Piramal e-swasthya "A case study of IT initiative in health sector Neha Arora, Aditya Sood, Arun Singh Rana

Email of Corresponding Author: neha_coogirl_143@yahoo.com Background - According to estimates of Census of India (2011),70% of the total population lives in rural areas. There exist disparities between urban and rural geographies in regards to the accessibility of healthcare facilities, due to lack of physical infrastructure and qualified manpower. As a technological solution, e-swasthya has the potential to bridge this divide by providing quality, affordable, accessible health care to rural populations. One of the successful running model based on e-swasthya is Piramal-e-swasthya which provides healthcare at the doorsteps of villagers through Information Communication Technology. Result In three years, it covered more than 200 villages in three districts of Rajasthan and trained 200 healthcare workers. Through traditional methods, each doctor treated approximately 100 patients per day, but through Piramal model, each doctor can treat up to 400 patients per day. Conclusion- Since its inception in 2008, Piramal-e-swasthya has experimented with several innovative approaches like telemedicine, clinical decision support system and village based health entrepreneurs to deliver healthcare services. Thus e-swasthya as an upcoming innovative model if applied to other parts of Rajasthan and India as a whole is bound to revolutionise healthcare delivery system. Keywords Piramal-e-Swasthya, Piramal Swasthya Sahayika, Nucleus, Health Entrepreneur, Clinical Decision SupportSystem