Adyar has a fair share of diagnostic centres. The mix includes popular multi-specialty hospitals that have their own diagnostic wings pertaining to the areas they specialize in and there are also hospitals that have outsourced their diagnostic unit to established centres. Lister Metropolis, Lifeline, Priya Diagnostic Centre, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories are some of the well-known chain of diagnostic centres functioning from Adyar.

Malar Hospitals, an associate of Fortis Healthcare Ltd is a renowned multi-specialty unit located on Gandhi Nagar, one of the easily-accessible channels on the connecting highway leading to Adyar. The hospital's distinguished presence is further highlighted by its five super specialty centres namely the Escorts Heart Institute, Malar Institute for Renal Sciences (MIRS), Malar Specialty Centre for Joints (MSCJ), Malar Health care for OBG and Gynecology and Malar Health Care Centre for Diabetes.

"Malar's diagnostic unit has been outsourced to the Lister Metropolis Ltd, one of the high-quality diagnostic establishments in the city. Both Lister and Malar work on a sharing basis. The ensemble includes our cath lab, the radiology unit and the testing divisions," says Dr. Suresh Kumar, Senior consultant and interventional cardiologist, Malar Hospitals Ltd.

Says Dr.Anita, Chief of Laboratory Services, Lister Metropolis Ltd," We take care of the laboratory and run the tests required by the consultants in the hospital. All procedures, equipments, technologies are the same as in our central laboratory. We take part in all activities of the hospital as part of their team. We provide the entire range of tests so that the same comfort level exists for both patients and consultants. We maintain a good turn around time as required since the hospital has all critical care units also."

Today, ```the public's knowledge in terms of ailments and treatments is amazing. Internet and all other forms of mainstream media contribute to the accumulation of the said knowledge. As a consequence, the public prefer to seek the services of well-established centres and hospitals. However, with the mushrooming of many independent scan and x-ray centres and labs across the city, a lot of unethical and malpractices too happen. In such a context, what goes into building the public's credibility?

As Dr. Rajkumar, Director, Lifeline Clinic says, "Cost is one of the prime deciding factors. However, a diagnostic centre's repute depends upon the quality of the reports. Ours is CMC Vellore certified. Also, Adyar being a place that has a fair share of aged people with their off-springs living abroad, being accessible and available is another important aspect that brings us closer to the patients.

We remain in touch with the Gen-Next through e-mail and keep updating them constantly regarding emergencies and prevalent conditions of their elders."

"In today's fast-paced world, we cannot also afford to miss and take time off due to illness and want to recover fast hence the pressure on the consultants. The Metropolis chain of laboratories has the additional advantage of covering all tests so that a patient can give his sample with one needle prick and need not search for other centres if the tests are not being performed there," opines Dr.Anita.

"Malar's cath lab is efficient. For example, we follow a hi-tech procedure for angiograms. The patient can walk in the morning, get his angio done in about two hours and go back home," says Dr. Suresh Kumar.

"In diabetic screening, we segregate the pre-diabetic, chronic, juvenile and those who need constant monitoring. Once they sign up for a preliminary check-up, we maintain their profile and prompt them for follow-ups," remarks Dr.Akila Ravikumar, medical Administrator, Lifeline Clinic.

"Nothing is comparable to clinical diagnosis. In the olden days, a simple stethoscope was enough to pinpoint the disease and the diagnostic procedure. Now since we have the advanced technology and equipments to offer us aide, a doctor's responsibility is to strike a proper balance between the two," says Dr. Suresh Kumar.