Apollo Hospitals leads the conversation on “Remote Critical Care” via an International Symposium  

The Apollo Hospitals Group, one of Asia’s largest and most trusted healthcare group held a virtual global Remote Critical Care Symposium last week, led by the Apollo Centre of Excellence in Critical Care (ACECC). Prestigious international organizations such as the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine (FICM) UK and the College of Intensive Care Medicine of Australia and New Zealand partnered with ACECC in organizing and running the symposium. The conference was aimed at sharing and developing international best practices in remote critical care.

The international forum focused on the effectiveness of Artificial Intelligence in providing solutions to enhance patient care. It also discussed the various facets of remote Critical Care, using various forms of digital connectivity which offers an actual opportunity to save lives and make a difference. The convention opened with a welcome address from the Founder and Chairman of Apollo Hospitals, Dr. Pratap C. Reddy, and senior critical care consultants from Apollo Hospitals Dr. Sai Haranath and Dr Ramakrishnan Nagarajan shared the current status and developments in the Indian context respectively. Organizer and panelist of the symposium Prof Ravi P Mahajan, Director of Critical Care Integration & Transformation, Apollo Hospitals, discussed the India gap analysis with the forum.

Several international leaders in the field of critical care like Dr Danny Bryden, Vice Dean FICM, UK, Dr Rob Bevan, Vice President, College of Intensive Care Medicine of Australia and New Zealand, Dr Sanjay Subramanyam, Associate Professor, Washington University, St. Louis, USA participated in the convention and highlighted the urgent need for consensus and development on crucial aspects like international standards, quality assurance, patient safety, regulatory provisions, academic research, development and digital innovation.   

Dr. Prathap C Reddy, Founder and Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “Critical illness accounts for 7 out of 10 deaths globally making it the leading cause as per WHO data. Non-Communicable Diseases alone contribute to around 38 million (68%) of all the deaths globally and about 5.87 million (60%) of all deaths in India. Critical care at the right time and right access can benefit patients in many ways. Apollo Hospitals’ ACECC initiated a dialogue today through the Remote Critical Care Symposium urging for the development of some general standards of practice alongside training requirements, medico-legal aspects, safety considerations, quality indicators and quality assurance to see substantial growth. We will relentlessly lead these developments with our international partners to ensure that Remote Critical Care develops across the boundaries for the benefit of billions of patients globally.”

Dr. Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director said, “The country faces a resource mismatch with 80% of physicians working in urban areas and 70% of the population residing in remote locations. Digital tools today can help access and analyze data and make crucial decisions in an unpredictable and chaotic health environment. Think of not just digitalization, but also how Artificial Intelligence can complement to provide solutions to enhance critical care in remote areas. Technologies like AI, ML, and advanced analytics, can help derive actionable insights to make real-time decisions without pressurizing the healthcare ecosystem, with the help of IOT connecting medical equipment’s across locations This symposium is a step in the right direction, it has initiated an important conversation. It was encouraging to see warm participation from leading global organizations such as the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine (FICM) UK and the College of Intensive Care Medicine of Australia and New Zealand who partnered with our Apollo Centre of Excellence in Critical Care in organizing and running of the symposium. Remote critical care (E-ICU) has grown in different parts of the world as a solution to many local issues like staff shortages, lack of specialists in the area, and travel distance to reach ICU facility.”

The symposium has brought the focus and onus back to showcasing the vibrancy of the Indian healthcare sector worldwide. India is soon emerging as the medical hub providing clinical excellence in treatments for patients worldwide and has the potential to address medical skill gaps, accessibility to experts and critical care remotely. This is set to revolutionize the way we consider healthcare and medical services for critical ailments. The symposium can be viewed here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezjgESjujac

Apollo Centre of Excellence in Critical Care (ACECC), was established in October 2021 to oversee the integration of critical care services in 70 hospitals in India (a total of 2500 critical care beds); during the pandemic, using various forms of digital connectivity and e-ICU, Apollo Hospitals since then have been able to connect and offer care to over 16,000 additional critically ill patients treated in remote facilities. 

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