Telemedicine for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of echinococcosis in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region / 中华普通外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective By analyzing 2 560 echinococcosis cases through telemedicine,to explore a new mode for preventing,diagnosing,and treating of echinococcosis.Method From January 2009 to December 2013 in our hospital through remote medical care and consulting we analyzed cases and conducted statistics on consultation's person time,location difference,spectrum of disease and upward referral rate as well as the cost of hospitalization.Result (1) The amount of consultation rose from 182 cases in 2009 to 873 cases in 2013.(2) The proportion of consultation from northern Xinjiang is about 83％-91％,obviously higher than that from south Xinjiang and eastern Xinjiang,which fits those areas mainly with the economical character of the husbandry.(3) Most consultation cases are echinococcosis (99.42％) followed by echinococcosis (0.24％),pelvic cystic echinococcosis (0.19％),cerebral echinococcosis (0.12％),and cardiac echinococcosis (0.03％).(4) Upward referral rate is nearly 7.97％ and about 92.03％ patients were treated in local community hospitals saving medical care budget by RMB 14.78 million.Conclusions Use and establishment of the three level network system for preventing,diagnosing,and treating the echinococcosis by telemedicine effectively enhances primary hospital's ability in the care of these patients and alleviates patients economical burden.