People-friendly kiosk can check health parameters / identify diseases at fraction of cost; strengthen urban & rural healthcare delivery system
Kannada lexicographer G. Venkatasubbaiah lunched ‘e-Kshema Healthcare Kiosk’ (Unique system for instant diagnosis of health parameters) initiated by Sri. AnanthKumar, MP, Bangalore South at BBMP Hospital, Jayanagar, Bangalore on 4th August, 2012. Others who were present on the occasion include Sri. R. Ashoka, Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka Dr. Hemachandra Sagar, MLA, Chikpet and Dr. Anant Koppar, Chairman & CEO, KTwo Technology Solutions.
Bangalore- August 2012: In a first of its kind initiative aimed at enabling urban poor and rural population to undergo medical tests (7 different vital health parameters) and for disease identification (Malaria & Tuberculosis) at a fraction of the cost and to improve the healthcare delivery system, Mr. Ananthkumar, MP for Bangalore South, today announced the introduction of ‘e-Kshema’ kiosks. The first of such 18 ‘e-Kshema’ health kiosks were unveiled today in all the 8 Assembly constituencies, which come under the purview of Bangalore South MP constituency.
The ‘e-Kshema’ health kiosk can check body temperature, pulse rate, blood pressure, blood sugar, urine test, Blood-DC, and conduct ECG, all for just Rs 80. In addition, the kiosk can conduct tests for Malaria and Tuberculosis, for another Rs 40, making it a perfect tool to complement the health management system of the state.
“Kshema (which means well being in Sanskrit) offers medical diagnosis, ongoing patient care and has an ability to monitor patients remotely by using innovative applications with the underlying cost-effective technologies. e-Kshema offers simplicity and cost efficiency making it an ideal solution for use in urban and rural areas where efficiency of healthcare delivery systems is critical. I urge people to take maximum advantage of this facility because the critical medical tests and disease determination cost just Rs 120 per person,” Mr. Ananthkumar said.
He urged the government to equip all the 2,840 primary health centers (PHCs) in the state with ‘e-Kshema’ kiosks in order to extend the benefits to nearly 40 per cent of the state’s population that fall under the BPL category. “It is a fact that effective healthcare delivery system is still a challenge because of lack of infrastructure, doctors and ancillary support. But now we have technology on our side. e-Kshema is a pioneering device that has the power to revolutionize healthcare delivery. We should become a model for the rest of the country in healthcare delivery by adopting e-Kshema statewide,” he said in his keynote address.
Mr. Ananthkumar told Health & Family Welfare Minister Aravind Limbavali, who was present on the occasion, to take ‘e-Kshema’ to other BJP-ruled states in the country. “Let this innovative device take the form of a nationwide health campaign. Let the country know what its capabilities are. Millions of farmers, workers, laborers and slum-dwellers are never able to undergo medical tests once in their lifetime because of the cost. On the contrary, e-Kshema can determine all critical medical aspects for such a less amount. I want Mr. Limbavali and the Dr. Anant Koppar (creator of the health kiosk) to go to BJP-ruled states and give a demonstration to the governments about the benefits of e-Kshema,” he added.
Mr. Limbavali, in his speech, commended the efforts of Dr. Koppar for evolving a revolutionary kiosk. “I am impressed with this kiosk. I personally underwent tests and the kiosk showed perfect results. The government will evaluate the possibility of equipping all government hospitals and PHCs with this kiosk. This can be highly beneficial because healthcare delivery system has crippled due to the non-availability of doctors,” he pointed out.
To begin with, 18 ‘e-Kshema’ health kiosks have been installed at the hospitals of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in Bangalore South Parliamentary constituency – Yarabnagar, Vidyapeetha, Sarakki, Kumaraswamy Layout, BTM Layout, Tavarakere, Avalahalli, Chennamanakere Achkat, Chandra Layout, Adugodi, Govindarajanagar, Banashankari, Basavanagudi, V V Puram Pobbathi, Jayanagar, Vijaynagar and Wilson Garden.
Bangalore City Mayor D Venkateshmurthy, who commended Ananthkumar for bringing the latest technology to the city, urged him to extend the facility to other parliamentary constituencies as well. “The BBMP will extend complete cooperation to bring this people-friendly kiosk to every neighborhood in the city,” he stated.
‘e-Kshema’ unifies diagnostic hardware like microscope and vital signs monitor with the diagnostic software. The software consists of modules for Electronic Health Records, Pathology, Radiology and Vital Signs Monitor. The software has the ability to automatically identify the vital parameters and transmit the parameters to the remote doctor through broadband or wireless connectivity.
Deputy Chief Minister & Home Minister R Ashoka, who spoke, said that the revolutionary kiosk would be of immense benefit to the poor sections of society that is deprived of access to primary healthcare. “I congratulate the makers of this kiosk and our leader (Ananthkumar) for introducing such a kiosk in Bangalore,” he said.
“e-Kshema provides a simple solution through which a non-doctor can record the patient problems/sufferings/vital parameters which are then transferred to a remote district/city health center with a doctor. The doctor can prescribe medication to the patient remotely. This is a revolutionary product that can address the health care requirements. This is a very proud moment for all of us considering that we pioneered such a system for low cost health delivery,” Mr. Ananthkumar added.
With the Healthcare Delivery Systems being overloaded in the developing and densely populated countries, such as India and China, it is imperative to have efficient and cost-effective systems and processes. “Building fresh leadership acumen in a complex and changing environment, establishing organizational excellence and designing new service delivery models will help us face the challenges. e-Kshema is the first step in this direction. Building better forward and backward linkages through a superior referral system would cause the secondary and tertiary care facilities to become more manageable, preventing them from being over burdened,” Mr. Ananthkumar pointed out.
e-Kshema health kiosk has been developed by KTwo Technology Solutions, an innovative company that specializes in solutions, which complete the Last Metre connection in an information chain. “This kiosk provides a unified healthcare management to urban poor and rural population. It addresses the pressing needs of today like introducing electronic medical records; ramping up urban poor and middle class infrastructure to increase efficient treatment while enabling remote doctor to function; motivating doctors for Rural Service through Technology and helping in control of disease outbreak,” said Dr. Anant Koppar, Chairman & CEO, KTwo Technology Solutions.
The pressing need is to make quality healthcare accessible to the urban poor and rural masses and decrease patient clogging at city level hospitals. The non availability of doctors at the rural healthcare centers and poor infrastructure are the current problems that make it difficult to satisfy this need. Hence there is a need for a system which can address the issues of non availability of doctors & provide quality healthcare to the patient through implementation of technology.
