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Delhi based Max Healthcare, a company that runs the Max group of hospitals, has launched a BlackBerry app that lets doctors and paramedics access an archive of patients’ radiology images, lab reports and other information on a secure connection through smartphones and laptops, reports PTI (via The Economic Times). The app allows doctors to examine lab reports on their phones and revert with their diagnosis, without the need for patients to make a personal visit.
The solution has been developed by Gurgaon (NCR) based company MphRx – My Personal Health Record eXpress and uses its MphRx Connect cloud platform, which facilitates remote monitoring and tele-health by allowing medical documents including radiological images, cardiology videos, retina images, lab results, to be shared across the web and on mobile devices. It claims to offer secure connectivity through Multi level secure VPN and https.
According the report, Max Healthcare had first deployed the platform in 2010, starting out with radiology and has now been extended to diagnostic lab reports. MphRx Connect is currently being used by 241 senior physicians and the deployment spans across staff and consulting physicians at multiple locations of Max Healthcare.
Another similar service is Idea Brahma’s clinic management application Vbond Vita, which also allows doctors to store and manage patient data and medical records on the cloud. While the apps make life easy for doctors and patients alike, keeping the data secure and accessible at the same time can be challenging.
Also, the accuracy with which the apps reproduce radiology reports would be critical to diagnosis. Although the UD FDA had issued Draft Guidances for bringing certain Mobile Medical Apps into the regulatory regime, we have not come across a similar move or an expression of intent from Indian regulatory bodies. Do give a heads-up if you happen to know of them.
