Development of a framework for establishing an effective telemedicine system in India

Project description

The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to provide health care services at a distance is broadly known as telemedicine. A growing body of evidence suggests that telemedicine can offer benefits to various stakeholders including patients, families, providers and health systems. Australia has been at the forefront of both telemedicine/telehealth research and implementation. The unique geography of the country, population settlement patterns, state of health system and availability of technology are some driving forces for using telemedicine in Australia.

Telemedicine can have several benefits in developing countries as well, and therefore, several initiatives of the World Health Organisation have promoted the use of telemedicine to augment health systems in developing countries. With its vast geographical expanse and large population, India’s complex health system faces a unique set of challenges, some of which (in conjunction with India’s ICT advances) may be amenable to telemedicine solutions. The UQ-IITD programme provides an opportunity for collaboratively investigating telemedicine activities in Australia and India and use the lessons learned to develop a framework for implementing telemedicine systems in India.

Therefore, the objective of this proposed project is to study successful telemedicine models in Australia and use the learnings to develop a framework for implementing telemedicine systems effectively within India’s health system. Accomplishing this objective will involve (a) systematically studying the existing Indian health system, (b) identifying challenges potentially amenable to telemedicine solutions, (c) studying the existing telemedicine system in Australia, (d) use learnings from previous steps to formulate a blueprint for establishing telemedicine systems in key distinct socioeconomic and geographical settings in India, and (e) conduct a cost-benefit analysis of establishing a telemedicine system (based on the previous blueprint) in the Indian context. Finally, subject to funding availability, we may also establish a pilot telemedicine system to field-test the viability of our blueprint.

Outcomes

We anticipate that the project will yield the following outcomes.

• Description of issues in the Indian health system amenable for telemedicine solutions, identified via systematic study of the Indian health system, including surveys of all key stakeholders (patients, medical professionals, policymakers).
• Development of a blueprint for establishing effective telemedicine systems for India and potentially other developing countries. This will include a specification of infrastructural and economic requirements for establishing telemedicine systems in the Indian context.
• A template for transferring learnings from successful telemedicine systems in Australia to other developing countries.
• A quantitative cost-benefit analysis of establishing telemedicine systems in the Indian context. We anticipate that the above outcomes will be captured in peer-review publications and technical reports.

Essential capabilities

Strong grasp of probability and statistics and good programming skills (preferably Python, Matlab).

Desireable capabilities

A strong interest in public health, excellent written communication skills.

Expected qualifications (Course/Degrees etc.)

Undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in engineering, preferably in mechanical/production/industrial/biomedical/electrical engineering (equivalent of BTech and MTech). Candidates with postgraduate degrees in economics/statistics may also be considered.

Candidate Discipline

Industrial Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering.