Karnataka Health Minister Launches Tele ICU Hub at KIMS Hospital

This initiative seeks to offer specialised health advice, through the tele ICU hub to patients when admitted to village and taluk-level hospitals. This move will help in reducing the number of patients at district hospitals.

Karnataka Health and Welfare Minister Dinest Gundu Rao has inaugurated a Tele ICU facility at Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) and Hospital in Hubballi, Karnataka. The new facility has been set up in collaboration with the department of health and family welfare.

This initiative seeks to offer specialised health advice to patients using the tele ICU hub, when admitted to village and taluk-level hospitals. This move will help in reducing the number of patients at district hospitals.

Moreover, ten spoke hospitals were connected to the KIMS Tele ICU Hub, through which doctors can speak directly with the patients and offer treatment suggestions.

Stressing the need for effectively using AI and other advanced technologies for providing medical advice and consultation, the Minister said, "Tele ICU hub is a revolutionary step. Specialist doctors can advise patients admitted to taluk hospitals and this will reduce the burden on district hospitals. We are committed to providing better healthcare at taluk-level hospitals too. Bengaluru and Ballari hubs will start in the next few days."

The Tele ICU facility at KIMS Hospital is part of a broader digital healthcare initiative aimed at ensuring maximum efficiency, cost saving, patient safety, and quality care. The Tele ICU service, which provides remote ICU services, links smaller hospitals to a central monitoring station.

Additionally, the Tele ICU facility and other digital healthcare initiatives such as the ‘Dr Puneeth Rajkumar Hrudaya Jyoti’ scheme are all part of the Karnataka Health Department’s efforts to improve healthcare accessibility and quality.

Sharing thoughts, Pushpalatha BS, director, health and family welfare department, said, "The number of patients in the district hospitals can be reduced by telling how treatment should be done in the taluk hospitals. Tele ICU hubs are being started in Hubballi, Ballari, Mysuru and Bengaluru in four divisions. Hubs will be of great benefit to patients."

In a similar development, HNG launched Tele ICU program at Apollo Spectra Hospital for advanced critical care. This program connects Apollo Spectra's ICU facility with the Apollo Hyderabad Command Centre, empowering healthcare providers to deliver expert medical attention regardless of location. The primary objective of this launch is to enhance critical care by bridging geographical gaps ensuring uninterrupted, top-quality medical care for a broader demographic.

Likewise, Medanta & GE Healthcare collaborated to introduce Tele ICU services in India. The Tele-ICU system powered by GE Healthcare's Mural platform provides real-time data analytics, predictive analytics, and clinical decision support tools to critical care specialists. It also features audio-visual communication tools, such as high-definition cameras and microphones, to facilitate remote consultations and patient monitoring.

These Tele ICU initiatives are a significant step towards improving critical care services in India, and it is expected to benefit thousands of patients across the country.