March 25th, 2009 marked the beginning of the telemedicine connectivity between Amrita health care center at Shadipur, Port Blair, Andamans and Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi. Thousands of people benefited from this initiative.
(Images: Live tele consultation with Amrita Health Care, Andaman. Doctors from AIMS in the inset.)
With the help of this telemedicine facility, patients located at Andamans needing specialized care were provided with treatment advice, second opinion, follow-up care, etc. Within one year, AIMS provided tele-consultations to Amrita health center at Andamans for approximately 3,000 patients – more than 8 patients a day.
This service has helped in preventing unnecessary patient referrals to distant hospitals located at the mainland, thus avoiding huge travel costs for patients. This initiative has brought out better health outcome for patients and also helped in attaining higher level of confidence in the community’s local health care system.
