Telemedicine services for kidney patients at Zaheerabad hospital

Sangareddy: To help kidney patients in remotest areas consult expert doctors from the Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), the Health Department has arranged telemedicine services at the Area Hospital Zaheerabad a week ago. Since the dialysis centre was set up in 2018 at the hospitals, dozens of patients were regularly visiting the hospital for dialysis. However, there was no Nephrologist since it was a relatively small hospital. Whenever the patients wanted to consult a doctor, they were forced to travel long distances. With an aim to reach out to such patients, Finance Minister T Harish Rao has suggested to the NIMS management launch telemedicine services. On a pilot basis, the services were being offered to the patients at Zaheerabad, Tandur, Gadwal, and some remote hospitals in the Adilabad district.

According to the Area Hospital Superintendent Dr Seshu Padmanaba Rao, the five-bed centre was performing dialysis 565 times to 46 patients enrolled with them. Whenever they came up with an issue, they will give an appointment for the virtual consultation to the patients with the doctors from NIMS. During a virtual interaction with the patients, the doctors even prescribe the medicines. Dr Rao has said that the services, which were launched a week ago, were providing huge relief to the patients since they can talk to some highly qualified experts within no time. Unless he further said that it will be hard to get an appointment with such well-known doctors for patients from these remote places. The department of health was gearing to introduce such telemedicine services across the state in a phased manner after taking the feedback from both the patients and staff at the hospital where the services were introduced on pilot basis.