FFR measurements can be taken using the PressureWire™ Aeris or PressureWire™ Certus, and indicate the severity of blood flow blockages in the coronary arteries. This physiological measurement identifies which coronary narrowings are responsible for obstructing the flow of blood to a patient’s heart muscle (called ischaemia), and guides the physician in determining which lesions warrant stenting.

The detailed analysis will be based on the results of the landmark FAME (Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) vs  Angiography in Multivessel Evaluation) study, statistics from country-specific Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) registries and from published literature.

The research will reveal for each country the:

• Cost savings from using an FFR-guided approach to PCI
• Cumulative savings for the health care system annually
• Impact on health for the population undergoing PCI

“All the research that has been conducted in the US and Europe regarding the benefits of using our PressureWire FFR measurement technology indicates that it improves clinical outcomes and saves money; we hope to discover similar outcomes in the Asian and Australian markets,” said Frank J Callaghan, President, St. Jude Medical -  Cardiovascular Division. “FFR represents a unique opportunity in medicine that aligns with the needs of government – to help make healthcare more affordable, and physicians – to improve care.”

According to Keshav Desiraju, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, “Millions of Indians suffer from tobacco usage. A large number of women, infants, and even unborn children suffer various health hazards due to passive smoking.”

The PSA launched in 16 languages will begin airing in the North East region this week, and will roll-out across the rest of the country during February and March. The PSA has been adapted from the original, developed by the New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene. World Lung Foundation has also launched a new Facebook page where visitors to the site will be able to see the campaign videos and take action. Visitors will find information on the harms of tobacc as well resources, tips and a supportive community to help  quit using tobacco.

Sandra Mullin, Senior Vice President, Policy and Communications, World Lung Foundation says, “India continues to break new ground in delivering blunt warnings about the harms of tobacco.  Following previous hard hitting campaigns that showed the impact of tobacco on smokers and chewers, this campaign takes on second-hand smoke and the danger it poses to children.  By showing specific illnesses – ear infections, asthma, sudden infant death syndrome – the message is clear that people who smoke around their children put them in grave danger.  We hope this sends a strong message to those who smoke: to stop exposing children to their toxins and better yet, to stop using tobacco entirely.”

Dr Sanjay Agarwala’s path breaking discovery and treatment for Avascular Necrosis (AVN) of hips is finding its way into the textbooks. ANV of the bone is an extremely painful and progressively disabling disorder. AVN when left untreated leads to hip arthritis, needing surgical intervention like surface replacement or total hip replacement, making a patient suffer besides shelling out a dear sum in the process of ‘fixing’ AVN. Discovery of this cost effective and efficient treatment method has been published in medical journals including the recent coverage in The Journal of Arthroplasty, prompting the international medical fraternity to consider adapting to the same.

Dr Sanjay Agarwala has created history of sort by establishing a new hope for all those patients who have painful joints stricken by AVN. Dr Agarwala for the last 10 years has successfully used the key drugs alendronate, a bisphosphonate, in over 400 patients to treat AVN of the hip, thus relieving them from the pain and perhaps avoiding the need for a surgery. Hip is a joint that connects your upper part of the body to the legs and if damaged then the person becomes completely immobile. The drug Alendronate prevents bone resorption and is most commonly and normally used to treat osteoporosis.

Dr Sanjay Agarwala, Chief of Surgery, Head Orthopaedics & Traumatology, Hinduja Hospital, Mumbai said, “Avascular Necrosis of the bone is a painful, progressively disabling disorder. The hip (femoral head) is the most common site.  Avascular Necrosis (AVN) of the femoral head is a pathologic process that results from the interruption of blood supply to the bone. Untreated, it progresses to frank hip arthritis needing surgical intervention which is total hip replacement or surface replacement arthroplasty.”

Dr Sanjay Agarwala further said, “The good news for Indian patients is that the cost of this treatment works out to approximately Rs 150 per month and considering that it prevents an expensive one lakh rupee surgery and the pain, this is a panacea in the management of these cases.”

Dr Sanjay Agarwala’s thought for the future and that he is already currently working on would be Ethics Committee approved gene therapy and regeneration and Regrowth of diseased bones.

Symptoms of Avascular Necrosis

In its early stages, AVN typically cause no symptoms; however, as the disease progresses it becomes painful. At first you may experience pain when you put pressure on the affected bone. Then, pain may become more constant. If the disease progresses and the bone and surrounding joint collapse, you may experience severe pain that interferes with your ability to use your joint. The time between the first symptoms and collapse of the bone may range from several months to more than a year.

Yashoda Charitable Foundation’s, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative by Yashoda Group of Hospitals, announced the commencement of its first batch of Employment Linked Training Programme at Kotla Vijay Bhaskar Reddy Indoor Stadium, Yousufguda.

