Hematologist
CION Cancer Clinics
Shared care: routine blood care near home, the plan in Hyderabad | CION Cancer Clinics
Shared care means your specialist haematology team in Hyderabad sets and reviews your treatment plan, while a hospital near home does the routine work, such as blood counts and transfusions. You travel for the big decisions, not for every test. It suits stable phases of treatment, not intensive ones. This page explains who it suits, how to set it up and how to keep it safe. At CION Cancer Clinics, our haematology team supports patients and families through treatment, cost questions and life at home.
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Medically reviewed by Dr. Basudev PokhrelConsultant Haematologist · last reviewed September 2026, next review due September 2027
17+specialists on panel
15,000+patients treated
35+centres across Telangana & AP
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On this page
- What is shared care in haematology?
- Who does shared care suit, and who should not try it?
- How do you set up shared care?
- Who does what in shared care?
- What worries families about shared care, and what is true?
- What should your shared care folder hold?
- How do you keep shared care safe over months?
- Common questions about shared care
The short answer
What is shared care in haematology?
Shared care means your specialist haematology team in the city sets and reviews your treatment plan, while a hospital near your home does the routine work, such as blood counts and transfusions. You travel for the big decisions, not for every blood test.
Why families ask for it
Many blood conditions need frequent counts or regular transfusions over a long time. For a family in a district town, each trip to Hyderabad can cost a day of wages, fares and food. Shared care cuts those trips without taking the specialist out of your care.
What it is not
It is not a transfer of your care to the local hospital. The treating haematologist still owns the plan. The local team follows it, reports back and acts quickly in an emergency. Any change of treatment is decided by the specialist team, not by the local doctor alone.
How it usually begins
Most shared care starts after the first intensive stretch is over and your counts have settled into a pattern. The specialist sees how you respond for a while in the city first. Once the routine is predictable, the routine parts can move nearer home, step by step, with the team watching how it goes.
What this page cannot tell you
It cannot tell you whether shared care is safe for you. That depends on your diagnosis, the phase of treatment and what your local hospital can do. Only your haematologist can make that call, after looking at your counts and your plan.
Is it for you
Who does shared care suit, and who should not try it?
These are general patterns. Your haematologist will look at your own situation.
Often suits
People whose condition is stable and whose treatment follows a predictable routine.
- Regular transfusions in a stable condition
- Long-term tablets with periodic count checks
- Follow-up after treatment has finished
Usually not suited
Phases where things can change quickly and need specialist care close at hand.
- Intensive chemotherapy for acute leukaemia
- The weeks straight after a transplant
- While a new diagnosis is still being confirmed
Depends on the local hospital
Shared care only works if the local hospital has a reliable lab, a licensed blood centre and a doctor who will stay in touch with the city team.
A willing local doctor matters as much as the equipment.Getting started
How do you set up shared care?
Ask your haematologist
Raise it at a review, not in a hurry at discharge. Ask whether your condition and current treatment make shared care safe, and what would make them bring you back to the city.
Name the local hospital and doctor
Give the name of the hospital, its blood centre and a doctor willing to be the local contact. The city team may want to speak to them directly before agreeing.
Get a written shared care letter
It should say what the local team does, which counts to check, when to transfuse or refer, and how to reach the specialist team. Give a copy to the local doctor and keep one in your folder.
Agree how results travel back
Decide who sends reports, how, and how soon. A clear route stops results sitting in a bag until the next city visit. Ask who at the city team reads them, and what happens if a result is worrying.
Leave a number, we will call you
One field. No form to fill in, and no charge for the call.
Side by side
Who does what in shared care?
Specialist team in Hyderabad
Local hospital near home
Confirms the diagnosis and writes the plan
Follows the written plan
Decides any change of medicine or treatment
Checks counts and reports results back
Reviews you at planned intervals
Gives routine transfusions as agreed
Advises by phone when a problem arises
Handles emergencies first, then calls the team
Commonly believed
What worries families about shared care, and what is true?
"If we get blood locally, the city doctor will lose interest in us."
Shared care is a plan the specialist agrees to and keeps reviewing. You stay under their care. Keep sending results and attend the planned reviews, and the team stays fully involved.
"A district hospital cannot handle a blood cancer patient."
For routine tasks like counts and transfusions in a stable patient, many district hospitals can, with clear written instructions. What they may not offer is specialist tests or intensive treatment. That is exactly what the city visits are for.
"The local doctor can adjust the medicines to save us a trip."
Changes to haematology medicines should come from the treating specialist. The local doctor can call the team, share results and get advice the same day. Never start, stop or change a medicine on your own.
"Shared care is only for poor families."
It is for anyone living far from their specialist whose condition allows it. It saves time, travel and tiredness for the patient, which matters whatever the family's income.
Keep it together
What should your shared care folder hold?
- The shared care letter from your haematologist
- Latest discharge summary and treatment plan
- All blood count reports, in date order
- Your blood group and any transfusion reaction record
- A current list of medicines, with no changes pencilled in
- Phone numbers for both teams and the helpline
Making it work
How do you keep shared care safe over months?
