Desde föO y eHealth for people, tenemos el placer de participar en el programa#Cofinancia organizado por Goteo.org y el Gobierno de Extremadura. El objetivo es realizar una campaña de Capital Riego para 10 proyectos.
föO Station ha sido seleccionado entre un total de 23 proyectos participantes y desde el día de hoy tenemos activa nuestra campaña en Goteo.org por 40 días con el objetivo de obtener la cantidad de dinero que necesitamos para realizar nuestro proyecto.
Te invitamos a entrar en el perfil del proyecto y descubrir como puedes ayudar a convertir en una realidad föO Station, queremos que sepas, que ninguna aportación es pequeña si con ella conseguimos democratizar la telemedicina y hacerla llegar a todos los rincones del planeta.
Como dice uno de los miembros de nuestro comité de expertos, “La telemedicina no es un lujo, es una necesidad y en entornos eminentemente rurales y pocos desarrollados es incluso una obligación.”. Y esa es la situación en la que se encuentra África, un continente con una sociedad eminentemente rural, con datos de densidad de población de 33hab/km2, y con sociedades poco desarrolladas, con indicadores sociales básicos como los siguientes:
- Esperanza de vida 53 años, la menor del mundo
- Mortalidad materna 1\31, 600.000 mujeres al año
- Mortalidad infantil 14,4%, el 50% de los niños entre 0-5 años que mueren en el mundo son del continente africano
- Indice de escolarización, 76% mujeres 80% hombres
- Abandono escolar en primaria, 30%
En este entorno, con esas condiciones tan extremas, es donde queremos desarrollar föO Station, porque debemos ser el cambio, que deseamos ver en el mundo.
Sólo queremos que tras leer el perfil decidas #SúbeteAlBarco y juntos llegar a la meta final, difundir la telemedicina a todos los rincones del planeta y que sea accesible para todos. Si el objetivo es democratizar la telemedicina debemos mirar al mundo entero y empezando por aquellos que están en peor sitio de partida, nadie se merece vivir sin la asistencia sanitaria mínima. föO Station es mas que un proyecto, föO Station quiere cambiar el mundo.
200 patients have been benefited from the Telemedicine unit for recording of Encephalography between Baza Hospital and the University Hospital Virgen de las Nieves. With it, users particularly fragile, mainly elderly, pediatric and comatose people have access, for three years, the Service of Clinical Neurophysiology Granada hospital without physically moving to the capital.
People don´t move, are studies or cases which travel in real time thanks to computer science from the Computer of the doctor in Baza Hospital, to the computer of the specialist in Granada Hospital.
Target population of Baza Hospital are 70.000 people, normally in little towns with big difficults for travelling, bigger at winter. For all them, telemedicine is a great solution for their problems, easier, faster and comfortable. They receive their medical diagnostic at reference hospital in Baza without trips to reference hospital in Granada.
The agreement signed between Argentina and the University of San Diego allow that patients in the country can access the best treatments using the possibilities that technological advances make it easy. a Tumor Committee composed of experts from Argentina and US analyze each particular case, and from international treatment guidelines, will decide in conjunction with the patient the best treatment. Also professional did a training, encouraging the rotation of Argentine experts at UCSD and UCSD professionals in our country, which will help both in learning new techniques and innovative treatments from the US and in enrolling patients in clinical studies in international protocols.
Technological advances in videoconferencing, like telepresence, improve exponentially accessibility, this systems use communication standards and reduce bandwidth use, which is easier to use anywhere. Allow the interconnection of any device, anywhere, whether at the office of a specialist, a hospital consulting, home of a patient, a computer, a tablet, etc. .. They improve quality of care for various reasons, one image quality is HD, two it allows to patient access to a specialist worldwide through a consultation on-line, three it allows participation of all stakeholders in the consultation, patient, doctor, primary care physician, physician interconsultado and family, and finally looks to be several highly qualified professionals, it decreases the amount of errors. But also they reduce transport costs and trips with not only they cause direct savings to the patient, but an indirect whole society as reducing fuel use and reduce environmental pollution associated with trips.
This agreement also involves surgery or development in robotics, an emerging technology that allows advanced laparoscopic procedures that are having great results because it reduces operative time and morbidity.At a time like the present where the financial and economic crisis gripping the governments of many countries and where their leaders are only possible cuts in healthcare. We'd like to break a lance for telemedicine and encourage these leaders to analize the advantages of this type of material and the potential benefits to the system. Clearly, if you do not have this technology you have to make an investment in procurement, but what makes something profitable is not the initial expense, but the benefits that subsequently generates initial expense and frankly if you do a serious study and held the stage of action of telemedicine, we can conclude that soon generated large profits, reduce costs to the patient, reduce costs to the healthcare system, reducing costs to society in general and an improvement of training system professionals, causing that these professionals will become more resolutive and therefore save more to the system.
Is the future and we must support it, those places where there is no need to consider the implementation of this technology and in places where time has been used for updating the material to use 100% of the possibilities that technology offers.
There are already several examples in the world of health trains whose mission are to bring health and social care to remote and difficult access areas.
One example is Dr. Ramon Carrillo health train under the Ministry of Social Development of Argentina, which is a creation of the Minister Alicia Kirchner and Secretary Sergio Berni. The train assists small towns with 800 people. who have the hospital to 300 kilometers, so we await the arrival of the train, it is composed of 1 tank, 2 freight cars and 6 cars adapted with dental offices, ophthalmology, radiology, gynecology, laboratory fully equipped with 68 professionals on board.
Train health and social development of Argentina
We can imagine that telemedicine possibilities in these situations and how health professionals can take advantage of these technological tools to bring a better health and better quality to those areas.
Another interesting example is developed in Russia telemedicine system "health train" using telemedicine systems to cover with satellite broadband link all along the way.
Jonathan Linkous, executive director of the ATA, has shared seven market trends that will shape the telemedicine and telehealth in the near future. From Blogtelemedicina after reading them, We want to bring them to you, What is your opinion about it?, We would like this to become an open forum about where telemedicine and its future.
1- Changes in the way of payments: According Linkous, the payment models have been the biggest problem of telemedicine in North America, but says that the rapid growth of models such as ACO's (Accountable Care Organizations) and Medical Home model, which are some new models of healthcare, are changing the way to pay for telemedicine services. Based on these data, the increase of the population covered by medical insurance allows you to define new models of payment. So as healthcare services are extended to regional or national health organizations.
2 - Telemedicine as a standard of care: Medical Imaging, X-rays and CT scans digital originate since decades. Teleradiology is now so common that provide radiology services 24/7. The technology can be the foundation for that telemedicine will become a standard service model. From Blogtelemedicina could extend this work to the Teledermatology also, today with existing devices could be a reference to a model in providing standard healthcare.
3 - Appearance of remote medical aid companies: The outsourcing of medical image interpretation is currently used by most hospitals in the United States. If a hospital can outsource radiology services, why not outsource dermatology, neurology, or other clinical services? A number of companies can to emerge to provide remote clinical consultations with medical specialists.
4 - The rise of virtual medical centers: In October, "Mercy Hospitals" announced the construction of a new hospital with a cost of 90 million dollars, dedicated to the "virtual healthcare". This center will have clinicians who see patients from peripheral centers in the four states in which this organization operates.
Since Blogtelemedicina We know also of the ambitious project of Cisco to undertake the construction of a hospital designed with all the technological advances in telemedicine and videoconferencing called Palomar West Medical Campus in San Diego California. Then we leave you a sample of this project known as "The Hospital of the future."
5 - mHealth: mobile health (mHealth) is an important aportation to the suite of technologies that are changing the way medical care. However, in general opinion, the mHealth environment is full of promise that yet to be tested and uncertainties about how to pay for these services is very high.
What do you think about it?. Is this a really new era, We left the eHealth and We enter in the mHealth?.
6 - Organization centralized or distributed: The Federal grants have helped establish over 200 telemedicine programs in the United States, and most seem to present a model in which a large central hospital provides services to remotes sites connected to it; but there is an emerging alternative, multiple centers linked together, that providing or receiving services from any of them to any other point in the network; the Arizona Telemedicine Program and the Ontario Telehealth Network are examples of this new approach.
This new approach is also being considered in Extremadura when updating its network of telemedicine, because experience has shown that telemedicine is not only teleconsultations, there is also e-learning, clinical sessions, etc..
7 - Multi-nationalization: Telemedicine can be an important source of international finantial trades. Global investments in high speed networks, and standardization of clinical practice, are providing the necessary basis. Different issues such as payment mechanisms, trade protectionism and cultural prejudices, remain a barrier, however, the potential revenue from such services could have a significant effect on trade balance worldwide.
Maybe it's time for chances in certain organisms, time for Healthcare Services beyond political boundaries, that they can sign agreements or collaboration agreements with private companies, nongovernmental organizations and even countries without the resources necessary for to have trained health professionals in all specialties.
From Blogtelemedicina We are aware that these ideas come from a country where health policies are very different from European ones, but we understand that is a model that works in some countries and if we make a serious analysis of the different models of healthcare We really think that together We can to find the best option, We being aware that the European model is clearly superior, we can reach create a third option which allows to develop both models and bring them to a higher level.
What is your opinion? What can you tell from your experience, if we plantearamos find a new model of care for telemedicine? Do you think that telemedicine has a future or simply see it as something of geeks?. We want to know your opinion and together try to build a new care model, where telemedicine has full presence, since we are fully convinced that it is useful and can provide a much higher level of healthcare if it well used.
We thank to Dr. Claudio Pelaez Vega for his collaboration , Regional Coordinator of Telemedicine Extremadura Health Service, who has provided information for this post.
From Blogtelemedicina in our daily activity We met with professionals that put barriers to telemedicine. In some cases We assume it is due to ignorance or simply to the negative feel that we generate the changes in our lives.
In diariomedico.com website explain the issue with the interesting article called "Time to break down barriers of telemedicine.", Which refers to the four main barriers: cost, training, technology, rapidly changing and costly, and field legal-for example, how to assess the productivity for professionals.
