Globally as operators particularly those offering mobile services vie for new sources of revenue generation to sustain growth, telecom gear manufacturers are also following suit and are coming up with new technological solutions which enable convergence of telecom services with other services.

Leading telecom organization Ericsson is part of this trend as the company is gradually carving out new technological solutions to address the convergence needs of operators as well as non-telecom service providers.

After unveiling its tele-education solutions last year, the firm is now innovating to showcase the benefits of ICT healthcare industry particularly the branded hospital chain segment as well as government supported healthcare projects.

It has developed a mHealth (mobile-health) telemedicine solution named as Ericsson Mobile Health 3.0 (EMH 3.0) and aptly positioned it as a solution to provide ‘healthcare to all’ considering that the solution aims to overcome the geographical reach limitations of healthcare units and enable them to reach out to people even in far flung areas over the mobile medium.

“Our first initiative on the healthcare solutions front dates back to 2004 when we came up with a prototype version of telemedicine solution. In India too we are active on this front since 2007 when we jointly worked with Apollo Hospitals for the Gramjyoti project,” explains Rainer Herzog-Director Strategy & Business Development e-health Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa, Ericsson while speaking to TelecomTiger.

Ericsson is eying to commercialize its mHealth telemedicine solutions by Q2 2010 as it awaits certification from relevant medical agencies.

It claims to have conducted trials in Europe and one such trial in Croatia was on a nationwide scale. According to observations from these trials, some of the noteworthy trends were that apart from providing convenience to patients, it also resulted in reducing hospital visits by almost half.

Technical Aspects:

The EMH 3.0 consists of a Healthcare Networking Information System (HNIS) based on open standards and enables healthcare units to address issues of Electronic Patient Record Management, Public Health Reporting, Resource Administration, e-Prescription & Referral, Booking & Discharging and Patient Administration.

“While the system can best run in a 3G environment, it can also be configured to work on a 2G ecosystem and deliver required results,” says Herzog.

Patients are equipped with customized handheld terminals which are specially designed from healthcare perspective.

Potential in India:

Ericsson is betting big on the India opportunity for its telemedicine solutions. It cites that a substantial part of India’s population lives in remote areas while the specialized physicians stay in urban areas. The company says that with its telemedicine solutions, hospitals can reduce care costs per patient by a great margin.

“With this initiative we aim to provide effective healthcare solutions to India’s rural masses strengthen the capabilities of primary care and manage life-style diseases of India’s growing middle class,” adds Herzog.

Target Market:

The company’s primary targets for the solutions are leading hospital chains. However it says that it also offers an ideal avenue for mobile service providers to participate in the value-chain for delivery of such services and thereby generate much-needed new avenues of revenues.