Over 200,000 people have been screened using the AI-driven API on Microsoft Azure across Apollo Hospitals
Hyderabad, August 1, 2019: As part of Microsoft’s AI Network for Healthcare initiative, Microsoft India and Apollo Hospitals Group have set up a National Clinical Coordination Committee (NCCC) for the AI-powered Cardiovascular Disease Risk Score API (application program interface). The committee consists of leading doctors from Apollo Hospitals; All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi; and King George’s Medical University, Lucknow.
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the biggest cause of mortality in India with nearly 25 percent of mortalities – amongst the age group of 25 to 69 years. The condition also seems to affect Indians at least a decade earlier as compared to Europeans. Given the high prevalence of CVDs affecting Indians, Apollo Hospitals and Microsoft India, in 2018, launched the first ever AI-powered CVD Risk Score API, designed specifically to predict the risk of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) in the Indian population.
Till date, over 200,000 people have already been screened using the AI-powered API across Apollo Hospitals and in many cases, physicians have been able to predict the risk score of patients 5 to 7 years in advance. Built on Microsoft Azure, the API aims to determine a more accurate CVD risk score for the Indian population taking into consideration risk factors including lifestyle attributes like diet, tobacco & smoking preferences, physical activity and psychological stress & anxiety.
Speaking about the National Clinical Coordination Committee, Ms. Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group, said, “We have brought some of the best cardiologists from renowned hospitals like AIIMS and KGMU together to be a part of this committee. The NCCC will help us immensely in our fight against the rising tsunami of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). We are also extending the scope of our partnership with Microsoft to meet the growing healthcare demands of people across the country and contribute more towards saving precious lives.”
The NCCC will be assisting the core team at Apollo Hospitals and Microsoft by providing guidance on all cardiology- and cardiovascular-related AI projects; clinical insights on developing clinical algorithm and treatment guidelines based on the inferences of national, multi centre prospective study.
“The NCCC is a great step forward as part of our partnership with Apollo. We are also engaging global consortium partners to scale the AI-powered API. We have already received approval for a pilot study and we hope that the findings will enable physicians to better understand the causes of CVDs in Indian population,” said Anil Bhansali, Corporate Vice President, Cloud & Enterprise, Microsoft.
Apollo Hospitals and Microsoft India are already in discussions with renowned health systems across the world to scale the API and contribute towards World Health Organization’s goal of reducing the risk of premature mortality (30 to 69 years of age) from NCDs, including CVDs, by 25 percent by 2025.[1]
About Apollo Hospitals
It was in 1983, that Dr. Prathap C Reddy made a pioneering endeavour by launching India’s first corporate hospital – Apollo Hospitals in Chennai.
Now, as Asia’s foremost trusted integrated healthcare group, its presence includes over 12,000 beds across 71 Hospitals, 3300 Pharmacies, over 90 Primary Care clinics and 150 Diagnostic centers, 110 plus Telemedicine Centres, over 15 medical education centres and a Research Foundation with a focus on global Clinical Trials, epidemiological studies, stem cell & genetic research, Apollo Hospitals has been at the forefront of new medical advancements with the most recent investment being the commissioning of South East Asia’s very first Proton Therapy Centre in Chennai.
Every four days, the Apollo Hospitals Group touches a million lives, in its mission to bring healthcare of international standards within the reach of every individual. In a rare honour, the Government of India had issued a commemorative stamp in recognition of Apollo’s contribution, the first for a healthcare organization. Apollo Hospitals Chairman, Dr. Prathap C Reddy, was conferred with the prestigious Padma Vibhushan in 2010.
For 35 years, the Apollo Hospitals Group has continuously excelled and maintained leadership in medical innovation, world-class clinical services and cutting-edge technology. Its hospitals are consistently ranked amongst the best hospitals in the country for advanced medical services.
For further details, log onto: www.apollohospitals.com
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About Microsoft India
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Microsoft set up its India operations in 1990. Today, Microsoft entities in India have over 9,000 employees, engaged in sales and marketing, research, development and customer services and support, across 11 Indian cities – Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, New Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. Microsoft offers its global cloud services from local data centers to accelerate digital transformation across Indian start-ups, businesses, and government organizations. In 2016, Microsoft opened one of its eight Cybersecurity Engagement Centers in the country, to address security needs of both public and private sectors.
