Dr Lal PathLabs has announced the use of drones for transporting blood samples and advanced diagnostics to underserved and inaccessible geographies.
In order to better understand and eliminate challenges like traffic congestion and poor accessibility to locations, pilot projects are being launched across multiple remote, semi-urban and rural locations to experiment with multiple-use cases.
This is part of expansion of Dr Lal PathLab’s services towards providing access to timely and accurate diagnostics reports to the patients and doctors. Dr Lal PathLab has a wide network of national reference laboratories, clinical laboratories, patient service centers and sample pick-up points.
According to company officials, “Time is critical in providing accurate reports to the treating physicians and helping them start the optimal treatment.”
“Dr Lal PathLabs has been integrating new technologies into its existing logistics systems to further expedite sample collections as part of its commitment to provide timely services,” said Amit Aggarwal, Head Logistics & Home Collection while talking about the use of drones for transporting biological samples.
He further added that the use of drones could significantly speed-up regular and emergency medical care in rural areas and help save lives.
“We are initiating pilot projects in different parts of the country. If these first trial runs are successful, we are hopeful to expand drone sample collection services at scale across India soon,” he informed.
Dr Lal PathLabs has a vast network that comprises a National Reference Laboratory in New Delhi, a Reference Laboratory in Kolkata and 229 other clinical laboratories backed by a nearly 4,000 strong manpower.
The diagnostic chain offers a range of Pathology, Radiology and Cardiology and a specialized menu of tests like high-end Molecular Diagnostics, Cytogenomics, Transplant Immunology, Transmission Electron Microscopy among others.
Drone delivery logistics provider Skye Air Mobility has also signed an agreement with diagnostic chain SRL Diagnostics to augment supply chain for collecting and transporting pathology samples to labs in Gurugram and Mumbai. This partnership is aimed at leveraging drone delivery technology to create a faster supply chain for collecting and transporting samples
