7/25/2019 Term Paper_new - Copy
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Teleoncology model of care, current and
future state of telemedicine in managing
cancer care.
Abstract: Telemedicine is the use of
telecommunication in order to offerhealthcare mainly aimed at
eliminating the
access and distance barriers and make
healthcare readily accessible to the rural
population. One such branch of the
telemedicine is the tele oncology that deals
with managing cancer in the rural areas
where healthcare accessibility remains a
major concern. This paper brings about how
teleoncology is much more than avoiding to
travel long distances for treatment. It
examines how teleoncology plays a role in
improvising cost effectiveness, reducing
waiting times, improving clinical outcomes.
The paper would also discuss where tele
oncology currently stands in managing
cancer care and its scope for future
improvements.
Introduction: !any centers around the
world have adopted the model ofteleoncology to promote cancer
care todisadvantaged and rural communities. In
regions like northwestern Ontario, only a
handful of oncologists exists, as a result,patients have no
other choice but to travel
long distances to seek expert opinion,
treatment, follow ups. "maller communitieslack the financial
base re#uired for such
service. !any of the rural and remote
communities are $irst %ation reserves, and a
number of these northern aboriginalcommunities have only
seasonal road access
in winter or none at all. &ong winters, bad
weather, travelling cost, accommodationcost are some of the
obstacles faced by the
patients which add to their woes apart from
the cancer disease they are suffering from.Teleoncology could be
a tangible and
probable solution to all these problems. In
general, its main benefits are assumed to be
able to receive the cancer care without thedire need of patients
and their families to
travel miles which is expensive, leads to
despair, and affects not only the patientssuffering but also
their families involved.
'owever, it is strongly argued that avoiding
the expensive travel for the patients is notthe only benefit
that such model brings in
but it also adds to the effectiveness to the
entire rural health system.
The technology: (ata in teleoncology may
occur in two ways) store and forward or
asynchronous that involves the exchange of
pre)recorded data between two or moreparties at different times,
and the other mode
is the synchronous where it is mandatory tohave the involved
individuals to be
simultaneously present for immediate
exchange of information, as in the case ofvideoconferencing. To
promote security,
data may be supplied in Integrated "ervice
(igital %etwork *I"(%+ format or any other
encrypted format. teleoncology serviceintroduced at the Thunder
-ay egional
'ealth "cience /entre *T-'"/+ in 0112as part of the overall
Telehealth program inOntario. The telehealth e#uipment used by
the T-'"/ network was provided by
Tandberg and dcom and specificallydesigned for ease of use by
the %OT'
%etwork *now a component of the Ontario
Telemedicine %etwork+. The actual
connectivity was provided by "mart"ystems for health *an Ontario
!inistry of
'ealth and &ong)Term /are agency+ and
-ell /anada. The carrier class is 3olycom!4/)211 5ideo
/onferencing -ridge. The
%OT' %etwork uses Internet 3rotocol *I3+
videoconferencing to deliver services. "mart"ystems for 'ealth
provides this secure,
private bandwidth to all hospital sites and to
6)%et *the information technology arm of
