Weeks after the government announced a new policy to bring all essential medicines under price control, All India Drug Action Network (AIDAN), the NGO that fought for the policy through a decade long public interest litigation (PIL), has opposed its implementation.The NGO, along with its co-petitioners, such as Jan Swasthya Sahayog, filed a fresh intervention application on July 5 in the PIL pending before Supreme Court to quash the government's National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy 2012 and the subsequent Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) 2013. Click on the image to view enlarged graphicStating that the simple average formula (notified under the new policy) to determine the ceiling price gives high ceiling prices and legitimises the high profit margins already present in the market, AIDAN wanted more stringent regulations to turn medicines affordable.The move, if approved by the Supreme Court, will pose fresh trouble to the pharmaceutical industry, as DPCO 2013, which replaced the old system of price fixation — based on exact input costs to the simple average of medicine retail price -was considered industry friendly in the long run. Even the short term hit to the profits, as claimed by the industry, are being refuted by AIDAN in the petition. The petitioners have sought SC directive to bring all fixed dose combinations, patented drugs including drugs under voluntary license, life saving drugs, and molecules in the same therapeutic class in all their presentations and dosages under price control. It also wanted the government to set up a committee of experts to list crucial, life-saving medicines that enumerates drugs that have been left out of the current list of National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM 2011), to enumerate drugs that have been included in the Essential Drug Lists of States but which are not currently included in the NLEM 2011, and bring out a new comprehensive essential, life saving drugs list for the purpose of price regulation.It also wanted to cap the ceiling price of all drugs of the same therapeutic chemical class — wherever possible at the same level as the price controlled drug being migrated from — so that "migration" from drugs under price control to "me too" equivalents outside the basket of regulated drugs is discouraged.joe(dot)mathew(at)abp(dot)injoecmathew(at)gmail(dot)com(at)joecmathew
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Two critical clauses in the recently notified Drugs Price Control Order (DPCO) 2013 could open the doors for FDI from international drug store chains into the country. One is intended to free the wholesalers — or stockists in trade terms — from the whims of the pharmaceutical company. The second is to free the companies themselves from the whims of the trade body of stockists.The first clause has broadened the definition of “wholesaler”. The new definition “technically” allows any stockist to demand drug manufacturers to stock their medicines with him. So far, drug manufacturers appointed handpicked stockists who could sell their medicines.On the other hand, the order has also done away with the requirement of a no-objection-certificate (NoC) from the medicine trade body — All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) — before adding a new stockist to its marketing network. This will benefit pharmaceutical companies which are now legally empowered to supply medicines to more stockists, without waiting for the NoC.The development assumes significance in the wake of a recent Competition Commission of India (CCI) decision that charged AIOCD of unfair trade practices to control the supply of medicines in the market. Insistence on NoC was one of the issues highlighted by the CCI.Traders also see this as a move to encourage the entry of global medicine retail chains into the country. “The earlier attempts of medicine retail chains to gain foothold in Indian pharmaceutical market failed because association had an influence on the appointment of stockists. The dilution of the definition will now allow them to directly negotiate supply deals with pharmaceutical companies”, the wholesaler added.While the earlier DPCO of 1995 had defined “wholesaler” as a dealer or his agent or a stockist appointed by a manufacturer or an importer for the sale of his drugs to a retailer, hospital, etc.,” DPCO 2013, has turned the wholesaler company agnostic.It merely mentions “wholesaler " as “a dealer or his agent or a stockist engaged in the sale of drugs to a retailer, hospital, dispensary, medical, educational or research institution or any other agency” .According to trade sources, the notification has already resulted in about a dozen police complaints in Maharashtra after the Drugs Controller of that State issued a circular asking pharmaceutical companies and the drug trade to follow DPCO 2013 in its letter and spirit.Following the circular of the Maharashtra Food and Drugs Authority, wholesalers affiliated to AIOCD have stopped placing fresh orders with the companies, trade sources point out. The development is keenly watched by the 600,000 strong medicine traders across the country as the outcome of these actions might alter the future direction of the country’s medicine trade."We have requested the government to look into the matter. Indiscriminate supply of medicines will create a chaotic situation”, a Mumbai based wholesaler said.Ramesh Chandra Gupta, a Hyderabad based veteran drug wholesaler has a different view. “Handling of medicines is a specialized job. Allowing every one, irrespective of their capacity to store medicines in good conditions, to stock medicines may not be a good idea”, he points out. According to him, some control over the appointment of stockist also helps maintain more accountability.The drug law says that “no manufacturer or distributor shall withhold from sale or refuse to sell to a dealer any drug without good and sufficient reasons and no dealer shall withhold from sale or refuse to sell any drug available with him to a customer intending to purchase such drug” to ensure uninterrupted supply of medicines in the country.joe(dot)mathew(at)abp(dot)in; joecmathew(at)gmail(dot)com(at)joecmathew