Dr K Rosaiah, Governor, Tamil Nadu presided over the inaugural ceremony as a Chief Guest. The mission of Yashoda Charitable Foundation is to empower communities and create opportunities for the underprivileged, especially the orphaned youth, in the areas of education, training and health. The main focus is to impart training in employable skill and provide employment support to the orphan youth.

The Foundation aspires to ensure sustainable and inclusive growth that is socially uplifting to all the underprivileged youth. To achieve this, the Foundation has designed ‘Employment Linked Training Programme’ specifically for the deprived youth who have lost either a single parent or both the parents with strategic approach for social inclusion of the target group.

The Foundation provides proper training to the targeted orphan youth on employable skills based on the requirement of the employers. For this, YCF has partnered with prominent training providers for 59 different training courses. Yashoda Charitable Foundation has also liaised with placement providers to provide employment support for candidates post completion of their training programme.

About 60 orphan youths will get trained in different professions like customer relations, hospitality and sales, and nursing aid certification courses in the first batch.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Rosaiah said, “Charity Foundations by business houses play an increasingly more important role in support of development process in the society. The sustainable and successful development of every society, as you know, is the one that is based on providing a platform to the human resources. And, providing employable platform to orphan youth can bring in further growth and equilibrium in the society.”

Talking about Yashoda Charitable Foundation, G Ravender Rao, Chairman, Yashoda Group of Hospitals said, “Yashoda Charitable Foundation was established in 2011 as a vehicle for Yashoda Group’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative focusing on education, rural development and upliftment of underprivileged youth.

About 1000 orphan children from various orphan homes from Hyderabad and Secunderabad attended the programme. The whole day programme featured various sports events such as kabaddi, kho kho, tennicoit, running, etc for the orphan children to enjoy the day. Other cultural activities like song and dance were also arranged for them. In addition, medical check-up camp in the specialities like eye, dental, skin, ENT, gynecology, and general screening was also arranged by Yashoda Hospitals for these children.

The two month long program offered in-clinic free dental check-ups in more than 1000 plus cities and towns, free cavity check-ups in mobile vans in over 23 cities, school contact programs and retailers outreach activity and many more such oral care awareness generation initiatives. As part of our extensive school contact program – ‘Little Dentist’, over 10 lakh school children pledged to adopt, practice and spread the message of good oral hygiene. This year, OHM also introduced a unique ‘Adopt a School’ program where school children assuming the role of ‘Little Dentists’ spread the message of good oral care habits in community schools. The ‘Adopt-a-School’ program was conducted across 23 cities and reached thousands of school children across India.

Dr Ashok Dhoble, Honorable Secretary General, Indian Dental Association, said, “Oral Health Month reached out to millions of people across India. Over 22,000 dentists from Indian Dental Association pledged their support and provided free cavity check-ups.  Awareness generation is vital as people seldom realise that oral health is critical for overall health. Initiatives like Oral Health Month dedicated to promoting awareness about oral hygiene in India, help people take better care of their oral health.  IDA has whole heartedly supported the Oral Health Month since its inception in 2004. People, of late have started appreciating the IDA- Colgate joint initiative in championing the cause of oral health awareness in India.”

As another successful Oral Health Month draws to a close, Rekha Rao, Vice President Marketing, Colgate India said, “Oral Health Month is now an annual event that consumers across geographies in India look forward to, each year from Colgate and IDA.  Oral Health month reached out to approximately 3.6 million people across India this year. As we conclude the eighth year of this gigantic movement, it gives us tremendous satisfaction of, once again, having given consumers an opportunity to avail of free dental check- ups, and making them aware of the importance of maintaining good oral hygiene. In a county, where less than 5% visit a dentist, it becomes imperative for us, as market leaders, to create avenues like the Oral Health Month to bridge this gap. Oral Health Month is our long standing commitment to the people of India.”

This year OHM reached out to mothers especially as they play a vital role in developing good dental hygiene among their children. Celebrity mothers such as Raveena Tandon and Konkona Sen Sharma participated in ‘Adopt-a-School’ programme in Mumbai & Kolkata to spread the message of dental hygiene, cavity care and Colgate’s five rules of dental care to children. The children heard them out with rapt attention and later on participated in the cavity check-ups. Shriya Saran and Saumya Tandon also came forward to spread awareness on the importance of good oral hygiene during the ‘Adopt-a-School’ programs in Hyderabad and Lucknow respectively.

‘Personalised treatment for Colorectal Cancer’ was one of the key topics of discussion. Noted oncologists and doctors Prof Eric Van Cutsem, Department of Digestive Oncology, University Hospital Gasthuisberg (Belgium); Dr Dinesh Chandra Doval, Program Director, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute & Research (New Delhi) and Dr Shyam Aggarwal, Program Director, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (New Delhi) shared information on the newer treatment standards for management of Colorectal Cancer. The program provided a platform for knowledge sharing and collaborations among oncology professionals in Europe and Asia.

Colorectal cancer (CRC), also commonly called bowel cancer is a disease in which malignant cells grow in the tissue of the colon or rectum, forming tumors. In the early stages of CRC, surgery alone may be curative. However, symptoms of CRC are often vague and – despite it being one of the most common cancers worldwide – public awareness of the disease is low. As a result, one in four patients is diagnosed when the cancer has already spread (metastasized), via the bloodstream and lymph nodes in the bowel, to other organs in the body. This advanced stage of the disease, which is known as metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), is difficult to treat and is associated with low survival rates.

The latest research demonstrates that personalised treatment for CRC by identification of specific molecules (also called ‘biomarkers’) can help physicians identify which patients are most likely to benefit from a specific treatment. This breakthrough enables oncologists to select the most appropriate treatment for patients from the point of diagnosis and thus improves their overall long-term outcomes.

The main role of Trivitron as a manufacturer and Innovator at Arab Health was to showcase leadership as the medical technology brand for emerging markets and across the world, offering cost effective  and innovative solutions through its own manufacturing and JV’s, and offer a comprehensive line up of products than most global brands do.

Speaking on event, G S K Velu, MD, Trivitron said, “ Its about demonstrating the difference of innovation of quality health care that is now accessible, available and affordable. Trivitron aims to be the largest and most admired medical technology company focused on emerging markets of the world, bringing a wide range of cost effective medical technology solutions to health care centers across the world. With our innovation centers in association with IIT Madras and Anna University, and our manufacturing and innovation collaboration with global as well as Indian pioneers, we aim to establish Trivitron’s commitment to the field.”

The showcase at the event was a major attraction to many industry stakeholders from the healthcare segment. The showcase had solutions in cardiology, imaging, diagnostics (IVD), critical care, OT space, etc. Another significant activity was to create a pool of channel partners for MENA region, remarked Velu.

Trivitron did establish itself as a brand to reckon with entering emerging world with its own products.

The panel discussion was attended by Dr Vanita Raut, Dr Sangita Pitale, Dr Mukesh Gupta, Monica Chaudhari and moderated by Devieka Bhojwani. Nearly 700 women participating in the LWD’s fourth edition on February 26, 2012 participated in the interactive session.

Bollywood actor Randeep Hooda was present on the occasion to extend support for the cause. He showered praise on the panel of doctors for educating the audience about cervical cancer in a simple and easy manner. He also said a similar workshop should be conducted for men also to make them aware about the cancer.

A free cervical and breast cancer camp for women is conducted from February 13-March 2, 2012 at Preventive Oncology Department, Tata Memorial Hospital & Jaslok Hospital. The Tata Memorial hospital has extended the cancer check up date to March 31st 2012..

LWD is getting a huge response from women in and around Mumbai. LWD reinforces its position as numero uno initiatives for women in India.

The healthcare industry in India is going through a great transition, where the country is striving to achieve the status of a healthcare major comparable to the best globally. Last two decades have seen significant growth in standards of healthcare with hi-tech modern hospitals mushrooming in all the metros, with some chains such as Apollo Group of Hospitals, Fortis Hospitals, Max Healthcare, Narayana Hrudayalaya, Care Group of Hospitals, Global Hospitals and many others setting up centres of excellence in many cities across the country and abroad to meet the growing demand fuelled by socioeconomic growth, increasing healthcare awareness, third party payer influence and paying capability of potential customers due to lifestyle changes etc. The spread of similar hi-tech healthcare organisations in tier-II and tier-III cities has already started and one looks forward to a big shift in the industry towards concentration of future growth in these cities and also in urbanised rural sector, which constitutes a great part of modern India. The growth is also being strongly augmented by the modernisation of public health infrastructure through Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and other healthcare schemes at the centre and state level which are resulting into new AIIMS, medical colleges and upgradation of hospitals, CHCs and PHCs.

All these achievements in the healthcare have a strenuous impact on infrastructure and a major influence on the resource utilisation-where energy constitutes a major portion. In fact in any running hospital, energy constitutes the largest component of the operational costs.

Detailed status quo

In a hospital with central air-conditioning, approximately 55-60 per cent energy is consumed by Heat Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC), about 10 per cent by lighting, more than 10 per cent by medical equipment based on the scope of services being provided by the hospital (higher the technology level higher the energy consumption) and rest by other support services such as Central Sterile Supply Department (CSSD) and laundry etc.

Considering this background, the issue of energy management and conservation is now coming up as a prime issue for the optimal efficiency and the economy of hospital operations. Energy management requires an extensive collection, strategic planning and establishment of organisation wise and local controls, which becomes impossible to achieve manually.

The concept of automated control and monitoring started taking shape about two decades ago with the incorporation of building management system- full or partial- being installed in hospitals.

These services constitute an effective tool in energy conservation, and serve only as one component of energy management system as an excellent application.

However, the overall energy management system as a strategic policy need an extensive organisational system, where management should be able to establish clear, measurable objectives as well as accountability and authority for achieving goals. This would be an ongoing, cyclical programme requiring regular monitoring for performance and compliance and should lead to next cycle of goal setting and further improvements.

The elaborate system, so regularised would need a 24X7 monitoring and control through various online support system, which cannot be executed manually needs a IT-based system. This would be able to play a significant role in the following steps for energy management system.

Steps: IT & energy management in hospitals

1. Establishing baseline consumption: Involves gathering and documenting at least two years of historic data on energy consumption, if possible

2. Provide baseline for effective energy audit: Focuses on identifying individual and bundled opportunities to improve energy efficiency, lower costs and apply renewable technologies

3. Identifying upgrades and improvements relevant to organisation needs: Reviews the broad list of potential improvements with an eye to combining individual opportunities into upgrade projects. Implementation strategies are identified in this step, including how to apply resource, maximise returns and make the case to upper management

4. Performing financial analysis: Involves cost/benefit analysis of individual and bundled opportunities and financing options, with input from the financial department

5. Prioritising improvement projects: Evaluates project chosen and determines the order of implementation.

Priority can be based on a number of factors, including financial impact, emissions reductions, or need for infrastructure renewal

6. Project implementation: Ensures that projects are accomplished and upgrades are completed according to plan and specifications

7. Performance confirmation: Involves review and evaluation of the projects to determine if the established goals were achieved

8. Performance of operations and maintenance: Ensures operators understand new operations and maintenance methods and requirements and integrate them into ongoing operations

9. Re-establishing baseline consumption for further improvement: Analyses changes in the energy consumption patterns that result from implementing projects.

Ongoing tracking of existing and new energy – usage data will guide adjustments to previous baseline parameters.

Systematic gain

The above steps signify the role IT requires to play in effective energy management system in hospitals. There are many energy management software available in the market, which are capable of meeting the three basic criteria ‘monitor, calculate and control’ and these help in a significant manner to replace manual logging by more superior, speedy and accurate –IT logging, which helps in speedy information processing, decision making and in monitoring the effectiveness, if required.

The cost of these systems has often been blamed for their non-usage in healthcare industry. However, in most of the case studies the cost benefit analysis has revealed that the investment can be easily recovered within 1-3 years and the benefit is visible as soon as the system becomes operable.

Thus, the healthcare industry has to realise that energy efficiency and conservation will mean a strong efficiency and economy, a clear environment and a greater resource optimisation- a strong IT-based energy management system could be a key to ensure effectiveness of organisational resource management.

Dr Yash Paul Bhatia

Managing Director,

ASTRON Hospital &

Healthcare Consultants

Pvt Ltd

(ypb@astronhealthcare.com)

Maintaining its leadership in providing transplant services in the region, the Apollo Transplant Institutes became the busiest solid organ transplant program in the world having conducted 929 liver, kidney and heart transplants in 2011.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Prathap C Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group, said, “Our aim at the Apollo Transplant Institutes is to be the best centre for transplantation in the world. We have unmatched technical skills of our highly specialised surgeons and physicians, an infrastructure that is comparable with the best in the world and above all the faith of our patients that we have nurtured overtime.  Going forth, we want to eliminate a major barrier in organ transplantation- finance. We are working with financial institutions and banks to provide innovative financial schemes and loans for our patients. We will continue to innovate and ensure that organ transplantation becomes accessible for patients with various end stage pathologies.”

The Apollo Transplant Institute in New Delhi became the first in India to conduct a successful adult liver transplant and a successful paediatric liver transplant in 1998. It was also the first to conduct successful liver-kidney transplant in India in 1999 and the first to conduct a successful liver transplant in a HIV patient in 2008. Till date, 851 liver transplants and 6912 kidney transplants have been performed since the inception of the transplant program.

Speaking about the success of liver transplantation, Dr Subash Gupta, Liver Transplant Surgeon, said, “We are humbled by the trust that patients have reposed in us by entrusting us with the most complicated of surgeries such as liver transplants and combined liver – kidney transplants.”

“The area of kidney transplantation has evolved considerably with the establishment of laparoscopic donor kidney removal, early mobilization and a short hospital stay of 7 days.  We are now ready for combined kidney – pancreas transplantation,” said, Dr Sandeep Guleira, Kidney Transplant Surgeon.