IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

These are villages which are not accessible by road or river.

Sabah Health director Dr Marzukhi Md Isa said the medical team flew in to around 30 such remote villages.

Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad said the method had been introduced in Johor and Sarawak before being extended to other states soon.

"The ministry found online consultation and treatment using information technology to be useful. Villagers do not need to go to other hospitals to get specialist treatment," he said.

The Pan African e-Network Project, meant to connect 53 countries of the African Union (AU) by satellite and fibre optic network, is an initiative of the former President of India P.J. Abdul Kalam.

Former Indian president Abdul Kalam initiated the project in 2004. The plan aims to connect the African Union's 53 nations through satellite and fiber-optic networks.

Die europäische Telemedizin-Modellregion POMERANIA strebt neue Dimensionen in der digitalen Vernetzung an. Wirtschaftsminister Jürgen Seidel und der Marschall der Wojewodschaft Westpommern, Władysław Husejko, starteten am Montag in Greifswald die vierte Ausbau- und Förderphase des deutsch-polnischen Telemedizin-Netzwerkes.

Wirtschaftswissenschaftler der Universität Greifswald haben in enger Kooperation mit dem DISCO-Verbund (s. Hintergrund) und dem Institut für Diabetes "Gerhardt Katsch" in Karlsburg (IDK) zwei Jahre lang geforscht, welche Kostenersparnis durch eine telematikbasierte Überwachung und Blutzuckereinstellung von chronisch zuckerkranken Patienten zu erwarten ist. Dazu wurden Analysewerte von telemedizinisch kontrollierten Diabetikern und eine für derartige Fragestellungen entwickelte Simulationssoftware der Firma IMOR hinzugezogen. Ergebnis der Untersuchungen: Gelänge es mit Hilfe der Telemedizin die für das Jahr 2010 prognostizierten zusätzlichen 5 Millionen zu den derzeit in Deutschland lebenden Diabetikern von Krankheitsbeginn an leitliniengerecht einzustellen, könnten über einen Betrachtungszeitraum von 10 Jahren rund 4,3 Mrd. € durch die Gesetzliche Krankenversicherung eingespart werden.

Künftig wird die Telegesundheitsschwester in Ueckermünde, Waren und Neubrandenburg unterwegs sein und die Hausärzte unterstützen.

"Die Menschen in unserem dünn besiedelten Land werden immer älter, das gilt auch für die Hausärzte", sagte Gesundheitsminister Erwin Sellering heute in Schwerin. "Bis 2010 wird etwa ein Drittel der Hausärzte in den Altersruhestand gehen. Deswegen wird es vor allem in den ländlichen Regionen immer schwieriger, Hausarztpraxen zu besetzen. Um eine gute medizinische Versorgung sicherzustellen, müssen wir innovative Lösungen finden." Mit dem Modellprojekt AGnES nehme Mecklenburg-Vorpommern bundesweit eine Vorreiterrolle ein.

Zum ersten Mal werde dabei auch eine telemedizinische Systemlösung unterstützt, die nicht vorrangig in der Behandlung von Patienten, sondern für die Gesundheitsprävention genutzt werde, sagte Seidel. Für das Projekt zur medizinischen Fernüberwachung von Probanden mit bestimmten Gesundheitsrisiken würden rund 597 000 Euro bereitgestellt.

Tomorrow, the three-day mHealth + Telehealth World 2013 conference kicks off in Boston. The 5th annual mHealth World Congress and the second annual Telehealth Congress have joined forces to showcase solutions from what are arguably the two hottest areas of eHealth. Yes, that's right. I said mHealth is a part of eHealth. Back in March, I was taken to task by a blogger when I stated in my column that "mHealth is a component of eHealth," citing the World Health Organization's definition.

Episurveyor is a free application that allows you to create web-based data gathering forms that can be filled out via cell phone from the field. It's a great application in that it harnesses relatively widely available cellular technology and uses it to tackle one of the biggest nuisances in epidemiologic and public health data gathering: Namely collating and inputting data from paper forms into electronic databases where it can be shared and analyzed. Using GPS enabled phones allows data to be tagged with geo-coordinates, adding a further layer of granularity (though that upgraded feature is part of a fee-based package.)

Y Given the opportunity, many patients will become more engaged in their care, proposed Katherine Clark, RN, manger of telemedicine at Englewood Hospital Home Health and Hospice Services; Joseph C. Kveder, MD, founder and director of the Center for Connected Health, Partners Healthcare in Boston; and Alexander M. Nason, PhD, program director of Johns Hopkins Medicine Interactive and director of telehealth at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore.

Y Home care “self-empowers patients so they can understand their illness a little better,” Clark said. Englewood Hospital provides a secure encrypted, password-protected and firewall enabled monitoring program for congestive heart failure (CHF).

Y

And doctors will have to mothball millions of dollars worth of new computer equipment as another fallout of the troubled Telehealth scheme.

From January 1, more than eight million people in outer urban and semi-regional areas will be stripped of their Medicare rebate for internet video consultations with medical specialists, as their suburbs and towns are reclassified as "major cities".

The MoLOC is part of an ecosystem Dr. Olla has coined “MoDiSe” – for Mobile Diagnostic Services. “MoDiSe means Shepherd in Southern Africa,” Dr. Olla explained, “which is the perfect metaphor for this new platform as together, using local technology over global wireless networks, we can guide the course of care, saving lives and reducing overall cost through accurate, early detection and appropriate treatment.”

mHealth and telehealth: Two popular terms in the healthcare lexicon these days. And two whose days are numbered. That's what Jonah J. Czerwinski thinks. As the senior advisor to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, he leads the VA Center for Innovation, which has seen a wide range of mHealth and telehealth projects introduced these past few years.

Speaking Wednesday during the first day of the World Congress on mHealth and Telehealth in Boston, he pointed out that the VA helped roughly 500,000 veterans receive healthcare services through telehealth in 2012, and expects to help more than 600,000 this year with services that span some 44 clinical specialties.

There’s a more specific area called M-health, which employs mobile technology to provide medical services.

For example, patient data can now be accessed remotely by doctors. But m-health also encompasses mobile apps and interactive mobile sites for patients to follow a diet or fitness regimen.

The Mobile Telemedicine Unit (MTU) based at the Francistown hospital will use information technology to eliminate distance barriers and bring medical services that are unavailable in rural communities to their doorstep. The unit has state of the art clinical devices that provide the same services as a stationary clinic. The equipment is tailor-made for the client's needs and will be manned by radiographers who will communicate the condition of patients with specialists at district and referral hospitals. The telemedicine units can be fitted with devices for mammography, surgical treatment, sonar and radiology to mention but a few. Dr Memory Muturiki, the chief executive officer of Mzansi Lifecare Group says the implementation of the project shows the commitment of the MoH and her company to bring the latest universal solutions to all Batswana regardless of their economic standing. Muturiki said the mobile unit is meant to bring tangible results in the healthcare sector of Botswana, particularly in rural areas where there is a high shortage of skilled personnel. "As a company, we share a common interest with African governments to decrease the mortality rate of their nations. We are a patient-centered company. We strive for clinical excellence and we value human dignity in our dealings with patients," she said.

The center will allow Mongolians who must travel great distances to see a doctor to, instead, receive medical assistance via the telephone.