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There's no question that emerging healthcare markets are expected to outpace global counterparts. Recent estimates show emerging markets hold a 21 per cent share of the worldwide sales of pharmaceuticals. And this is projected to reach 28 per cent and 36 per cent by 2015 and 2020, respectively. Among emerging markets, India is leading the way. In just one year, from 2010-2011, its $12.6 billion pharmaceutical market had grown by around 21 per cent. And India looks to add another 40 per cent by 2013. The growth is, however, surprising. Even though gross health insurance premia collected in 2011 increased by 33 per cent due to the expanding middle-high income bracket (>$2000 per year), the modest overall per capita disposable income continues to keep branded speciality medicines out of reach for many. Given the situation, such growth can be mostly attributed to the development strategies of the government and Indian-based pharmaceutical companies. While many products remain outside drug price controls, the Indian government, through the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), has set out to negotiate the prices of patented medicines based on external references and post-marketing reviews. And, India is systematically supporting local, generic producers. These efforts have paid off. Today, all but 2 of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies in India are indigenous generic producers (See Table 1). And since 2002, India has been the largest provider of generics in the world, reflecting the country's ability to use the non-enforcement of intellectual property rights to pursue import substituting industrialisation. Its future will be conditioned by India's capacity to extend such support in TRIPS (trade-related intellectual property) compliant ways. To give some background: In 1988 Indira Gandhi is quoted saying: "The idea of a better-ordered world is one in which medical discoveries will be free of patents and there will be no profiteering from life and death!" Yet not everyone, particularly patent owners, agrees. India has been disputing with Western drug companies since at least 1970, when the country's Patent Act, excluded pharmaceutical product patents and only recognised process patents for a period of seven years. Also in 1970, India imposed limits on multinational equity shares and capacity expansion. Over the next three decades, the number of licensed manufacturers in the country increased eightfold, while R&D expenditure shrank to one tenth of its former level. Meanwhile, the collective share of foreign subsidiaries in domestic pharmaceutical retail sales dropped from an estimated 85 per cent in 1970 to around 30 per cent in 2000. As Indian-owned firms took over from multinationals, local producers often launched products before their international patent owners who, for fear of reference pricing, typically delayed entry to await the outcome of price negotiations elsewhere. All clear consequences of India's relaxed policy towards honouring intellectual property rights. Since 2005, following the re-recognition of product patents for pharmaceuticals within the Third Amendment of the Patent Act, Indian firms dramatically increased their level of R&D spending, albeit focused nearly entirely on process innovation. Exports of TRIPS legal generics flourished as expected. But TRIPS confines the industry to the reprocessing of international drugs patented before 1995, and so there is genuine concern about the sustainability of India Inc.'s generic model. Yet the Indian government hasn't been the only player aiding the breakdown of patents. To contain prescription drug spending as part of the fast-growing US national health expenditure, the 1984 Hatch-Waxman Amendments to the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDC Act) lowered barriers to generic competition. The FDC Act offers producers of new generics an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) if they can demonstrate bio-equivalency with the approved pioneer product and certify that any patent surrounding the original compound is either invalid or has not been infringed. Once the information is filed, the patent holder has 45 days to bring an infringement suit. If the patent holder does not bring suit, an abbreviated application may be immediately approved. By 2004, Indian firms had filed 234 such ANDA applications; by 2008, the number had swelled to a total of 823 filings of which 433 were approved. In 2010, Indian firms dominated the US generics market with 33 per cent of 419 abbreviated filings. Incentivizing Indian generics producers to promote product R&D and rejuvenate their product lines past the TRIPS 1995 hurdle, the Hatch-Waxman Act also eliminated welfare losses related to intellectual property rights. In the cases of Prozac, Zantac, Taxol and Plantinol alone, bringing generics to