The TMC will also set up a digital library on the tenth floor of the building to analyse the essential data which will help in formulation of health policies. (Pexels)With the intention to digitise patients’ records across all the 270 hospitals under National Cancer Grid (NCG) — the network of cancer hospitals that comes under Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) — the TMC has tied up with NGO KOITA Foundation to establish a centre for digital oncology. This will help create a data bank of patients across the country, which will help in medical researches and policy making.
While signing an MoU with the NGO, Dr RA Badwe, director of Tata Memorial Centre, said that digitisation of the patients’ records starting from their prescriptions and radiology reports would not only make the treatment process paperless, but will provide them the data bank to do national research. “It will be a mine of information,” he said.
Dr C S Pramesh, convener of NCG, said that as per a study, only 40 per cent of the patients maintain digital medical records.
The TMC will also set up a digital library on the tenth floor of the building to analyse the essential data which will help in formulation of health policies.
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Rizwan Koita, director of the NGO said, “The same model has been implemented for other relevant diseases like diabetes and hypertension which will help the data for essential research.”
They also have plans to introduce new technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) which will provide better treatment accessibility to patients. Talking about it, Dr Pramesh said, “We have plans to develop mobile applications where the patients from rural areas can update about their health issues. Also, immediate attention can be paid to it.”
The NGO has partnered with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-Bombay) where they are training the graduate students for the establishment of the Koita Centre for Digital Health.