Shared care works when information moves fast between the two teams. Most problems come from a report that never reached the specialist, or a local doctor who did not know the plan had changed.
Use the same lab each time
Reference ranges, the normal limits printed on a report, differ between laboratories. A single result is read alongside how you feel and earlier tests. Sticking with one lab makes the trend easier for your haematologist to read.
Know when to go straight to hospital
Fever, shivering, bleeding that will not stop, black stools, sudden breathlessness or confusion need the nearest emergency department the same day, or a call to 108. Do not wait for a planned review. Tell the doctors you are under a haematologist, then inform both teams.
Plan transfusions before the count falls
If you need blood regularly, book the local transfusion ahead rather than waiting until you feel exhausted. Tell the blood centre your blood group and any past reactions. If blood may be short, let both teams know early so they can plan another route.
Update both teams after every change
When the specialist changes the plan, carry the new letter to the local hospital. When you are admitted locally, send the discharge summary to the city team. Your family can be the bridge.
Questions we are asked
Common questions about shared care
Does shared care cost less?
Usually the savings come from fewer trips, less lost work and lower stay costs, rather than cheaper treatment. Local hospital charges may be lower or higher than in the city. Ask both hospitals about charges, and whether your scheme or insurance is accepted at the local one.
Can Aarogyasri be used at the local hospital?
Only if that hospital is empanelled for the care you need. Government hospitals and some private ones in districts are listed. Check with the local Aarogyamithra desk before your first visit there, and carry your card every time. Scheme rules change, so check the current position.
How often will we still come to Hyderabad?
That depends on your condition and treatment. Your haematologist will set the review schedule and may shorten the gap if counts change. Some reviews can happen by phone or video. Ask for the plan in writing so the local team knows it too.
What if the local doctor and the city doctor disagree?
Ask them to speak to each other directly, rather than passing messages through the family. For decisions about the blood condition itself, the treating haematologist leads. In an emergency, the doctor in front of you acts first to keep you safe.
Can shared care stop once started?
Yes. If counts change, a new problem appears or treatment needs to intensify, your haematologist may ask you to return to the city for a while. That is part of the plan working, not a failure. Shared care can often resume later.
Is shared care possible for children?
Sometimes, for stable phases, with a paediatrician locally who agrees to stay in touch. Children's blood conditions often need a specialist children's team, so ask the treating team what is safe and which local hospital could take on the routine work.
What if the local blood centre has no blood?
Tell your haematology team early, not on the day your count is already low. They may suggest another blood centre, ask family donors to give ahead, or bring the transfusion forward. Keep a list of nearby licensed blood centres in your folder.
Can CION arrange shared care?
CION has centres across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Call the helpline with your reports. The haematology team, including Dr. Basudev Pokhrel, can review whether shared care is safe for you and how routine checks could happen closer to home.
What moves the figure
What affects the cost
Four things change the total more than anything else.
The technique used
A shaped or image-guided delivery costs more than a conventional one, and is chosen on clinical grounds rather than preference.
How many sessions
The total is driven by the number of sittings or cycles, not by a single per-visit figure.
Supporting tests
Scans, blood work and pathology done alongside treatment are billed separately.
Your cover
Aarogyasri, CGHS, ECHS, EHS or cashless insurance usually change the out-of-pocket figure substantially.
Paying for it
Insurance, schemes and payment
What you actually pay usually differs a great deal from the sticker figure.
AarogyasriEmpanelled. Bring the card and a referral where you have one.
CGHS / ECHS / EHSAccepted at CION centres for eligible treatment.
Cashless insuranceMost major insurers are empanelled. Pre-authorisation is handled by our desk.
Self-payItemised estimate given before treatment starts. No EMI scheme exists.
Accreditation and empanelment
- NABH
- NABL
- ISO 9001:2015
- ArogyaSri empanelled
- CGHS accepted
- ECHS accepted
- EHS accepted
- Major cashless insurers
Your Haematologist
Meet CION's haematologist. One specialist for your blood report and your plan.
Dr. Basudev Pokhrel reviews blood counts, transfusion needs and blood disorders, and works with the CION tumour board on blood cancers.
Want a specific doctor for your case? Mention them when booking.
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Where to find us
Our centres in and around Hyderabad
Addressed by landmark, because that is how this city navigates. A haematology consultation can be booked at any of these centres through one helpline, and your team will tell you where each test or treatment takes place.
Warangal
Vizag
Sources
- NHS — Blood transfusion
- Macmillan Cancer Support — Cancer information and support
- Blood Cancer UK — Blood cancer information and support
- Leukaemia & Lymphoma Society — Blood cancer information and support
This page is general information, not a prescription. Do not change or stop any treatment based on what you read here. If anything is worrying you, contact your own treating team — or call our helpline and we will help you reach the right specialist.
Keep reading
Related pages
Cost of Transfusion Support Over a YearWhat regular transfusions cost and how to planTravelling to Hyderabad for Haematology CareWhich visits still need the cityGovernment Support for Blood Cancer in TelanganaUsing your scheme at a local hospitalBlood counts during chemotherapyWhat the counts on your report mean
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