TODAY'S PAPER » NATIONAL » KARNATAKA
MANGALURU, November 21, 2014Medical tests, medicines now made affordable
Centre to come up at Wenlock Hospital
HLL Lifecare Centre and Laboratory to offer medicines and 3,000-odd tests at cheaper ratesWenlock among the 14 government hospitals in the State identified to set up similar centres
The blood group test will be done at Rs. 35, while the T3,T4,TSH test for thyroid will be done at Rs. 200. The blood culture and sensitivity test will be charged Rs. 120.
These will be among the 3,000-odd tests that will be done at affordable rates fixed by the Union government at the HIND Lab that is coming up at the Government Wenlock Hospital.
This lab and Life Care Centre of the HLL, a public sector undertaking, will become operational at the Government Wenlock Hospital by March next year.
The HLL Lifecare Centre and Laboratory at the Wenlock Hospital will be among the 14 government hospitals that will be set up by the State government to provide drugs, diagnostics and implants at affordable rates for the people.
Site inspection
HLL Lifecare officials on Thursday inspected the Government Wenlock Hospital to decide about 3,000-sq. ft. area to set up the Lifecare Centre and the specialised laboratory. The centre will provide medicines, cardiac and orthopaedic implants, spectacles, lenses and other consumables at subsidised rates.
The laboratory will be providing services as per the rates fixed by the Union government. There will also be a separate outlet to facilitate sale generic drugs at subsidised prices.
HLL Associate vice-president (Healthcare Services Division) G. Krishna Kumar told The Hindu that these services were being provided as per the agreement signed between the company and the State government.
At the Wenlock Hospital they plan to have an MRI scanning facility in addition to diagnostic tests and sale of pharmaceutical products. “We want to make facilities affordable for patients,” Mr. Krishna Kumar said.
He said they had visited all the places where the State government had proposed to set up their outlets.
“As soon as the land required is handed over to us, we will set up the centre in two months,” he said.
Web link- http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/medical-tests-medicines-now-made-affordable/article6620289.ece
TODAY'S PAPER » NATIONAL » KERALA
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, November 5, 2013Tele-radiology facilities soon in major hospitals
KMSCL signs agreement with HLL Lifecare Ltd.
Tele-radiology facilities will soon be introduced in major government hospitals in the State as part of the Health Department’s attempts to provide better diagnostic facilities in secondary care hospitals.
The idea of tele-radiology was put forth by Kerala Medical Services Corporation Ltd. (KMSCL) as the shortage of radiologists in the Health Service has been rendering many newly purchased CT scan machines in government hospitals useless. Last year, KMSCL purchased and installed CT scan machines at the district hospitals in Palakkad, Mananthavady (Wayanad), and Kannur and at the general hospitals in Thiruvananthapuram and Kasaragod.
This year, following the Health Department’s directive, more CT scan machines were being installed at the district hospitals at Neyyattinkara, Kottayam, Thrissur; the General Hospital in Alappuzha and the taluk hospitals at Changanasserry and Thodupuzha. The work has already been completed in some hospitals and technicians too have been appointed.
With the shortage of radiologists robbing people of the benefit of affordable radio diagnostic facilities, KMSCL has now signed an agreement with HLL Lifecare Ltd. to provide tele-radiology services at government hospitals where tele-medicine linkages have already been established. The MoU between KMSCL and HLL was signed at a function here on Friday.
The idea is to transmit the CT scan images using a special software, via internet, to a radiologist elsewhere, who will give his/her diagnosis after viewing the images, through the tele-medicine link. HLL Life care is making available the software as well as the services of radiologists to make the tele-radiology facility functional.