market before patent expiration saved US consumers more than $9 billion. Yet, the benefits of some related strategies were often not so clear. Early attempts by some branded and generic producers to settle patent disputes in ways that effectively deferred entry, so-called reverse payments, were eventually banned by US courts. Other efforts, like those of branded manufacturers that launched their own branded generics in response were, however, innocuous: prices to patients and payers were lowered and pharmaceutical producers were, at least to some extent, able to circumvent reference pricing or arbitrage to enforce profit and welfare maximizing price discrimination. From a commercial perspective, a patent challenge is apt to severely cut the expected revenue to the patent owner. It is the market, i.e. the buyers' willingness to switch and the various price and non-price interactions at the time of entry, that determines the share of sales which remains with the incumbent. From a welfare point of view, a successful patent challenge eliminates the risk of granting exclusivity to an already existing technology; its impact on monopolistic pricing, and thereby on the level of welfare loss and the sharing of remaining benefits between consumers and producers, depends on the overall market response. All things being equal, the ability to challenge a patent increases the incentive to innovate. Yet this can only be achieved when resources are in place to innovate. Clearly, challenging patents provides a means for India Inc. to sustain its generic business model in a TRIPS compliant fashion. Advancing from here, however, requires the country or any other emerging economy to refocus R&D efforts on product technology and, for their own benefit, to insist on a nation-blind enforcement of intellectual property rights. And, looking larger to rewarding those responsible for R&D and intellect, standards and implementation principles must be clear to avoid stifling the benefits of technological progress and global commerce.(Ralf Boscheck is Professor of Economics and Business Policy at IMD where he directs the Breakthrough Programme for Senior Executives)
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The Fortis Foundation and Being Human-The Salman Khan Foundation have come together to create a heart-warming initiative, The Little Hearts Programme, to provide free treatment to children with congenital heart defects.Launched on May 1, a day after the inauguration of its flagship facility - Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon (FMRI) – the joint initiative will leverage Fortis’ network of hospitals across the country including the latest facility.FMRI offers super-specialisation in oncology, trauma and paediatric care with embedded centres of excellence at the hospital in neurosciences, minimal accesssurgery, cardiac sciences and orthopaedics. “Over 50 children have already been treated within six few weeks at the Fortis Hospital in Mulund, Mumbai, and at FMRI” the healthcare group claims. Being Human-The Salman Khan Foundation conducts eye camps to address preventable blindness, partnering with MDRI (Marrow Donors Registry India) to help build a marrow registry in India and now, partnering with Fortis Foundation in the area of paediatric cardiac care.Fortis Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Fortis Healthcare Limited has been involved in a number of social initiatives to support the community by providing health services and subsidised medical care to the socially and economically marginalised sections of the society.
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Bahrain’s largest private healthcare provider – the Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) group, talks volumes about the Indian expatriate engagement in the island nation and in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Beginning with a standalone outpatient facility in 2004, the group runs eight healthcare establishments in the GCC member countries. Three of them - KIMS Bahrain Medical Centre, Royal Bahrain Hospital and Medex - are in Bahrain. “When KIMS investors decided to establish Bahrain Medical Centre, it had no connection with the group’s flagship hospital in Tiruvananthapuram (Kerala) other than the common investors”, Jacob Thomas, director, Royal Bahrain hospital says. Soon after the success of its first venture, the group decided to build a chain of healthcare centres with Bahrain as its base. “In 2007, we set up KIMS Holding Company and made Bahrain our logistic base. KIMS India is today a shareholder in this entity”, Thomas says.According to him, in addition to geographical advantage, the reason to set base in Bahrain was its investor friendliness. “Being a small country, the processes are very easy here. Whether it is the ministry of health, or the ministry of labour, you get quick licenses to bring in doctors and paramedical staff that are necessary to run the facilities. The government schemes reduce our marketing expenses.” Thomas says.He also feels that the availability of trained locals help them fulfill the local job quota requirements. “The requirement for (recruiting Bahrain citizens) in healthcare is 25 per cent. Right now we are more than 28 per cent. In many other GCC nations, it is difficult to achieve this localization rate”, he explains. Saudi Arabia and Oman demands 30 per cent of jobs in healthcare sector to be reserved for their nationals.