First thing to note is that telemedicine is not a substitute for anything, just a supplement that it is used correctly and taking into account technological advances, We can bring greater efficiency and effectiveness of health resources, something to keep in mind and in the current environment where the global economic crisis may lead some governments to consider the cutbacks in Health Services.
Secondly, it is true that the costs of information systems is a barrier, but we must be aware that medical shipments also generate an expense in the health system, even in the case of transfer of the patient must always take into account all expenses saved to society, savings in the use of fossil fuels, taking into account the price at which they are is an important fact, saving days worked by family members to seek permission or absence from their jobs to accompany his family, etc. ,many of them difficult to calculate but which largely affect us all. It should also be noted that this cost will be more or less profitable depending on the use of such equipment, a telemedicine stations can be used for a teleconsultation as a pilot project or can be used to be a routine work in centers health and hospitals, making e-learning sessions in medical centers including universities, which will generate a better educated generation of professionals, perform teleconsultations with third countries with fewer resources, what We call solidarity telemedicine, which generates a higher social welfare globally.
In terms of technology it is true that the technology world moves a few steps and bounds, but this rule of three would never be the right time to make any technology investment. Anyway, today the world of videoconferencing has undergone a major standardization, which has led to devices from different manufacturers can be interconnected with each other without any problem using standard protocols of communication such as h264, h323, SIP, etc. .
Finally one of the barriers most often used is that of the legal, confidentiality of teleconsultation, which given the encryption of communications and the presence of health workers in both rooms we believe has the same level of confidentiality as traditional queries. Legal security of health professionals to medical diagnosis, given that the teleconsultation can be recorded and if we understand that during a teleconsultation in real time, usually are the specialist, primary care health workers and patients, we believe this fact gives greater security than traditional query where specialist and patient are alone in a closed room without the presence of another witness. And what about managing and controlling the work of professionals, teleconsultation can be programmed by quotas, generate medical reports and of course all information is stored in a database which can be so easy to get statistics use and productivity.
Our humble opinion is that all barriers to any event that We are easily surmountable if We all do a bit of will, that's what I consider essential if We want to exceed the level of telemedicine today and has become a reality the day to day in our health centers, there must be a willingness on the part of all the figures present in the health system, agencies must be willing to make an investment in equipment and material, as with any other issue, professionals must be willing to learn and use this new technology tool that puts in your hands to increase their ability to solve and Society at large must be willing to incorporate new technologies in a broader our day to day as the potential is unmatched, as happened in the moments of the Industrial Revolution, or any other key moment in history.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture subsidize a total of $ 6 million in different telemedicine projects for rural areas in the United States. These projects will be held in
six states in the Mississippi Delta region.
The increased investment around $ 3 million will go to building an emergency center in Mound Bayou.
Other telemedicine projects to receive funding are:
- Delta Health Alliance for its development project connecting five acute care hospitals with the Intensive Care Center at the University of Mississippi.
- Sl Foundation for her project on tele-health care in the state of Illinois.
- Tombigbee Health Care Authority in the state of Alabama for its telemedicine project.
- Building Healthy Communities in Louisiana for a home telecare project.
- Oschsner Clinic Foundation in Louisiana for its telemedicine program and Telestroke.
- University of Kentucky for its project to link the hospitals of the Kentucky Telehealth Network.
and others.
Notice published by CATAI, if you want to read the complete notice click here.
From Videomed they have sent to us the official poster of first Videomed-Senegal Quiz. From blogtelemedicina We told you about this.
Videomed is a international film festival with a focus on health care generally everything related to health care and a particular approach led to new communication technologies, information technology and its relation to medical imaging in a confluent common telemedicine.
This new Videomed Senegal is in addition to all the above have been made where it was born in Badajoz in 1985 as well as its editions like Videomed Latin America in Ecuador (Quito), Argentina (Tucuman and Cordoba), Uruguay (Montevideo), Mexico (UNAM ) and Cuba (Havana).
Desde la Dirección del Videomed nos han facilitado el cartel oficial del I Concurso Videomed Senegal, tal y como ya adelantamos en blogtelemedicina, este año 2011 se va a celebrar en Senegal el primer Videomed Senegal.
Videomed es un certamen internacional de cine médico con un enfoque en general a todo lo relacionado con los cuidados para la salud y un enfoque particular dirigido a las nuevas tecnologías de la comunicación, la informática y su relación con la imagen médica en un confluente común en telemedicina.
Este nuevo Videomed Senegal viene a sumarse a todos los anteriores que se han realizado en Badajoz donde nació en 1985 así como a latinoamérica con sus ediciones Videomed en Ecuador (Quito), Argentina (Tucuman y Córdoba), Uruguay (Montevideo), México (UNAM) y Cuba (La Habana).
One of the more clear that we had when we created this blog, was that we wanted it to be a site open to anyone who had anything to say about telemedicine, no matter whether in Extremadura, Madrid and Mauritania (do you sound so Telemedicine Solidarity?)
The important thing is to talk on Telemedicine in any of the "modalities" and from any point of view. Would not it be nice to read what we can tell a patient, a doctor or medical personnel who work in a Penitentiary on their experience with telemedicine?
If you think you have something to say about this "unknown world for us is an honor and it s everyone could learn a lot more, write to:
