Today I want to share impressive information about telemedicine practice in Europe. In Europe Unit eTEN programme supports deployment of e-services of public interest among the member countries. One of the main area of focus is e-Health, which promotes health and improves the prevention of illness. E-Health main objective is to remote access to patients who need specialized care, home care and ones living independently with chronic diseases. E-Health uses ICT to reach the objective. In 2005, e-health started pilot project, to provide remote e-health services chronic patients through Healthservice-24.
Healthservice-24 was innovative, integrated mobile healthcare service for supporting patient and health care professionals’ mobility. The initial project focused on COPD patients, Cardiac patients and High risk pregnancies care while decreasing healthcare expenditure. It used HS24 system, patient is equipped with sensors interconnected under a Body Area Network (BAN) managed by mobile telephone or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). The information is constantly transmitted via UMTS/GPRS network wirelessly to medical professionals. The system had content management functionality, which allowed immediate analysis of individual body data and personalized patient feed-back. Healthcare professionals remotely accessed the data to treat patient and in case of emerge data centre sent SMS alarm along with immediate primary level treatment. The result of the project was impressive; patients gave thumps up to ITC and e-health management. However, successful implementation of technology is always subject organizational matters like changes in conventional care pertaining to hospital as well as insurance policy and the legislation.
http://www.healthservice24.com/Internet/external/cms/indexca28.html?inst=healthservice24
Monday, April 26, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
IT and telemedicine
In my last blog, I write about the general aspect of ICT and health. This week I want to use this opportunity to elaborate the role of ICT in reaching unreachable rural population in developing countries, like India. In many developing countries, telemedicine or e-medicine played vital role in remote patient monitoring and disease management. ICT has given the opportunity to practitioner; medical centers a new dimension to manage patient care, electronic records and billing (Telemedicine, 2010).
One of the well known project is run by Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital in Bangalore, India. The hospital is run by Dr. Devi Shetty a very well known cardiologist. It has one of the largest telemedicine networks in the world, sponsored by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The Coronary Care Unit networks runs through 26 locations in India and abroad provide 24 hour video consultation for heart patients from remote areas. Each unit is equipped with beds medications, ECHO machines, ECG machines and video-conferencing equipment. The basic infrastructure of telemedicine is provided by digital communication link. The patient information has been transmitted to main hub before the consultation.
Family Physicians send ECG results through normal telephone link or by web connection after scanning results by SN Informatics software. The telephone link is generally supported by internet service and IP line. The entire process takes only 10 minutes (E-Health, 2008). The project is successful only because of ICT, for thousands of people health care become reality.
The above topic will be incomplete, without discussion of GE’s frugal product “Mac 400”, a hand held electrocardiogram (ECG). According to Dr.Ashish Shah (GE), it is a masterpiece of simplification. The multiple buttons on conventional ECGs have been reduced to just four. The bulky printer has been replaced by tiny gadgets. The Mac 400 is small enough to fit in small backpack and can run on batteries. This is used by “clinics on wheel” physicians who travel to rural hospitals to test for heart disease (Economist, April 2010) . Like GE, Cisco revolutionized the web-conference consultation in health care. Web-conference has provided face-face communication between two consulting physician to reach right diagnosis, which is crucial to the success of E-medicine.
One more topic, which is close to me is the Rural Mobile Tele-ophthalmology unit run by “Sankar Nethralaya” and supported by Government of India, World diabetes Foundation, Micorvision, ISRO, etc. The mobile unit has air-conditioned consultation room with comprehensive eye check-up equipment. It has the facility to transmit digitized images of eye to the main hospital at Chennai through satellite connectivity provided by ISRO. ITC has made it possible to reach remote rural population in southern India and created awareness in the population about eye care and diabetes.
Impact of ICT on health is going beyond imagination with E-medicine. It is the use of telecommunication to provide medical information and services. E-medicine has enhanced the information flow and helped the health care professionals to reach right diagnosis to treat patients. ICT also has certain draw backs; day-day maintenance in remote areas is not without difficulties. It may take longer time to get technical support due to lack of infrastructure; there is always privacy and confidentially issues associated with E-medicine.
One of the well known project is run by Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital in Bangalore, India. The hospital is run by Dr. Devi Shetty a very well known cardiologist. It has one of the largest telemedicine networks in the world, sponsored by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The Coronary Care Unit networks runs through 26 locations in India and abroad provide 24 hour video consultation for heart patients from remote areas. Each unit is equipped with beds medications, ECHO machines, ECG machines and video-conferencing equipment. The basic infrastructure of telemedicine is provided by digital communication link. The patient information has been transmitted to main hub before the consultation.
Family Physicians send ECG results through normal telephone link or by web connection after scanning results by SN Informatics software. The telephone link is generally supported by internet service and IP line. The entire process takes only 10 minutes (E-Health, 2008). The project is successful only because of ICT, for thousands of people health care become reality.
The above topic will be incomplete, without discussion of GE’s frugal product “Mac 400”, a hand held electrocardiogram (ECG). According to Dr.Ashish Shah (GE), it is a masterpiece of simplification. The multiple buttons on conventional ECGs have been reduced to just four. The bulky printer has been replaced by tiny gadgets. The Mac 400 is small enough to fit in small backpack and can run on batteries. This is used by “clinics on wheel” physicians who travel to rural hospitals to test for heart disease (Economist, April 2010) . Like GE, Cisco revolutionized the web-conference consultation in health care. Web-conference has provided face-face communication between two consulting physician to reach right diagnosis, which is crucial to the success of E-medicine.
