NCG-KCDO is considering harnessing telemedicine to enhance access to quality cancer care, particularly in underserved areas, through its Tele Oncology initiative. This program will facilitate remote oncology consultations and referrals, enabling patients to receive timely expert advice and treatment regardless of location.
Tele-health adoption remains limited, largely due to the time demands on doctors compared to the support available in physical settings especially at busy government hospitals. The Tele Oncology initiative will address this by involving clinical assistants (trained nurses or general doctors) to compile essential patient information on the tech platform, organizing medical history and reports for streamlined oncologist review. The platform will also feature oncology specific workflows and templates to improve efficiency and user experience for both doctors and patients.
In this pilot, five doctors across three departments will conduct teleconsultations using a newly designed process and technology platform. This model will involve a pre consult review by a clinician to help organize the medical records and create a chronological case summary for the oncologist. The intent is to replicate the physical support system for an oncologist in a digital medium and improve the efficiency of teleconsultations. Insights gained will help create a scalable framework with centralized triage for nationwide remote oncology care.
Leveraging the existing 10BedICU infrastructure developed during COVID 19, this year-long pilot will follow a hub-and-spoke model, with a tertiary care center as the hub and district hospitals as spokes. The model will facilitate clinically assisted teleconsultations between patients and oncologists with local referrals within the NCG network. Outcomes will inform a teleconsulting model and customized technology for wider rollout across the 10BedICU network.
We are laying the foundation for a nationally scalable Tele Oncology framework by developing comprehensive guidelines, best prac tices, and a phased rollout strategy. This phase focuses on creating a standardized approach that ensures consistency, efficiency, and hig h q uality care delivery across hospitals nationwide.
Looking ahead, NCG’s Telehealth Initiative aims to develop a nationwide teleconsultation framework that addresses both current challenges and future needs. It will be designed to: