Samsung, Karnataka Govt. sign MoU to bolster public healthcare facilities

New Delhi : Samsung India announced its partnership with the Government of Karnataka after it signed an MoU to help the state efficiently manage its public healthcare facilities.

As part of the agreement, Samsung Research and Development Institute, Bangalore (SRI-B) handed over 1,000 Samsung Tab IRIS to the Department of Health, Government of Karnataka. Samsung Tab IRIS, the first commercial tablet to be approved by UIDAI for Aadhaar and KYC verification, would enable Public Health Centers (PHC) in the state to build their database in a digital format.

This association is aimed towards providing advanced technological support in the management of medical subsidies and operations at PHCs in the state more efficiently.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Samsung R&D Institute, Bangalore and Health and Family Welfare Department, Government of Karnataka.

"Samsung is extremely proud to partner with the state government for this digital transformation in the public healthcare space and is confident that the advanced technology of Samsung Tab IRIS will give a digital boost to the whole healthcare system. This will enable Public Health Centers to maintain and share medical databases on a real time basis. Samsung has been in India for 21 years and has always contributed towards making lives of its customers easy with the help of its innovative, meaningful technologies," said Chief Technology Officer Samsung R&D Institute, Bangalore, Dr. Aloknath De.

Samsung Tab IRIS is SIM enabled and has the capability to scan the Iris of an individual, which can then be linked to Aadhaar. This would help PHCs to generate various value added reports to facilitate decision making by the Health Department. This integration of technology with the help of Samsung Tab IRIS, aims to centrally consolidate information related to PHC administration such as patient treatment, diagnosis, deliveries and drug availability from various locations along with GPS information.

"We are confident that Samsung's world class technology will help us manage our public healthcare facilities more efficiently. Digitizing the database is very important for our public health centers as it will lead to better planning and decision making at a state as well as central level," said Minister of Health and Family Welfare Department Government of Karnataka, Ramesh Kumar.

"We aim to connect with each and every resident of Karnataka at their door steps by upgrading the skills of our field staff and equip them with high tech Tabs. We are grateful to Samsung for associating their program with Karnataka. In the days to come we will have Virtual Clinics with specialists on board connected to patients through these Tabs. The health records of patients would be analyzed online to take effective steps towards prevention of diseases. Audio visual awareness will also be enhanced through the use of these Tabs," said Principal Secretary Health and Family Welfare Department, Government of Karnataka, Dr. Shalini Rajneesh.

The digital database of these Public Health Centers would have the capability to provide information regarding implementation of various welfare schemes such as post-natal care kit for BPL/SC/ST women, JanSuraksha Yojana, and others at the PHC level. This would provide information support to the Government to proactively intervene for improved health of citizens and target its welfare schemes more efficiently.