“Bahrain imposes no restrictions in switching jobs. It is also easy to get licenses for expatriates to work in the country. Depending on their qualification and experience, licensed doctors join us as consultants, specialists or residents, says Dr Ravi Preet Singh, chief operating officer, Royal Bahrain Hospital.The group, which entered as a healthcare provider for the middle and low income classes, and was patronized by the Indian expatriate community in the initial stages, has moved up the value chain.Majority of the patients catered by Royal Bahrain Hospital are Bahrainis’. “Because of the mix of patients, we have doctors from other countries, though majority are Indians”, Dr Singh says.The group runs two facilities in Saudi Arabia and one each in Qatar, Dubai and Oman. “We are looking at two more hospitals, one in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) and one in Qatar”, Thomas says, adding that the group intends to triple its revenues in the next four years. KIMS GCC registered a turnover of $40 million (over Rs 200 crore), approximately the same as that of its India business in 2012.The group is also leveraging the multispecialty facilities available with its flagship, 700 bed hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. The hospital was ranked first in the medical tourism category for being the highest foreign exchange earner among hospitals in the state for the last three years. According to Thomas, the healthcare costs in Royal Bahrain Hospital are comparable and at times even cheaper than that of similar ranking facilities in India.“Sometime healthcare cost in India is more. While we charge 600 Bahrain dinar for a delivery (in a private room), a comparable hospital in Bangalore might charge Rs 1 lakh. Similarly, a joint replacement procedure including implant is done by use in 2500 Bahrain dinar, it may cost anywhere between 3- 4 lakh in India”, Thomas points out.KIMS group is now planning to establish stand alone dental clinics, sport medicine and rehabilitation centres across the region.In terms of number of facilities in the Gulf region, KIMS is not the biggest. Dubai based D M Healthcare, promoted by Indian expatriate Dr Azad Moopen, claims to have 145 establishments across five countries.There are others also.On March 18, Kerala based Baby Memorial Hospital has signed an agreement with a Bahrain based group Al Namal to manage two hospitals and one medical centre in that country.Bahrain, as a healthcare destination, seems to be attracting more Indian healthcare providers.
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When India’s Controller General of Patents announced a ruling on March 9, 2012 that granted a non-exclusive and non-assignable compulsory license to Natco Pharma to manufacture and sell a generic version of Bayer’s Nexavar, a drug used to treat advanced-stage liver and kidney cancer,NGOs and patent advocacy groups applauded. The ruling meant that Natco could now sell a monthly dose of the life-saving medicine for Rs 8,800 ($172), a discount of 97 per cent on the innovator price.What seems not to have been considered are the likely far reaching and disturbing implications that this ruling has for global commerce and development, such as the inadequacy of competition and trade policy standards.Protecting Intellectual PropertyWe know that a society’s ability to generate, exploit and share technological advance is possibly the most important driver of economic value creation. Policymakers endeavour to promote non-specific conditions to incentivise entrepreneurial risk taking. Patents are a key example of this. They stimulate risky research and foster innovation and diffusion.But there are risks, even in this. One, overloaded patent officers may grant monopoly status to an already existing technology. Next, patents may give rise to monopolistic pricing or, by means of technology licences or standard setting, affect related stages of production and use in ways that result in welfare losses. To remedy the former risk, technology assessment may be broadened by inducing third parties to challenge the validity of patents in court; addressing the lattermight call for price discrimination to eliminate welfare losses or for the use of compulsory licensing to increase market choice. Each response is fraught with conceptual and practical difficulties related to patenting, reference pricing, parallel trade and valuation. The issues become even more complex in the context of pharmaceutical products and emerging markets.For many years, product patents were not awarded for pharmaceuticals: Japan and Switzerland did not offer such protection until 1976/77; Spain, Portugal, Greece and Norway followed in 1992. Drugs were simply deemed too important to patent and leave vulnerable to monopoly abuse. However, mounting costs and risks in drug development and the difficulty of otherwise securing commercial advantage eventually tipped the balance in favour of legally enforceable exclusivity. And so, following the inclusion of the agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS) in World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules in 1994, members were obliged to honour pharmaceutical patent protection by 2016.TRIPS relies on national patentability criteria with respect to incremental innovation or functional equivalency and provides for enforcement, dispute settlement and transition mechanisms to ensure minimum standards for protecting intellectual property rights. As such it regulates among other things parallel imports, the use of exclusive marketing rights and the protection of undisclosed test data. At the same time, member countries commit to common compulsory licensing standards when seeking market relief. But particularly with regard to the latter, perspectives continue to differ.Protecting Public NeedSince its adoption by the 1883 Paris Convention, compulsory licensing has been allowed in almost all patent systems to respond to anti-competitive, non-working or blocking behavior or cases of public need. However, countries with comparatively lower levels of local patenting activity tend to view patents as a vehicle to access technology from abroad rather than to stimulate innovation. Between 2001 and 2007, developing countries made use of TRIPS stipulations to issue more than 52 compulsory licenses for pharmaceutical products alone. Breaking patents became a means to enforce technology transfer and price concessions.TRIPS permits compulsory licenses to enable production mainly for domestic use (i.e. 51 per cent of capacity) when reasonable commercial negotiations have failed; without prior negotiation when a national emergency or other circumstance of extreme urgency has arisen; or without prior negotiation if production is for “public, non-commercial use.” In addition, reacting to the global spread of HIV/AIDS, the Doha Declaration on TRIPS of October 2001 affirmed that countries may undertake compulsory licensing for broadly defined public health reasons. Further negotiations resulted in a waiver of production limitations if a country lacks manufacturing capabilities or to remedy an anti-competitive practice. In addition, various other TRIPS provisions, particularly with regard to compensation requirements and licensing practices, were expressed in ways that gave member countries considerable discretion in formulating domestic laws to safeguard the ‘public interest.’ Needless to say, what is in the public’s interest depends on who is defining it.Conflicting Interest?The challenge observed by many in emerging countries is that TRIPS-compliant patent enforcement translates into higher prices for life-saving drugs, delayed generic competition and weakened local production. Consequently, compulsory licensing becomes a vital tool to elevate access to medicine as a right above the concerns for trade.For example, Thailand issued compulsory licenses for heart disease and cancer drugs under the ‘public non-commercial use provision’ to be able to deliver on its universal healthcare promise. Having achieved universal coverage after more than 50 years of protracted political debate, Thailand is leading an emerging market trend towards improving healthcare that is rapidly expanding in terms of both the share of the population and the range of drugs that are included. As part of this trend, governments are distributing drugs to patients free of charge - an action which, in the absence of any WTO definition, may very well be considered ‘public non-commercial use.’ Yet, by applying the ‘public non-commercial use’ rationale to non-emergency, non-infectious diseases, such as cancer and heart disease, Thailand is converting compulsory licensing into an effectively unconstrained method of pure cost containment. Furthermore, a widespread use of this model would not only require the developed world to shoulder a disproportionate share of the necessary R&D expenditures but at the same time present it with an attractive option to shed that burden. To avoid this rather bleak outlook for the future of pharmaceutical R&D, there is an urgent need for a WTO panel review. Strengthening intellectual property rights incentivises research on diseases that are specific to developing countries, promotes technology transfer through the localisation of R&D and production investments and thereby contributes to improving typically inadequate health service infrastructures.(Ralf Boscheck is Professor of Economics and Business Policy at IMD. The views expressed here are his own)
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Ameera Shah, MD & CEO, Metropolis HealthcareAlthough the increase in allocation for healthcare is a positive move, but is certainly not enough. As I had mentioned earlier, for the sector to make significant strides a minimum allocation of 4 to 5 per cent of GDP is necessary. Although an increase in spending has been promised, a more sound allocation of resources is crucial for India to enjoy its benefits. Need of accountability on money spent is crucial to effective implementation of healthcare programmes, including the flagship National Health Mission.Diagnostics ignored yet again: A lot of importance is accorded to treatment, but the basic question is; can one prescribe a drug without diagnosing the disease? Despite of diagnostics being the first step towards effective treatment, none of our vertical programmes have given adequate importance to it, and the Union Budget also fell short of this. The diagnostic industry did not get any relief in tax exemptions for life saving reagents on pathology tests. We need to understand that such taxes get transferred to patients. This is particularly more important for an Indian healthcare consumer, who is paying for healthcare and particularly diagnostics out of his/her pocket. A whopping 1.2 billion Indians pay for healthcare out of their pockets. In a limited health insurance environment, these taxes are directly affecting these 1.2 billion Indians.Direct benefactors for healthcare: 24 per cent increase over the allocation to National Health Mission is certainly a positive note for the sector. There is a lot of hope from the National Urban Health Mission, and one could contemplate that diseases which were out of focus hitherto