GE Healthcare's new initiatives to expand IT India business

As part of its strategy to expand its current IT India business, GE Healthcare today unveiled its three inititatives aimed to increase quality, reduce cost and improve access for all.

"The initiatives will help offer strong healthcare connectivity and resources to India, which has lagged behind in this key area of healthcare delivery", Vishal Wanchoo, president and CEO of GE Healthcare IT told reporters here today.

Introducing healthcare IT solutions often requires significant upfront investment by healthcare providers, in addition to regular updates of software, hardware and maintenance. GE's 'Managed Solutions' will help eliminate this upfront capital investment to enable affordability across hospitals.

'Managed Solutions' is targetted at providers who need to integrate multiple locations or have plans to expand and reach the masses in India through GE Healthcare IT solutions.

Considering healthcare IT penetration is "extremely low" in India, the initiative would "not only increase access, but also be cost-effective", V Raja, president and CEO GE Healthcare South Asia said.

He unveiled GE's internet-based PACS-IW offering to provide accessibility for radiologists to review images when they are away from the hospital, plus instantaenous reporting on true Dicom datasets, reducing overall costs.

A multi-site link in itself, PACS-IW is a low-maintenance teleradiology solution with no additional software installs or configuration needs, Raja said.

GE Healthcare also announced its first "managed" Indian partnership with DCA Imaging Centre, Delhi, under which it (GE Healthcare) has installed Centricity PACS-IW solution at DCA, Raja said.

With this solution, DCA Imaging has already connected five imaging centres in India and will create a wider network in future. It has helped DCA Imaging Centre offer diagnostic reports without delay or any upfront investment, he said.

"We are looking at partnerships with diagnostic centres, government and private hospitals for this solution" Wanchoo said.

Terming heart disease as the "number one killer in the world, with India carrying 60% of the burden", he unveiled GE Healthcare's new "MAC i", a portable one-touch operation, single channel ECG system with the "potential to reduce ECG price to as low as Rs9".

The single channel can be upgraded to three channels, which means ECGs can be printed line-by-line per page or three lines on a page. It is easy for any para-health staff or physician to use the system anywhere with just a few minutes of training," Wanchoo said.

It (MAC i) is capable of completing 500 3-channel ECGs or 250 single-channel ECGs for every three-hour battery charge, which equals one month of operation in a village, where availability of electricity is a major constraint.

GE healthcare donated its first MAC i unit to HelpAge India to screen elderly people in rural areas.