JIPMER doctors can now attend court proceedings online

• SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

JIPMER has started a tele-evidence service which enables doctors to attend a court case without leaving the premises.

JIPMER Director Dr. S.C. Parija said this facility had been created as per the guidelines and norms of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

‘Tele-evidence’ means attending court cases by doctors online without physically making an appearance in court, he said. Recently, a JIPMER doctor had attended a court hearing online and given his statement.

This had been made possible by JIPMER’s state-of-art telemedicine equipment and technology, including Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Satellite and fiber optic connectivity provided by National Knowledge Network (NKN), National Informatics Centre (NIC), Ministry of Information Technology, and the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY), Government of India.

Telemedicine

JIPMER’s telemedicine infrastructure includes HD video conferencing system, desktop video conferencing system, interactive smart board, digital X-ray scanner, LCD monitors, IP PTZ Camera, mobile telemedicine van, head-mounted video camera, Wi-Fi routers and spectacle-mounted video camera.

In 2013, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoH&FW), Government of India, declared JIPMER as Regional Resource Centre (RRC) for Telemedicine for more than 160 medical colleges of South Indian States, including Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Puducherry. JIPMER is also running seven telemedicine-driven projects such as Tele-Ophthalmology Project, Tele-Onconet Project, Medical Virtual Class Room (MVCR) Project, National Knowledge Network (NKN) Project, National Medical College Network (NMCN) Project, ISRO Telemedicine Project and Sabarimala Telemedicine Project.

According to Dr. Ravi Kumar Chittoria, Nodal Officer, Telemedicine, and Head of Department of Plastic Surgery JIPMER ‘tele-evidence service’ would facilitate discussion of court cases related to patient and legal issues over real time video conferencing. In the near future, with the help of National Informatics Centre (NIC) Puducherry, JIPMER is going to collaborate with Puducherry judiciary to start tele-evidence service in Puducherry courts, he added.