LUCKNOW: As part of its electronic-primary health centres (e-PHCs) project, the Uttar Pradesh government plans to install ‘Health ATMs’ in all districts.
According to officials, these ATMs are machines that allow patients to interact remotely with doctors, and a single machine can perform nearly 60 diagnostic tests and dispense medicines for free. Nearly 150 of these machines have already been distributed throughout the state, with several more expected to be installed in the coming months.
“Several important services can reach residents with better use of technology. Installing the ATMs at health centres, especially in rural areas, can help strengthen medical facilities in the state. We will be asking the department to also start training technicians on operating these machines at the earliest,” said CM Yogi Adityanath.
The ATMs are intended to bridge the quality healthcare gap, particularly in rural areas, by allowing patients to see qualified doctors even from remote locations. These devices can also diagnose a variety of health parameters in under 16 minutes.
“There are excellent doctors in cities who do not want to practise in rural areas. The most significant advantage of Health ATMs is that they are cloud-connected platforms that enable telemedicine, allowing a good doctor to see patients in rural areas. Meanwhile, paramedics can be trained to use this simple machine for diagnostic tests,” said Premjeet, CEO of Yolohealth, the company supplying the ATMs in Uttar Pradesh.
The machine also keeps track of all registered patients’ records, including lab reports. These are available at any time via a web dashboard, email, or mobile app. While on the video call with the patient, the doctors can also check and access the patient’s vitals and past health records.
The company has already installed 400 Health ATMs across the country, with approximately 100 supplied for the Lucknow smart city. Additional ATMs are being installed in Aligarh, Saharanpur, and Bareily.