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If you go to the Virtual Family Visit at whhi.com, you will find many individuals who have availed of this unique facility and hear their messages to their families. Simple sentences like “I had a walk on the hospital grounds today” is enough to soothe a daughter sitting 3,000 miles away.

Vijay Rathna, Manager, Medical Services, says, “There was one manwho had heart surgery and his daughters were in Abu Dhabi. He said, Please put me on the web and she’ll be happy’. So we did.” The patient speaks into a mike attached to the laptop and this is transmitted’, along with the doctor’s comments on his condition.

How much does this kind of reassurance cost? “Nothing,” smiles Rathna. “This is only a value addition. We don’t put it on the bill either. We only had to pay the initial cost of setting it up, which was $15, 000.”

When the camera is set up and used, it could hold up to 40 mb of information. The files are compressed by Wockhardt’s IT personnel into 5 mb and then uploaded.

“I remember one man who was recovering from a heart operation. His son in the US took 48 hours to reach Bangalore. When he realised that he could have communicated with his father on the Web, he said “I wish I had known this when I was in transit in Germany. All I would have had to do is to browse the Internet at the airport and I could have had a peaceful journey the restof the way,”’ he says.

The site also has updates on patients with a photograph and a short report on his condition, operation and current status. There’s a Disclaimer slot which is basically security against anyone with an inclination to sue, which points out that this is the information at the particular time of uploading. There are also pre-designed cards and spaces where you can write your personal message and send it, with love.

Vishal Bali, General Manager, says, “There was a young boy whose mother needed a bypass. He had no father and he was an only child. When his mother was admitted for a bypass, he was so emotionally disturbed, he kept calling from the US at least ten times in one evening. That’s when this idea occurred to us.”

The Virtual Family Visit is password protected, which means that unless the hospital has proof that you are a relative, you will not be given the password that gives you access to this site. Says Sudhir Shankar, Officer, Medical Services, “We take the e-mail addressand send the relative the password, or alternatively, they can send us a request and when we know that they are relatives, we send the password.” The security measure was installed in mid-May.

Wockhardt’s costs compare favourably with other heart institutes in major Indian cities. “We are 45 per cent less expensive than Chennai, 100 per cent less expensive than Mumbai and about 80 per cent less expensive than Delhi,”says Bali.

So no more, Don’t worry, everything is alright,’ from Mother as Father lies abed. This generation wants the truth which is often more reassuring than a consoling lie. And Wockhardt makes sure they get it, up close and personal.