telemedicine our vision to future
TRANSCRIPT
TELEMEDICINEour vision to future
Dr.T.V.Rao MD
Program Dedicated to
Prime Minister of India The Nation is Thankful to our Beloved Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modiji for his vision as One can't make available thousands of medical specialists or school teachers to the remotest corners of the country, but one can make their services available through broadband at multi-service centres in every village. That, in
essence, is the vision of Digital India initiative that the Cabinet cleared for benefit of India
Dr.T.V.Rao MD Professor of Microbiology Travancore Medical
College Kollam Kerala India
Email [email protected] .
Definition of Telemedicine
Telemedicine is the use of
telecommunication and information
technologies in order to provide clinical
health care at a distance. It helps
eliminate distance barriers and can
improve access to medical services that
would often not be consistently available
in distant rural communities.
What is Telemedicine?
Telemedicine is the use of medical information exchanged from one site to another via electronic communications to improve a patient’s clinical health status. Telemedicine includes a growing variety of applications and services using two-way video, email, smart phones, wireless tools and other forms of telecommunications technology.
Telemedicine as Defined by
WHOAccording to World Health Organisation, telemedicine is defined as, “The delivery of healthcare services, where distance is a critical factor, by all healthcare professionals using information and communication technologies for the exchange of valid information for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease and injuries, research and evaluation, and for continuing education of healthcare providers, all in the interests of advancing the health of individuals and their communities”.
Raising of ICT Empowers
Telemedicine
Advances in ICT have
heightened public awareness
and health sophistication (with
greater public awareness of
behavioural risk factors, ready
access to sources of health
information, and an active and
extensive lay referral system),
thereby increasing demand for
medical care.
Telemedicine connects any
Remote area
Four Decades ago with demonstrations of hospitals extending care to patients in remote areas, the use of telemedicine has spread rapidly and is now becoming integrated into the ongoing operations of hospitals, specialty departments, home health agencies, private physician offices as well as consumer’s homes and workplaces.
Telemedicine is Investment in
Information Technology
Telemedicine is
often part of a larger
investment by health
care institutions in
either information
technology or the
delivery of clinical
care
Telemedicine becomes Health
Information Technology
Telehealth is sometimes
used to refer to a broader
definition of remote
healthcare that does not
always involve clinical
services, Telemedicine is
closely allied with the term
health information
technology (HIT).
What Services Can Be
Provided By Telemedicine?
Primary care and Specialist
referral Services
Primary care and specialist referral services may involve a primary care or allied health professional providing a consultation with a patient or a specialist assisting the primary care physician in rendering a diagnosis. This may involve the use of live interactive video or the use of store and forward transmission of diagnostic images, vital signs and/or video
clips along with patient data for later review.
Remote Patient Monitoring,
Remote patient monitoring, including home Telehealth, uses devices to remotely collect and send data to a home health agency or a remote diagnostic testing facility (RDTF) for interpretation. Such applications might include a specific vital sign, such as blood glucose or Heart ECG or a variety of indicators for homebound patients. Such services can be used to supplement the use of visiting nurses.
Consumer Medical and Health
Information
Consumer medical and
health information includes
the use of the Internet and
wireless devices for
consumers to obtain
specialized health
information and on-line
discussion groups to
provide peer-to-peer
support.
Telemedince Empowers Chronic
Patents who are less Mobile
The telemedicine intervention
in chronic disease
management promises to
involve patients in their own
care, provides continuous
monitoring by their healthcare
providers, identifies early
symptoms, and responds
promptly to exacerbations in
their illnesses.
Telemedicine Empowers
Medical Education
Medical education
provides continuing
medical education
credits for health
professionals and
special medical
education seminars for
targeted groups in
remote locations.
What Delivery Mechanisms
Can Be Used?
Networked ProgramsNetworked programs
link tertiary care
hospitals and clinics
with outlying clinics
and community health
centres in rural or
suburban areas. The
links may use
dedicated high-speed
lines or the Internet for
telecommunication
links between sites
Point-to-point connection
Point-to-point connections using private high speed networks are used by hospitals and clinics that deliver services directly or outsource specialty services to independent medical service providers. Such outsourced services include radiology, stroke assessment, mental health and intensive care services.
Monitoring Centre links
Telemedicine Monitoring centre links are
used for cardiac, pulmonary or
fetal monitoring, home care
and related services that
provide care to patients in the
home. Often normal land-line
or wireless connections are
used to communicate directly
between the patient and the
center although some
systems use the Internet.
Web-based e-health patient
service sites
Web-based e-health
patient service sites
provide direct consumer
outreach and services
over the Internet. Under
telemedicine, these
include those sites that
provide direct patient
care.
What Are the Benefits
of Telemedicine?
