Teleclinic
The opening of the joint Russian-German teleclinic based in Regional Cancer Dispensary took place in January 2015.
Teleclinic is a platform for continuous professional medical contacts.
Key areas of work:
• Specialized teleconsultation;
• Teleconferences;
• Distance education.
Teleclinic promotes:
• Improving health care quality;
• Improving access to health care and reduce time for diagnosis;
• Reducing the number of cases of unjustified transfer and transportation of patients;
• Improving the knowledge of specialists;
• The solution of the issue of personnel deficiency;
• Creation of unified national and regional patient registries;
• Harmonisation of standards for diagnosis and treatment.
At the end of January 2015 there were performed the first teleconsultations of patients with German specialists of Chemnitz and Frankfurt.
Consultation of complicated cases with urologists from Grenoble (France) has already been established. The idea to open such teleclinic appeared in the German consulting company "Epos." Its executive director, Stefan Dornheim noted that the experience of patients’ management with the help of telemedicine is gained. The system not only allows doctors to communicate with patients and colleagues, but also to transmit x-ray images, the data of magnetic resonance imaging, various laboratory tests, form the electronic medical patient record.
It is worth noting that teleclinic appeared in Irkutsk in the framework of public-private partnership. "Epos" Company donated apparatus for videoconference. The clinic is equipped with a video room with high-resolution screens where foreign specialists, X-rays, results of laboratory and clinical studies can be seen at the same time.
Launching of teleclinic improved the quality of care and help people avoid serious costs for treatment in foreign clinics. Each year, nearly a thousand of Russian patients arrive in European clinics just to get an alternative view of foreign doctors.
Within the framework of teleclinic there is a mutual exchange of experience, as foreign doctors also want to learn about our technology.
As for financial side, in severe cases, consultations are free of charge. Residents of different parts of the region can get to the clinic by a doctor's referral, having done necessary examination. Patients themselves can also participate in the dialogue of doctors and ask questions.
In the future, not only doctors of Cancer Center will have the opportunity to communicate with foreign specialists using teleclinic, but other medical institutions of the region. Opening of teleclinic gives an impact to the development of medicine.