would garner more attention. Chronic diseases and mental illnesses should gather pace with the National Urban Health Mission. The demographic transition which India is likely to witness in future, allocation for geriatric care is a step towards preparing India to face the burden of healthcare costs from ageing population. Countries like Japan are already facing such a burden. This should subsequently be extended so as to effectively control healthcare costs. Allocation of Rs 4,727 crore and making six more AIIMS like institutions functional this year should increase the medical capacity, but is too small to affect the Doctor : population ratio significantly. Nothing has been spoken on ensuring a fair distribution of medical capacity across the country. Incentivising Doctors and paramedics is the only promising way to ensure an equitable distribution of medical capacity.Indirect benefactors for healthcare: Apart from direct allocation, healthcare would benefit from other sector allocations. Prominent among such allocations is the mid-day meal programme and Integrated Child Development Programme (ICDS). Since these do not fall under the ambit of healthcare, measuring their impact on reducing child-malnutrition is difficult. This year’s budget focus on women is a strong enabler towards making them financially independent which improves their access to healthcare services. Amit Mookim - Partner, National Industry Head - Healthcare, KPMG in IndiaThe budget has announced a few key initiatives in healthcare. Some of the notable ones are around a mainstreaming of Ayush practitioners that if implemented effectively will partly address the need gap for doctors and healthcare professionals in the country. Additionally, the investment in both teaching hospitals and medical colleges will enable bridging the capacity gap in the sector. Initiatives around infrastructure investment and sops thereof would enhance both domestic and foreign investment in infrastructure creation in the sector.Rana Mehta, Leader Healthcare, PwC IndiaDespite the hike in the healthcare allocation the government spend is the lowest amongst BRIC nations. It may be insufficient to achieve the goals of universal healthcare set out the next five year plan. A renewed focus on Medical education and creating skill sets in the sector will help reduce the human resource shortage which is currently a roadblock in building the healthcare delivery infrastructure. Antony Jacob, CEO, Apollo Munich Health InsuranceIncluding banks to distribute insurance would ensure greater penetration of insurance in areas where people require this essential financial product, but have had no means of obtaining it so far.Also, an extension of RSBY to other categories of families, such as rickshaw, auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers, sanitation workers, rag pickers and mine workers, should go a long way in ensuring insurance coverage for those who need it, but cannot afford large healthcare expenses. Some respite through enhanced deduction under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act would have been a welcome change however we are hopeful to see the changes in due course.
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The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) and Hewlett Packard (HP) have developed a cloud-enabled healthcare solution to provide affordable and preliminary healthcare in remote areas that have no immediate access to primary healthcare. The first such eHealth Centre (eHC), which utilises the IT platform to integrate medical instruments that collect basic patient health data for medical diagnosis through remote videoconference consultation, has been installed in Kaithal district of Haryana, a joint statement by CSIR and HP said. Over 4000 patient visits were recorded in the first 100 days of operation of the centre, it added. “This initiative of CSIR and HP creates a platform for the fourth paradigm of science, data-intensive discovery, while bringing affordable healthcare services to the doorstep of people. CSIR, which has made phenomenal contributions in the Indian generic-drug industry and has developed the genomic landscape of the people of India, is now positioned to use the eHealth Center data for novel discoveries to create ultra affordable health care products and services. The success of CSIR-led Open Source Drug Discovery Program gives us confidence that open innovation for healthcare will play an important role in the data intensive world,” said Samir K. Brahmachari, Chief Mentor CSIR-OSDD Unit, Director General CSIR and Secretary DSIR, Ministry of Science & Technology.The eHC has been successfully implemented and tested in partnership with O.P. Jindal Gramin Jan Kalyan Sansthan, 3M India, Maharaja Agrasen Medical College (MAMC) and Orion eServices at Chausala village in Kaithal district, Haryana. According to a study conducted by the Indian Institute of Public Opinion, 89 per cent 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 is expected to address these challenges. The eHC Health Cloud integrates the process of healthcare delivery and health data collection. This centralized patient information sets the platform for data-driven research such as disease surveillance by tracking disease patterns and risk factors. The health profile of the region as well as monitoring of the daily usage of the eHC is enabled by an integrated eHC dashboard, providing comprehensive yet digestible analytics that will help health policymakers.
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