000 patient visits in the first 100 days of operations.

 Some of the key benefits of the eHC include

 (a) Access to Super Specialists, through remote medical consultation at any location, (b) Collection of automated health data directly from equipment can be made available at Health Cloud for diagnosis and remote expert medical consultation, (c) Remote Monitoring of Medical Personnel to mitigate the provider absenteeism, (d) Fingerprint enabled tracking of patient records, (e) Remote Monitoring of eHC medical equipment (f) Centralized dashboard(g) Referral to tertiary healthcare facilities, (h) Monitoring of power outage in medicine refrigeration facility, (i) Ability to do disease surveillance in real time and (j) tracking of patient history and also assists in building a patient database for future reference and policy formulation. 

Coverage in Press:

India Coverage - Headlines Print Coverage
1	The Hindu Business Line	Research body, HP launch eHealth Centre	National
2	The Hindu	CSIR HP develop new system for better healthcare	Chennai
3	Deccan Herald	Mobile PHCs to enhance healthcare in rural India	National
4	Hindustan	Cannot force doctors to travel to remote areas (need technology to bridge the gap)	Delhi
5	Deshbandhu	CSIR and HP launch eHealth Centre	Delhi
6	National Duniya	CSIR and HP launch eHealth Centre	Delhi
7	Pratyaksha	Use of 'Cloud' to provide health facilities in remote areas	Delhi
8	Jansatta	Reddy launched the eHealth Centre	Delhi
9	Punjab Kesari	eHC will fulfill the dream of providing health services to the common man	Delhi
10	Virat Vaibhav	Affordable medical facilities in Sudoor village through eHealth Centre	Delhi