Apollo Hospitals has launched Apollo Bangalore Advanced Pulmonary Services (ABAPS).

Apollo Hospitals Karnataka Region has launched a new program – “Apollo Bangalore Advanced Pulmonary Services (ABAPS)”. The background for this is the COVID-19 pandemic, which catapulted the importance of comprehensive respiratory care worldwide. A well-known fact before the pandemic was also that respiratory disease was exponentially on the rise in the country and the world. As the population ages and technology improves, more and more Respiratory (primary or linked diseases) are being diagnosed. There is an interest in complete workup, definitive diagnosis, state of the art therapy, and complex solutions including lung and heart transplant. This is supported by the knowledge spurt, the internet, the desire for better care, matching Western standards, and supported by economic growth and affordability in the population.

Rising to the occasion after playing a leading role in COVID care, we proposed that unified care under one umbrella providing all aspects of Respiratory care is the need of the day. All Apollo Respiratory units have come under one umbrella, ABAPS. The program aims to elevate the standard of care with an empathetic and comprehensive 360-degree approach in one platform, with all three Apollo Hospitals in Bangalore and Mysore. Currently, few centres exist with comprehensive Respiratory medicine services . It is predominantly an add-on service/completion service in multi-specialty hospitals.

The Pulmonary services under ABAPS cover the entire spectrum of Respiratory Care and Chest Medicine, ranging from lung disease prevention and detection to pharmacologic and interventional treatment, outpatient medicine, inpatient medicine, respiratory ICU, and high‑end therapies such as ECMO and transplant (both of which became common knowledge in COVID times). The team has specialized in Pulmonary medicine expertise with the most sophisticated techniques and technologies available to diagnose and treat all patients with chest and respiratory problems.

ABAPS works at both basic and advanced subspecialty disease models with focused care on a particular condition, with a panel of experts delivering integrated services at a higher level. This includes but is not limited to airway disorders such as Asthma, Chronic Bronchitis, COPD, Bronchiectasis, Interstitial Lung disease and Lung Cancer. We are already leaders in Interventional Pulmonology and have started focused specialty clinics on interstitial lung disease and pulmonary hypertension, which can take care of patients’ needs end to end.

COVID has highlighted the importance of respiratory diseases, which are on the rise in the last decade also because of the pandemic of pollution and an aging population. In such a situation, it is time to look at respiratory diseases from a different lens and from a broader perspective. As collaboration, shared knowledge, and combined expertise is vital , this is the background that motivated us to form Apollo Bangalore Advanced Pulmonary Services. (ABAPS).

We have pooled in health workers from all across the country with exemplary backgrounds working together for this particular cause. For any patient who visits Apollo Hospitals Karnataka Region, we have the ability to access multiple hospital systems, and help patients to get the required treatment. This is a paradigm shift and has shifted the onus to the system taking ownership and providing guidance across the board, unlike the past where the patient is trying to figure out who to approach.” explained Dr. Ravindra Mehta, Senior Consultant, Pulmonology, Interventional Pulmonology and Critical Care Medicine and Head of this new ABAPS Venture.

“Nothing is complete without education and mentoring. We will also conduct training sessions to get the next generation of doctors to come up, who will ensure that this excellence goes above and beyond to a level never seen before.” he further added. The aim is producing not only practitioners but also leaders in the field, and do high quality research.