Patients can now expect shorter hospital stays, better ability to deal with critical cases and happier outcomes
Motherhood Hospitals which operates 21 hospitals across 10 cities has implemented an innovative remote patient monitoring technology and system to provide virtual life-saving neonatal care to newborns admitted in nursing homes and hospitals in semi-urban and rural areas which do not have proper Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU).
With state-of-the-art remote monitoring technology, critically ill newborn babies in remote areas can get access to the expertise of Motherhood’s Neonatology Care Team round-the-clock.
NICU Live is connected to five remote locations in India (Anantapur, Hindupur, Madanpalle, Patna and Hisar). It treated 300 high-risk new-borns through NICU LIVE in four months.
NICU Live uses the latest remote monitoring technology and a specialized digital solution to treat high-risk newborns admitted in distant NICUs. In the first phase of this unique initiative, Motherhood Hospitals have set up a Central Care Centre (Hub) which is connected to five remote NICUs located in Anantapur, Hindupur, Madanapalle, Patna & Hisar. The hub-and-spoke model is centred around full-time patient management and constant medical support.
The Central Care team (hub) provides 24/7 monitoring and treatment support to the remote NICU (spoke) centres using high-resolution PTZ cameras that provide live video feed, a digital platform that ensures all critical information is shared digitally, -and a constant communication link between the teams, thereby improving medical outcomes substantially for these newborns. Additionally, the experienced team of Neonatologists and NICU nurses provide regular upskilling and training to the spoke centre care team on NICU treatment modalities.
Vijayarathna Venkatraman, CEO, Motherhood Hospitals, said, “We have established 300 NICU beds across our network which graduate more than 800 newborns each month. NICU Live is strengthening our mission of providing NICU care to the most distant parts of the country. With several newborns in rural and semi-urban areas needing immediate NICU care, this program aims to bridge the gap and make NICU accessible to all. The technology is brilliant—what we’ve managed to do with it is a landmark moment in our journey to provide outstanding clinical care to newborns.”
Dr Prathap Chandra, Neonatologist and Paediatrician, Motherhood Hospitals, added, “With NICU Live, we can now expect shorter hospital stays, better ability to deal with critical cases and happier outcomes. From a clinical standpoint, the pilot programme has been a revelation: we’re able to simplify the entire process right from the admission to discharge. NICU Live’s proactive interventions and guided emergency management will set benchmarks in neonatal care once we bring more hospitals into the programme.”
“Motherhood’s NICU Live remote neonatal care is built on the backbone of India’s 3.5mn km of optical fibre cable network on which data, images and voice can travel seamlessly between the Care hub and the remote spoke to help save the lives of precious newborns. NICU Live virtual neonatology care network can potentially reach 1000 beds across the country over the next five years and be a testament to the National Digital Health Mission,” said Vishal Bali, Executive Chairman, Asia Healthcare Holdings.
