Internet patient

The otherwise intriguing technology has become a simple affair for many like Patils with IVF blending with the Internet. ‘‘It’s easy. Many doctors even at the smaller taluka towns use internet. The idea is just to link the net-savvy gynaecologists,’’ says Pune-based IVF consultant Rajesh Balkrishna.

There are 2000-odd IVF clinics across the country, yet high cost setups and the need for immense technological inputs have left them concentrated in urban India, Balkrishna says adding that his is an effort to take the technology to patients in ‘‘lesser blessed’’ areas.

Balkrishna has tried to do away with patients travelling great distances and staying away from their homes and businesses. More important is the fact that patients hardly encounter unfamiliar medicos and paramedics, since the treatment is handled by a local doctor to a greater extent.

‘‘A local doctor treating the patient certainly has its effects. Patients tend to respond to the whole medical effort more positively while dealing with known and trusted persons,’’ says Shantanu Abhyankar in Wai. ‘‘One of my patients who would soon be a proud father now actually does counselling to fence-sitting patients,’’ says Abhyankar.

Balkrishna has placed a completely new approach to the problem of infertility across cyberspace through a website called Oosite. The site describes itself as an effort to bridge the gap between the patient and her local consultant on one hand and an ultra modern urban Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) centre to the other.

In test-tube baby procedure the most critical part is ovum pick up and embryo transfer. This part actually requires a patient to stay at the IVF centre for a day or two. But the patient also requires treatment and monitoring before and after the embryo transfer.

‘‘Here I found a need to disseminate the technology across a wider area,’’ says Balkrishna. The idea is to entrust the procedures before ovum pick-up and embryo transfer to the patient’s own gynaecologist.

‘‘He monitors the progress over the Internet,’’ Balkrishna said. He rules out any communication gap. At first each case is handled by two experts at two ends. Further the programme leaves no room for a communication gap, since nothing can move without completing certain mandatory steps.

Once registered with Oosite, Balkrishna assumes full control of the post-transfer protocol with the local doctor in the ART programme. A detailed management protocol sheet is published based on the case summary.

This can be viewed at any time by the local consultant. The case progress and alteration in protocol and consultancy updated by both the local consultant and Balkrishna.

The couple needs to report to the IVF centre in Pune only for ovum pick-up and embryo transfer at a predetermined time. Even there Oosite representatives assist them throughout the process. After the transfer the patient returns to the local consultant for further management, says Balkrishna.

Now about a year old endeavour, Oosite already is a network of over 40 gynaecologists from smaller towns in Pune and neighbouring districts such as Satara and Sangli.

‘‘The site covers doctors within a 250 km radius of Pune. This helps my patients,’’ says Balkrishna. ‘‘That’s true,’’ agrees Patil. ‘‘I’m a self employed person, and staying away in Pune for a couple of months for the treatment would have affected my business,’’ he adds.