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Tele-referral Workshop at Nuapada on 16/06/2006
The gateway to the virtual world of medicine all set to become a reality with the launch of Tele OPD by the National Informatics Centre(NIC) through the GRAMSAT network from July 2006. Pramod Chandra Pattnaik, Collector, Nuapada while inaugurating the workshop said, the system to become operational every Monday that would bring expert medical advice to the patients and doctors of remote areas. NIC in tie up with Lucknow based Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) to provide the service. Dr. S. K. Mishra, Endocrinologist at SGPGIMS agreed to share even some live operations from the institute for the benefit of doctors posted in KBK areas.
It was held at VC Studio, Nuapada with the kind presence of Dr.(Ms).Shefali Dash, STD, the State Co-ordinator, Orissa, Ms. Shalini Chokroborty, STD, the Group Head of GRAMSAT project, Ms. Naina Pandita, STD, Telemedicine Project, NIC, New Delhi along with Sri Rama Krushna Dash, TD, GRAMSAT coordinator, Orissa, NIC, RDC(SD), Berhampur. Sri Sambit Panda, SSA, DIO, Nuapada coordinated the workshop.
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From left Dr. Shefali S Dash, STD, NIC, New Delhi, Sri Pramod Chandra Patnaik, Collector, Nuapada, Naina Pandita, STD, NIC, New Delhi |
Doctors from Nuapada HQ Hospital, Khariar Road PHC and Amsena Gurukul Asram |
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Doctors, Collector and NIC personnel joining the VC session |
Dr. S.K. Mishra, addressing the VC session from SGPGIMS, Lucknow |
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Telemedicine
The World Health Organization defines Telemedicine as, “The delivery of healthcare services, where distance is a critical factor, by all healthcare professionals using information and communication technologies for the exchange of valid information for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease and injuries, research and evaluation, and for the continuing education of healthcare providers, all in the interests of advancing the health of individuals and their communities”.
Teletreatment
Treatment provided to the patient through Telemedicine. The specialist at the Specialty Centre could advise the consulting doctor at the Consulting Centre about the course of treatment to be taken
Teleconsultation
Teleconsultation is the use of information and communications technology to enable clinical consultation between geographically separated individuals such as health care professionals and their patients or health care professionals engaged in diagnostic, mentoring, or other clinical decision-making activities related to the delivery of health care services.
Telemedicine System
Telemedicine system consists of an interface between hardware, software and communication channel to eventually bridge two geographical locations to exchange information and enable teleconsultancy between two locations. The hardware consists of computer, printer, scanner, video conferencing equipment etc. The software enables the acquisition of patient information (images, reports, films etc.). The communication channel enables the connectivity whereby two locations can connect to each other.
Telemedicine Specialty Centre (TSC)
Telemedicine Specialty Centre is a site, where the specialist is present. He can interact with the patient present in the remote site and view his reports and monitor his progress. A Specialty Centre is generally located in a Specialty or Super Specialty hospital catering to specific specialties or all specialties.
Telemedicine Consultation Centre (TCC)
Telemedicine Consulting Centre is the site where the patient is present. In a Telemedicine Consulting Centre, equipment for scanning /converting, transformation, communicating for medical information of the patient can be available but it is not essential. A Telemedicine Consulting Centre usually has a General Practitioner or in very remote locations a Registered Medical Practitioner who will be able to communicate to the TSC the symptoms/problems of the patient.
IT Infrastructure for Health & Telemedicine Standardisation
Framework for Information Technology Infrastructure for Health in India
The Department of Information Technology (DIT) had taken up the initiative for defining the Standards for Telemedicine Systems in India, through the deliberations of the committee on "Standardization of digital information to facilitate implementation of Telemedicine system using IT enabled services" under the chairmanship of the Secretary, DIT. Simultaneously, DIT undertook another initiative, in a project mode, for defining "The framework for Information Technology Infrastructure for Health (ITIH )" to efficiently address information needs of different stakeholders in the healthcare sector.
The Technical Working Group (TWG) for Standardization on Telemedicine came out with a document on the " Recommended Guidelines & Standards for Practice of Telemedicine in India". This document delineates the necessary information in terms of the Preamble, the introduction to Telemedicine/ Telehealth including, why Telemedicine is important to India, definitions & concepts, standards required for hardware, software and clinical devices including the security aspects and finally the Telemedicine Process guidelines.
Recommendations were made in the following areas:
•Standards to be followed in capturing and exchanging of health information
•Legal framework to support privacy & confidentiality of individual's health data
•Framework for education and awareness creation through focused approach in health informatics
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