SONALHosp. Mgt. 2nd Yr

TELEMEDICINE Telemedicine is an

application of clinical medicine where medical information is transferred through the phone or the Internet and sometimes other networks for the purpose of consulting and sometimes remote medical procedures or examinations

TYPES OF TELEMEDICINE

• STORE AND FORWARD• REMOTE MONITORING • INTERACTIVE SERVICES

STORE AND FORWARD• Store-and-forward telemedicine involves

acquiring medical data like medical images, biosignals etc and then transmitting this data to a doctor or medical specialist at a convenient time offline.

• It does not require the presence of both parties at the same time.

REMOTE MONITORING

Remote monitoring, also known as self-monitoring/testing,enables medical professionals to monitor a patient remotely using various technological devices.

In remote monitoring, sensors are used to capture and transmit biometric data.

For example robotic surgery which have monitor to tell doctor about surgery and can control it

INTERACTIVE SERVICES• Interactive telemedicine services

provide real-time interactions between patient and provider, to include phone conversation,online communication and home visits.

•  Many activities such as history review, physical examination, psychiatric evaluations can be conducted comparably to those done in traditional face-to-face visits.

OBJECTIVES

• To provide specialized health care consultation to patients in remote locations.

• To facilitate video-conferencing among health care experts for better treatment & care.

• To provide opportunities for continuing education of health care personnel.

TELEMEDICINE MODEL

SEQUENCE OF TELECONSULTATION(I) PATIENT IN

Patient visits OPD, local doctor

checks up

Patients receives treatment and is not

referred to telemedicine system

OUT

Patient referred to the telemedicine system

Patient visits Telemedicine data-entry console. Operator enters patient record, data and images of test results,

appointment date is fixed for online telemedicine session OUT

Offline data transfer from nodal centre

BENEFITS OF TELEMEDICINEBENEFITS TO PATIENTS  Access to specialized health

care services to under-served rural, semi-urban and remote areas

Access to expertise of Medical Specialists to a larger population without physical referral

Reduced visits to specialty hospitals for long term follow-up care for the aged and terminally ill patients.

BENEFITS TO PHYSICIANSImproved diagnosis and better

treatment management Access to computerized,

comprehensive data (text, voice, images etc.) of patients – offline as well as real time

Quick and timely follow-up of patients discharged after palliative care

Continuing education or training through video conferencing periodically.

BENEFITS TO HOSPITAL Significant reduction in

unnecessary visits & hospitalization for specialized care at tertiary hospitals.

Earlier discharge of patients leading to shorter length of stay in hospitals.

Increase in the scope of services without creating physical infrastructure in remote hospitals.

DRAWBACKS OF TELEMEDICINE• It includes the cost of telecommunication and

data management equipment and of technical training for medical personnel who will employ it.

• Decreases human interaction between medical professionals and patients.

• It increases risk of error when medical services are delivered in the absence of a registered professional.

• Poor quality of transmitted records, such as images or patient progress reports.

• Difficulty claiming reimbursement from insurers or government programs in some fields.

Apollo Telemedicine Networking Foundation(ATNF), a non-for-profit organization, is a part of the Apollo Hospitals Group.

It is credited with being the first to setup a Rural Telemedicine centre in 1999 in Aragonda (in Andhra Pradesh).

Today, ATNF has emerged as India's single largest turn key provider in the area of Telemedicine with over 125 peripheral centres including 10 overseas.

More than 71,000 teleconsultations in 25 different disciplines have been provided.

Patients have been evaluated from distances ranging from 200 to 7500 km. Commissioning the world’s first VSAT enabled, modern secondary care hospital in a village, at Aragonda, Andhra Pradesh.