ABSTRACT
Effective communications are essential for any operation and for management of health-related problems. Telemedicine has altered profoundly the manner in which primary care physicians can interact with hospitals and specialists. As dedicated medical ICT systems evolve, medical care will be delivered to patients in remote locations in a more efficient and cost-effective way. Companies invariably have a vision that healthcare decisions benefiting patient care should be made anytime and anywhere in a model that facilitates care at the point of need. The development of telemedicine programs is inevitable as business globalization expands to more challenging cultural and geographic areas.
Subject(s)
Occupational Medicine/methods , Remote Consultation/methods , Teleradiology/methods , Diagnostic Imaging/methods , Electronic Mail , Humans , Internationality , Occupational Medicine/instrumentation , Physician-Patient Relations , Remote Consultation/instrumentation , Teleradiology/instrumentationABSTRACT
This paper describes preliminary experience in shared clinical management of patients located in Pointe Noire, Africa, and a referral center, Sacco University Hospital, located in Milan, Italy. The employed infrastructure INteractive TeleConsultation Network for Worldwide HealthcAre Services (INCAS) jointly developed by CEFRIEL (Center of Excellence For Research, Innovation, Education & Industrial Labs partnership) and ENI (Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi) is based on commercial off-the-shelf technology. This minimizes maintenance problems, while permitting a simple and friendly sharing of data using the telephone and e-mail for store-and-forward applications. The critical aspect of the flow of events comprising the exchange of information is discussed. In 60% of cases, only one telemedicine consultation was required. In the remainder 40%, a number of telemedicine consultations were required for appropriate management of clinical cases. The project demonstrated flexibility as documented by the wide range of pathologies that can be dealt with it. Finally the possibility of using shared clinical management as a learning tool is highlighted by the steep and rising learning curve. We conclude, however, that the patient, although handled in a "virtual" manner, should be viewed as very "real," as some of them elected to close the gap physically between Pointe Noire and Milan, and chose to be treated at the referral site.
