The practice of telepathology in India.

Telepathology in India is still in the evolving stages. Although, much progress has been made around the world specially in the field of digital imaging and virtual slides, the practice of telepathology in India still revolves around static telepathology, be it in telelearning or distance learning, or in remote diagnosis. Websites such as telepathology.org.in have been very successful in popularizing telepathology through quizzes of interesting and rare cases. The only study of teleconsultation from India, has shown that a good concordance with glass slide and static telepathology images. The reasons for the relative delay in acceptance of telepathology in India are manifold.

Experience with telepathology at a tertiary cancer centre and a rural cancer hospital.

BACKGROUND: Telepathology allows quick and timely access to an expert opinion, no matter where the patient is located. We analysed the experience with the use of telepathology between a tertiary cancer centre and a rural cancer hospital. METHODS: Ninety-three cases were analysed in which static telepathology was used to obtain a consultation between Tata Memorial Centre and Nargis Dutt Memorial Cancer Hospital at Barshi, a rural area. RESULTS: Successful teleconsultation was achieved in all cases. A diagnosis was offered in 92 cases (98.9%) and was deferred in 1 case (1.1%). Complete concordance, clinically unimportant minor discrepancy and hedged diagnosis were obtained in 83 cases (90.2%). Major discrepancies were encountered in 9 cases (9.7%). The number of images per case ranged from 3 to 27 (average: 7 images). Images were of diagnosable quality in 89.2% of cases. Most of the cases (77.4%) were reported within 3 days; 32.2% were reported within 8 hours (a single working day) and 45.1% within 1-3 days. CONCLUSION: Telemedicine can be effectively used to bridge the gap between medically underprivileged, geographically distant rural areas and advanced centres using the static store and forward methodology.