The writer Dr. N K Singh, a Manipuri, is the Director of Tele Cardiology and Tele Health at the famous Narayana Hrudayala (Cardiology Hospital), Bangalore. Narayana Hrudayala was established under the leadership of the renowned Heart specialist Dr. Devi Shetty.
Benefits
Theoretically, telemedicine can provide crucial benefits and savings by reducing the time to travel for doctors, providing faster access to medical expertise (especially during emergencies), using health care resources more effectively, and upgrading skills and knowledge for medical professionals.
For instance, satellite links between hospitals in Mexico City and ten rural hospitals in the Mexican province of Chiapas reportedly reduced unnecessary referrals by 60 per cent. Cancerology resources in France were tapped from Tunisia via satellite connections. Health care researchers at the University of Lusaka in Zambia use e-mail heavily.
Our own Telemed initiative, which is a joint private public partnership with various state governments, and other agencies, is the single largest telemed network in the Indian Subcontinent. Specialist doctors from Asia Heart Foundation and Narayana Hrudayalaya have over a period of six months provided life saving therapeutic guidelines to more than 424 acute cardiac emergencies victims and more than 2609 patients have been benefited from various cardiac specialist consult real-time. Emergencies. The cost saving in terms of quantifiable alone is adding up to as much as 90% reduction in all expenses.
Benefits
Provides access to specialist health care which is otherwise unavailable/difficult to access in the community
For the elderly it is providing faster and convenient access
Reduction in clinical errors
Avoids the need for the patient to travel
Supports local health care providers to provide high quality care
Provides educational opportunities for the providers and patients
For the patient it is saving of vital and crucial time and cost of diagnosis for the doctor's examination time is drastically reduced
Diagnosis is extremely convenient
Availability of specialist doctors reduces the burden of rural health care
Physicians can undertake research despite geographical distance
Medical education for rural health care professionals by linking up online with specialty health care providers
Basically telemedicine primarily helps in bridging the gap between the basic health care provided in district hospitals and specialist health care available only in cities or metropolitan places ensuring an equitable distribution of quality health care
Telemedicine can provide in a practical way, crucial benefits and savings by reducing the time to travel for doctors, providing faster access to medical expertise (especially during emergencies), using health care resources more effectively, and upgrading skills and knowledge for medical professionals.
For instance, satellite links between hospitals in Mexico City and ten rural hospitals in the Mexican province of Chiapas reportedly reduced unnecessary referrals by 60 per cent.
Cancerology resources in France were tapped from Tunisia via satellite connections.
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