Telemedicine has been growing rapidly
because it offers four fundamental
Benefits:
Improved Access
Cost Efficiencies
Improved Quality
Patient Demand
Improved Access
Improved Access – For over
40 years, telemedicine has
been used to bring
healthcare services to
patients in distant locations.
Not only does telemedicine
improve access to patients
but it also allows physicians
and health facilities to
expand their reach, beyond
their own offices.
Cost Efficiencies
Cost Efficiencies –Reducing or containing the cost of healthcare is one of the most important reasons for funding and adopting telehealth technologies. Telemedicine has been shown to reduce the cost of healthcare and increase efficiency through better management of chronic diseases, shared health professional staffing, reduced travel times, and fewer or shorter hospital stays.
Improved Quality in
Telemedicine Improved Quality – Studies have consistently shown that the quality of healthcare services delivered via telemedicine are as good those given in traditional in-person consulations. In some specialties, particularly in mental health and ICU care, telemedicine delivers a superior product, with greater outcomes and patient satisfaction.
Patient’s Too Demand
Service
Patient Demand – Consumers
want telemedicine. The
greatest impact of
telemedicine is on the patient,
their family and their
community. Using
telemedicine technologies
reduces travel time and
related stresses for the patient
Raise of Telemedicine
Rising use of telemedicine
takes different forms.
Traditionally telemedicine has
played the biggest role in rural
areas where visits to doctors
are difficult and in
consultations with specialists
like radiologists and
oncologists where value is
created by connecting a
patient to the best expert.
Google Joins Telemedicine
Revolution
Google's recent
announcement that it
will provide
telemedicine services
was the crescendo to a
swelling volume of
recent interest:
However it has been
popular around for a
generation.
Tele-Education
Tele-education: Tele-
Education should be
understood as the
development of the process of
distance education (regulated
or unregulated), based on the
use of information and
telecommunication
technologies, that make
interactive, flexible and
accessible learning possible
for any potential recipient.
Telemedicine Disaster
Management:Disaster Management: Telemedicine can play an important role to provide healthcare facilities to the victims of natural disasters such as earthquake, tsunami, tornado, etcand man-made disaster such as war, riots, etc. During disaster, most of the terrestrial communication links either do not work properly or get damaged so a mobile and portable telemedicine system with satellite connectivity and customized telemedicine software is ideal for disaster relief.
Tele-home health care:
Tele-home health care: Telemedicine technology can be applied to provide home health care for elderly or underserved, homebound patients with chronic illness. It allows home healthcare professionals to monitor patients from a central station rather than traveling to remote areas chronically ill or recuperating patients for routine check-ups. Remote patient monitoring is less expensive, more time savings, and efficient methodology. Tele-home care virtual visits might lead to improved home health care quality at reduced costs, greater patient satisfaction with care, increased access to health care providers and fewer patients needing transfer to higher, more costly levels of care. A Computer Telephone Integrated (CTI) system can monitor vital functions of patients twenty four hours a day and give immediate warnings.
Telemedicine empowers
Relationship Medicine Telemedicine enables relationship-based medicine: doctors can maintain the conversation with the patient in a manner that is far more efficient and effective than 100% reliance on traditional encounters; they can serve more patients well. Patients can get attention faster and more conveniently when they need it. This is the most powerful reason that telemedicine is likely to boom.
Telemedicine empowered by
Broadband Services
This is expanding because
broadband network
coverage is improving,
patients and doctors are
more comfortable with
computers, pressure for cost
savings is increasing, and
an emerging policy
consensus favours
telemedicine. This all makes
sense.
The framework for Information Technology
Infrastructure for Health (ITIH)
India
Recognizing the need for a standard system across the country that meets the needs of the diverse groups that record, use, transfer and disseminate health information, legal policies that govern the healthcare structure, and education system to help reinforce the strengths and values of the changing face of Indian healthcare system, and to be able to offer value to the most important stakeholder – the patient. As part of this endeavor, the Department of Technology (DIT), Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), has undertaken the initiative to prepare the ground for the Information Technology Infrastructure for Healthcare (ITIH) in India.
ISRO’s Telemedicine
Network
Telemedicine Projects
Mobile
Legal & Ethical: Issues
Telemedicine Telemedicine technology has been proved and established and its advantages and benefits are well known but still many healthcare professionals are reluctant to engage in such practices due to unresolved legal and ethical concerns. In case of a cross-border tele-consultation which country’s litigation laws will be applied in case– those of the country in which the patient is living or those of the remote physician?
HAVE VISION TO FUTURE IN
TELEMEDICINE WORLD IS CHANGING
Just make use of your Smartphone it is
Smart tool for Medical Resources
References
American Telemedicine Association
Indian Telemedince Network
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