A study of a rural telemedicine system in the Amazon region of Peru

Abstract

Voice and data communication facilities (email via VHF radio) were installed in 39 previously isolated health facilities in the province of Alto Amazonas in Peru. A baseline study was carried out in January 2001 and a follow-up evaluation in May 2002, after nine months of operation. We measured the reliability of the technology and the effect the system had on staff access to medical training and information. We also measured the indirect effects on the general population of access to better health-care. The experimental data were collected from 35 of the 39 sites in face-to-face questionnaire interviews. Before installation of the system, the mean consultation rate was 3 per month per facility (95% CI 1.5 to 4.5). At the end of the study, the mean consultation rate was 23 per month per facility (95% CI 14.7 to 31.5). There were 205 emergency transfers from the 39 health facilities. The system was employed in all these cases to alert the referral centre. The mean time required for evacuation was reduced from 8.6 h to 5.2 h. Health-care personnel reported that in 58 of the emergency cases (28%) the use of the system saved the life of the patient. The study shows that the use of communication technologies appropriate to local needs solves many problems in rural primary care, and that voice and email communication via VHF radio are feasible and useful for rural telemedicine.

Evaluación de programas de salud electrónica en el Perú: enfoque multidisciplinario y perspectivas actuales

“…Programa EHAS (22) Sistema de monitoreo, seguimiento y evaluación de pacientes Encuestas La media para derivar a un paciente se redujo de 8,6 a 5,2 h. El personal reportó que en el 28% de los casos de emergencia, la telemedicina salvó la vida del paciente. Tabla 1.…”

Free and Open Source Software and Technology for Sustainable Development

“…The latter can be grouped into two categories: health centres (HCs) and health posts (HPs) (Martínez et al, 2004). An HP (Figure 12.1) is an access point to the healthcare system for a rural population.…”

“…With the technical solution achieved, several telemedicine networks were deployed in Colombia and Peru using the HF/VHF bands the governments had granted to the health authorities, allowing healthcare centres to use voice and low-speed data services (Rendón et al, 2005;Martínez et al, 2004). However, this solution proved far too complex and it was very difficult to train local technicians to maintain the data services.…”

“…Significant positive results have been achieved and verified in the EHAS interventions using the methodology defined by Martínez (2001): from 93 per cent of healthcare workers who previously said it was impossible to obtain a consultation to 95 per cent who now say it is easy and fast to get this help in cases where there was doubt (this is reflected in a 700 per cent increase in the number of consultations); a 75 per cent reduction in the number of trips required for the delivery of reports; a 60 per cent reduction in the average time for transferring emergency patients; and significant reduction in the maternal and newborn child morbidity and mortality rates in the project areas (Martínez et al, 2004).…”

Ethics and Health Informatics: Focus on Latin America and the Caribbean

“…Hay quienes sostienen que América Latina podría beneficiarse ampliamente de las ventajas de la telemedicina (3)(4)(5)(6) 2 , dado que los servicios "telemédicos" llegarían a comunidades habitualmente huérfanas de todo tipo de atención. Muchos son entusiastas y sostienen que la telemedicina representa un conjunto de procedimientos que impactan favorablemente en los procesos de modernización sectorial, generando oportunidades de acceso a atención mé-dica de primer nivel a comunidades tradicionalmente marginadas.…”