Bangalore: As part of its strategy to expand its current IT India business, GE Healthcare on Monday unveiled its three initiatives aimed to increase quality, reduce cost and improve access for all.
"The initiatives will help by offering strong healthcare
connectivity and resources to India, which has lagged behind
in this key area of healthcare delivery", Vishal Wanchoo,
president & CEO of GE Healthcare IT told reporters here on Monday.
Launching GE "Managed Solutions", he said, introducing healthcare IT solutions often requires significant upfront investment by healthcare providers, in addition to regular updates of software, hardware and maintenance. GE's "Managed Solutions" will help eliminate this upfront capital investment to enable affordability across hospitals IT solutions.
"Managed Solutions" is targeted at providers who need to integrate multiple locations or have plans to expand and reach the masses in India through GE Healthcare IT solutions.
Considering healthcare IT penetration is "extremely low" in India, the initiative would "not only increase access, but also be cost-effective", V Raja, president & CEO GE Healthcare South Asia said.
He unveiled GE's internet-based PACS-IW offering to
provide accessibility for radiologists to review images when
they are away from the hospital, plus instantaneous reporting
on true DICOM datasets, reducing overall costs.
A multi-site link in itself, PACS-IW is a low maintenance
teleradiology solution with no additional software installs or
configuration needs, Raja said.
GE Healthcare also announced its first "managed" Indian
partnership with DCA Imaging Centre, Delhi, under which it (GE
Healthcare) has installed Centricity PACS-IW solution at DCA,
Raja said.
With this solution, DCA Imaging has already connected five
imaging centres in India and will create a wider network in
future. It has helped DCA Imaging Centre offer diagnostic
reports without delay or any upfront investment, he said.
"We are looking at partnerships with diagnostic centres,
government and private hospitals for this solution" Wanchoo
said.
Terming heart disease as the "number one killer in the
world, with India carrying 60 per cent of the burden", he
unveiled GE Healthcare's new "MAC i", a portable one touch
operation single channel ECG system with the "potential to
reduce ECG price to as low as Rs nine".
The single channel can be upgraded to three channels, which
means ECGs can be printed line by line per page or three lines
on a page.It is easy for any para health staff or physician to
use the system anywhere with just a few minutes of training,"
of training", Wanchoo said.
It (MAC i) is capable of completing 500 3-channel ECGs or
250 single channel ECGs for every three hour battery charge,
which equals one month of operation in a village, where
availability of electricity is a major constraint.
GE healthcare donated its first MAC i unit to HelpAge
India to screen elderly people in rural areas.
PTI
First Published: Monday, November 23, 2009, 19:39