'Next year we hope to start construction of the telecommunication network for medical institutions and connect (them – CNews) to the internet through HS leased lines', - Leonid Reiman, RF Minister of Communications, reported at the Exhibition and Forum 'InfoCom-2007'. He says corresponding proposals will be used in the implementation plan 'Development Strategy of E-society in Russia till 2015'.
Leonid Reiman notes the project to construct the telemedical network is based on the fact that 'telemedical services have been actively developed' in Russian recently both on the basis of small hospitals and mobile complexes. As discussed at CNews Round-table Conference 'Healthcare IT-Modernization: Today and Tomorro', such mobile complexes are in excessive demand currently.
According to Arkady Sedov, Deputy Director of the Department of State Programs, Infrastructure Development and Limited Resources Usage at the RF Ministry of Communications, no less than seven mobile diagnostic complexes on the basis of KAMAZ are operating in Russia at present. He says such complexes help to hold medical examination of remote districts population at a high level. Besides, several variations of special mobile complexes have been developed to render assistance in emergency.
Bakulev Scientific Center for Cardiovascular Surgery RAMS (BSCC), which holds more than 1250 videoconsultations a year, is one of the leaders regarding telemedicine development in Russia. According to Valery Stolyar, BSCC Head, telemedicine is used today not only to give consultations, but to organize interactive teletraining, promote new medical technologies (master classes), improve doctors' qualification, broadcast conferences, etc. Telemedicine (home monitoring) is also being developed at present.
Telemedical technologies development might result in significant economic efficiency in addition to improving the quality of medical assistance. Thus, for example, due to telemedical technologies implementation in Tomsk Region expenses for distant laboratory tests have reduced 15-20-fold, while each telemedical consultation helps to reduce expenses for groundless helicopter evacuation 200-500-fold.
Tenders for telemedical network construction are planned to be held early next year, while the project is currently under consideration. The given project is sure to be a success like the large-scale project to connect all schools to the internet, which finished not long ago, according to the deputy prime minister Dmitri Medvedev. As discussed at CNews Round-Table Conference 'ICT Role in Education', all schools are connect to the net at present so to conclude the project it is necessary to receive official confirmations saying internet has been launched. These confirmations are meanwhile sent not through the internet, but by ordinary mail.
Quelle/Source: CNews, 31.10.2007
