BENGALURU: Karnataka’s use of tele-medicine, particularly to manage critically-ill Covid-19 patients, may have been one of the reasons the state’s case fatality rate (CFR) was not very high, a new study suggests.Titled ‘Tele Medicine, Tele Rounds, and Tele Intensive Care Unit in the Covid-19 Pandemic’, the study was published in the Indian Journal of Medical Specialties. It suggests, based on its performance in tackling Covid, that tele-medicine could be the future and can provide healthcare even to remote areas.
Karnataka was the first state to set up a tele-health service -- including ICUs -- through PPP, and create a critical care resource team, including three hospitals in Bengaluru, to combat Covid cases. The team would go on ‘tele-rounds’ to treat patients in all districts.Columbia Asia Referral Hospital in Yeshwantpur and Manipal Hospitals on Airport Road in Bengaluru, had done tele-rounds of 28 districts for 10 weeks, up to June-end 2020. As on June 28, 2020, 9,771 patients were examined and 115 of the patients died, with CFR at 1.17%.
These results were compared with urban and rural hospitals of Bengaluru, which were not connected to tele-ICUs. These hospitals cared for 3,419 patients during the same period and 92 died, with a CFR of 2.69%. This suggests patient management through tele-ICUs was more effective.One of the authors of the study, Dr Thrilok Chandra, said, “When the pandemic set in, health professionals were trained in critical care. The partnership between government and private hospitals helped tele-ICUs to function.”
Dr Chandra, who is also Karnataka’s Health Commissioner, said, “We plan to start a dedicated tele-ICU to provide assistance for all specialties across the state.”Dr Pradeep Rangappa, of the department of critical care at Columbia Asia Referral Hospital and a co-author of the paper, said, “A digital command centre goes a long way in assisting patients in any corner. Due to tele-ICU, the CFR in Bengaluru was lower than in any other metropolitan city in India.”Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar told TNIE, “Karnataka has been a pioneer in leveraging technology in the battle against the pandemic. We are establishing tele-ICU facilities for all government hospitals.”