Koita Centre for Digital Oncology (KCDO)

NCG-KCDO has run a national RFP process to empanel six leading oncology EMRs. Over the past two years, KCDO has worked closely with leading cancer specialists to enhance the oncology capabilities of these EMRs across key areas including medical oncology, radiation oncology, surgical oncology and virtual tumor boards. KCDO has also led the definition and implementation of common clinical performance indications and interoperability standards across these oncology EMRs. The success of KCDO’s distinctive approach has been published in NIH’s Pubmed publication in May 2025.

KCDO has supported the development of the NCG Leading EMR Adopters Program (LEAP) for government and trust-based NCG hospitals. Under the LEAP initiative, NCG funds 40-50% of the complete EMR purchase and implementation costs and provides EMR advisory and consulting support. As India’s first program of its kind, LEAP has seen strong traction - nearly 30 hospitals have signed MoUs with NCG, and several have already gone live. The deployment of the oncology EMRs are significantly enhancing cancer care – access to updated patient records better decision-making and seamless continuity of care across doctors and hospitals.

Recognizing the potential of AI/ML in cancer care, KCDO has established a dedicated Oncology AI advisory committee and identified key areas of focus. KCDO is facilitating NCG’s collaboration with government organisations, leading academic organisations (incl. IIT Bombay/KCDH), large technology companies and health-tech startups to support the development and validation of specific oncology AI use cases. NCG-KCDO has signed an MOU with Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and will actively collaborate with the IndiaAI Mission to drive AI in healthcare.

As part of KCDO’s mission to support adoption of digital health tools in India, KCDO has established an online repository of Digital Health solutions to help hospitals discover proven solutions that can support their digital transformation goals. This searchable database connects institutions with partners offering tools tailored to cancer care. Please click here to view the Digital Health Solution Library.

This initiative brings specialist cancer care closer to patients through remote consultations, structured second opinions, and follow-up care. Pilots will be launched in collaboration with InteleHealth and 10BedICU that will reduce the need for patient travel while ensuring timely access to expert clinical guidance. By leveraging teleconsultation, the program aims to bridge geographic and infrastructure gaps in oncology care delivery.

To bring clarity, consistency and clinical utility to diagnostic reports, KCDO has developed structured pathology and radiology reporting templates. These have been endorsed by the Indian Radiological and Imaging Association (IRIA) and the Indian College of Radiology and Imaging (ICRI). They will be implemented across NCG hospitals to support more informed and standardized clinical decision-making. The templates were developed by a cross-functional team of experts and are modelled on successful implementations across Tata Memorial Centres.

In addition to its five-year funding commitment, Koita Foundation actively supports the National Cancer Grid (NCG) in mobilizing additional funding for large-scale initiatives led by NCG-KCDO. As part of this effort, Axis Bank has committed INR 100 crores to NCG over 2024-2029 as part of Axis Bank’s CSR focus in healthcare (Axis Bank press release). This funding has provided significant boost to NCG and KCDO efforts and has enabled KCDO to embark on several bold initiative in Digital Health.