One more topic, which is close to me is the Rural Mobile Tele-ophthalmology unit run by “Sankar Nethralaya” and supported by Government of India, World diabetes Foundation, Micorvision, ISRO, etc. The mobile unit has air-conditioned consultation room with comprehensive eye check-up equipment. It has the facility to transmit digitized images of eye to the main hospital at Chennai through satellite connectivity provided by ISRO. ITC has made it possible to reach remote rural population in southern India and created awareness in the population about eye care and diabetes.
Impact of ICT on health is going beyond imagination with E-medicine. It is the use of telecommunication to provide medical information and services. E-medicine has enhanced the information flow and helped the health care professionals to reach right diagnosis to treat patients. ICT also has certain draw backs; day-day maintenance in remote areas is not without difficulties. It may take longer time to get technical support due to lack of infrastructure; there is always privacy and confidentially issues associated with E-medicine.
Monday, April 12, 2010
IT and Healthcare
In today’s society Information system is so much integrated with most of the health care services. In following discussions, we will go through role of IT in health care sector and integration improved quality, safety and efficiency of healthcare. Some of the questions which, comes to our mind is how can we link IT and healthcare. How is it improving the quality of care to patients? How is IT improving flow of information among the providers?
By definition we know that, IT allows health care providers to collect, store, retrieve and transfer information electronically. IT plays a major role in following eight categories:
Electronic health record (EHR), computerized provider order entry (CPOE), clinical decision support system (CDSS), Picture archiving and communication system (PACS), Bar coding, Radio frequency identification (RFID), Automated dispensing machines (ADMs), Electronic materials management (EMM) and Interoperability (MedPac, 2004).
IT also plays an important role in administrative and financial systems of Healthcare industry.
Computerized provider entry system, improved quality and safety by reducing medications errors, including adverse drug events, decreasing dosage errors, prescribing medicine with more accuracy. CDSS provides physicians with real-time diagnostic and treatment recommendations. PACS technology captures and integrates diagnostic and radiological images from various devices like x-ray, MRI, computed tomography scan and stores them medical record of patients. One of the vastly used technology is radio frequency identification, which tracks patients in the hospital and links lab and medication tracking through a wireless communication system sometimes it is used as alternative to bar coding. Electronic materials Management technology track and manage inventory of medical supplies, pharmaceuticals etc. Interoperability is electronic communication among organizations, so that the data in one IT system can be incorporated into another. Information Technology helping physicians, nurses, patients and their families with right information to make the right decisions (New approaches in Medicare, 2004).
Currently Pharmacies are number one user of IT, and then comes physicians, nursing homes and home users. IT enabled the patients to monitor their own vital signs from their home and communicate results to the physicians before condition become acute.
One of the simplest and most useful current IT influence in health care is Didget; glucometer for kids by Bayer and Nintendo. Didget is the first glucometer which plugs directly into a game console. Once the glucometer has taken reading, the user syncs it with a Nintendo DS Lite system. Kids earn points for regular daily testing, with additional rewards for being punctual. After earning points children can unlock new levels and buy in-game items. This is one of my favorite examples of how one can use Information technology for betterment in Healthcare. As of today, 24 million Americans suffer from diabetes, of which 1 per cent are younger than 20. The American Diabetes Association expects the number to double up in next 25 years. This is where the information Technology comes to betterment of society. http://www.bayerdidget.co.uk/About-Didget/Product-Information
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_16/b4174062706997.htm
By definition we know that, IT allows health care providers to collect, store, retrieve and transfer information electronically. IT plays a major role in following eight categories:
Electronic health record (EHR), computerized provider order entry (CPOE), clinical decision support system (CDSS), Picture archiving and communication system (PACS), Bar coding, Radio frequency identification (RFID), Automated dispensing machines (ADMs), Electronic materials management (EMM) and Interoperability (MedPac, 2004).
IT also plays an important role in administrative and financial systems of Healthcare industry.
Computerized provider entry system, improved quality and safety by reducing medications errors, including adverse drug events, decreasing dosage errors, prescribing medicine with more accuracy. CDSS provides physicians with real-time diagnostic and treatment recommendations. PACS technology captures and integrates diagnostic and radiological images from various devices like x-ray, MRI, computed tomography scan and stores them medical record of patients. One of the vastly used technology is radio frequency identification, which tracks patients in the hospital and links lab and medication tracking through a wireless communication system sometimes it is used as alternative to bar coding. Electronic materials Management technology track and manage inventory of medical supplies, pharmaceuticals etc. Interoperability is electronic communication among organizations, so that the data in one IT system can be incorporated into another. Information Technology helping physicians, nurses, patients and their families with right information to make the right decisions (New approaches in Medicare, 2004).
Currently Pharmacies are number one user of IT, and then comes physicians, nursing homes and home users. IT enabled the patients to monitor their own vital signs from their home and communicate results to the physicians before condition become acute.
One of the simplest and most useful current IT influence in health care is Didget; glucometer for kids by Bayer and Nintendo. Didget is the first glucometer which plugs directly into a game console. Once the glucometer has taken reading, the user syncs it with a Nintendo DS Lite system. Kids earn points for regular daily testing, with additional rewards for being punctual. After earning points children can unlock new levels and buy in-game items. This is one of my favorite examples of how one can use Information technology for betterment in Healthcare. As of today, 24 million Americans suffer from diabetes, of which 1 per cent are younger than 20. The American Diabetes Association expects the number to double up in next 25 years. This is where the information Technology comes to betterment of society. http://www.bayerdidget.co.uk/About-Didget/Product-Information
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_16/b4174062706997.htm
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