GE Healthcare offers IT solutions to Indian hospitals

By Fakir Balaji, Bangalore, Nov 29: GE Healthcare, the USD 17-billion unit of General Electric, has initiated a project to provide IT solutions to Indian hospitals for affordable treatment.

The USD 1.5-billion GE Healthcare's IT business has tied up with the Delhi-based Diwan Chand Aggarwal (DCA) imaging research centre for a pilot project to develop solutions that integrate the various functions of hospitals to deliver quality healthcare.

"We want our managed IT solutions to be a game-changer in the healthcare delivery system in India, which has less than seven beds for 1,000 people and suffers from a shortage of medical professionals," GE Healthcare South Asia chief executive V. Raja told IANS here.

The web-based services, including picture archival and communication systems (PACS), provide teleradiology interface -- transfer of radiological images, such as X-rays and CT and MRI scans from one location to another for interpretation and consultation.

The solutions will enable doctors and hospitals access patients in multiple and remote locations, and span clinical, financial, administrative and service functions of healthcare providers.

The technology has been developed by the US-based GE Healthcare IT development centre at Barrington near Chicago in Illinois.

"Our IT managed solutions are similar to what Indian software vendors do to global enterprises across verticals. Just as they enable clients focus on core activity, we ensure healthcare providers take care of patients," GE Healthcare IT president Vishal Wanchoo said.

"Though India has the largest pool of IT professionals, healthcare system remains an exception for unknown reasons," Raja said.

The company will charge healthcare providers based on each transaction and the nature of such traffic online.

Said DCA director and radiologist Ajay Aggarwal: "We have connected five imaging centres across the country and plan to create a wider area network soon."

The 86-year-old DCA imaging research centre is equipped with sophisticated diagnostic kit, 64 slice CT scan units, dedicated mammography units and digital radiography systems for X-rays.

(Fakir Balaji can be contacted at fakir.b@ians.in)