Monday, March 11, 2019
More than skype advice: a review of telemedicine services from a CCM expert
Despite the active development of telemedicine technologies, still not everyone equally interpret the concept of "Telemedicine". Consultations via Skype are only part of a whole range of services that are highly complex and require professionalism.
What is the essence of telemedicine, what are its features and main directions - says Alfiya Kokolova, deputy director of the "Center of Corporate Medicine."
What is the main idea
«So, let's see what is the "Telemedicine" and "Telemedicine consultations" and how it works?
Telemedicine consultations are carried out by transmitting medical information via telecommunication channels. Consultations can be conducted both in "deferred" mode and in real time.
The cheapest and easiest way to organize consultation at a distance is to send medical information by e-mail. It is not very suitable for emergency cases, but it is low-cost and very effective with proper organizational support. Real-time consultations are more demanding to technical equipment, they are carried out using broadband communication channels and video equipment.
There are planned, emergency video consultations and video - concilium. Direct communication between the consultant and the attending physician is provided in all these cases. Most commonly the video - consultations are held with the participation of the patient. In this case, a video conferencing session can take place both between two subscribers and between several subscribers in a multipoint mode, namely the most complex cases can be discussed by a council of doctors from different medical centers. Itis considered that remote video consultation is much cheaper than physically visiting a doctor – the cost ratio can be up to 50 times in favor of telemedicinedepending on the distance between facilities. Telemedicine systems allow you to organize a dialogue with an Medical Officer onany distance (videoconference) and transfer practically all the necessary medical information for a qualified conclusion (extracts from the medical history, radiographs, computer tomograms, ultrasound images, etc.).
Where it is relevant
Telemedicine is a quite new phenomenon in Russia. However the effectiveness of introducing such a system into medical practice showed its result, which affects the growth popularity of this technology. Telemedicine is actively used in public and private clinics, research institutes and medical schools.This modern technology allows highly qualified specialists to advise other employees. According to researchers, the system is especially needed in sparsely populated or remote region with a small number of medical staff. Consultations with experienced specialists would allow doctors who do not have much experience to quickly make an accurate diagnosis and prescribe the most effective treatment. Thus, the problem of professional isolation of medical personnel who work in remote locations disappears.
Telemedicine in the practice of CCM
Since "CCM" works in the segment of industrial medicine, we are interested in this direction and we are actively developing it. This gives us the opportunity to provide access to leading federal Russian and foreign multifunctional medical centers and specialists of any clinical areas at the request of the client. We can appeal to specialists for getting a second medical report, interpret the data of instrumental diagnostics, adjust the tactics of diagnosis and treatment, as well as address tactical issues related to the need for evacuation and hospitalization.
We successfully use the telemedicine technologies at remote health centers, which are located in polar conditions and on shelf projects, that is, remotely from medical centers. We conduct round-the-clock telemedicine consultations of medical specialists in order to remotely support, for diagnosis and coordination of medical care in cases of emergency using special equipment.
Our projects include a telemedicine contact center, which operates 24/7. At least five bilingual operators are always working in our personnel, who can hold consultations in Russian and English. The contact center is located in a separate office equipped with computers with the "VCS - Spontania enterprise" software for providing the telemedicine consultations, sharing files with ECG and ultrasound results and access to these materials in real time.
Appeals are registered by CRM-system. We organize and conduct emergency, urgent and planned telemedicine consultations, consiliums and clinical parse. Every month we conduct emergency medical assistance trainings.
We can provide access to more than 25 specialists in any clinical setting, solve tactical issues related to casevac operations and hospitalization of clients, and lead patients until discharge.
What is the essence of telemedicine, what are its features and main directions - says Alfiya Kokolova, deputy director of the "Center of Corporate Medicine."
What is the main idea
«So, let's see what is the "Telemedicine" and "Telemedicine consultations" and how it works?
Telemedicine consultations are carried out by transmitting medical information via telecommunication channels. Consultations can be conducted both in "deferred" mode and in real time.
The cheapest and easiest way to organize consultation at a distance is to send medical information by e-mail. It is not very suitable for emergency cases, but it is low-cost and very effective with proper organizational support. Real-time consultations are more demanding to technical equipment, they are carried out using broadband communication channels and video equipment.
There are planned, emergency video consultations and video - concilium. Direct communication between the consultant and the attending physician is provided in all these cases. Most commonly the video - consultations are held with the participation of the patient. In this case, a video conferencing session can take place both between two subscribers and between several subscribers in a multipoint mode, namely the most complex cases can be discussed by a council of doctors from different medical centers. Itis considered that remote video consultation is much cheaper than physically visiting a doctor – the cost ratio can be up to 50 times in favor of telemedicinedepending on the distance between facilities. Telemedicine systems allow you to organize a dialogue with an Medical Officer onany distance (videoconference) and transfer practically all the necessary medical information for a qualified conclusion (extracts from the medical history, radiographs, computer tomograms, ultrasound images, etc.).
Where it is relevant
Telemedicine is a quite new phenomenon in Russia. However the effectiveness of introducing such a system into medical practice showed its result, which affects the growth popularity of this technology. Telemedicine is actively used in public and private clinics, research institutes and medical schools.This modern technology allows highly qualified specialists to advise other employees. According to researchers, the system is especially needed in sparsely populated or remote region with a small number of medical staff. Consultations with experienced specialists would allow doctors who do not have much experience to quickly make an accurate diagnosis and prescribe the most effective treatment. Thus, the problem of professional isolation of medical personnel who work in remote locations disappears.
Telemedicine in the practice of CCM
Since "CCM" works in the segment of industrial medicine, we are interested in this direction and we are actively developing it. This gives us the opportunity to provide access to leading federal Russian and foreign multifunctional medical centers and specialists of any clinical areas at the request of the client. We can appeal to specialists for getting a second medical report, interpret the data of instrumental diagnostics, adjust the tactics of diagnosis and treatment, as well as address tactical issues related to the need for evacuation and hospitalization.
We successfully use the telemedicine technologies at remote health centers, which are located in polar conditions and on shelf projects, that is, remotely from medical centers. We conduct round-the-clock telemedicine consultations of medical specialists in order to remotely support, for diagnosis and coordination of medical care in cases of emergency using special equipment.
Our projects include a telemedicine contact center, which operates 24/7. At least five bilingual operators are always working in our personnel, who can hold consultations in Russian and English. The contact center is located in a separate office equipped with computers with the "VCS - Spontania enterprise" software for providing the telemedicine consultations, sharing files with ECG and ultrasound results and access to these materials in real time.
Appeals are registered by CRM-system. We organize and conduct emergency, urgent and planned telemedicine consultations, consiliums and clinical parse. Every month we conduct emergency medical assistance trainings.
We can provide access to more than 25 specialists in any clinical setting, solve tactical issues related to casevac operations and hospitalization of clients, and lead patients until discharge.