Telemedicine as an Innovative Model for Rebuilding Medical Systems in Developing Countries Through Multipartnership Collaboration: The Case of Albania

Abstract

The U.S. Government and other developed nations provide billions of dollars annually in relief assistance to countries around the world. The long-term benefits of this aid, however, are often difficult to elucidate. The aim of this article is to present a model of a multipartnership collaboration among U.S. governmental, nongovernmental organizations, and academia to rebuild medical systems using telemedicine as a sustainable model of foreign aid. The International Virtual e-Hospital implemented the "initiate-build-operate-transfer" strategy to establish an effective telemedicine system in Albania that includes the National Telemedicine Center and 12 regional telemedicine centers. This nationwide telemedicine network has active clinical programs, virtual educational programs, and an electronic library that has substantially improved the access to care while advancing medical education. We propose that telemedicine is an optimal, sustainable, low-cost model for rebuilding medical systems of developing countries when implemented through a multipartnership approach.

A video parent-training program for families of children with autism spectrum disorder in Albania

“…Second, even if families are enthusiastic about intervention, practical barriers can limit access to services. Intervention can be expensive and geographical locations vary in the amount of free or subsidized support offered for children with ASD (Latifi et al, 2015; Sharpe, & Baker, 2007). Accordingly, poverty and being uninsured are significantly associated with greater unmet need for medical and psychological services (Chiri & Warfield, 2012).…”

“…Additionally, transportation to and from intervention may be costly and time-consuming. Given the inequitable geographic distribution of health-related resources, this is particularly the case for families living in rural areas (Latifi et al, 2015; Thomas et al, 2007). Moreover, intervention services are frequently offered during standard business hours that overlap with working parents’ schedules.…”

“…Although it was upgraded from a lower- to an upper-middle-income country (the latter denoting gross national income per capita between about $4,000 and $12,000) in 2013 (The World Bank, 2015), Statistics Times lists the per capita GDP in 2016 as $3,946, ranking 40 th among the 45 countries in Europe. Services for children with ASD are particularly limited in Albania due to a lack of trained providers and inadequate resources (Daniels, Como, Hergüner, Kostadinova, Stosic, & Shih, 2017; Latifi et al, 2015). Indeed, the first early intervention center for children with ASD in Albania was established in 2009 (Wallace et al, 2012).…”

Contribution of a synchronic teleneurology program to decrease the patient number waiting for a first consultation and their waiting time in Chile

“…As in other latitudes, the Teleneurology Program at HHT improved the control and monitoring of neurological patients with clear and stable pathologies [27,28]. The HHT Teleneurology system contributes significantly to the continuous education of primary health care doctors, neurology residents and neurologist doctors, by teaching them how the Teleneurology system works before beginning their functions in Teleneurology program, as well as, accompanying both professionals in the moment in which that each patient is treated, what is widely supported in the current literature [29][30][31].…”

Perspective on COVID-19: Finally, Telemedicine at Center Stage

“…40 In addition, telemedicine has great potential for large scale manmade or natural disasters and emergencies that are characterized by unpredictability to place, time, and the number of injured people as well as their injury severity score, when other mode of transmission of information is not possible, or when the terrestrial infrastructure is lacking or has been destroyed by war or neglect, or simply did not exist at all. [41][42][43][44][45] As a result of these studies, a number of nation-wide telemedicine programs have been established 46,47 and have successfully increased access to care, particularly, specialized care. Telemedicine for disaster should be part of the nation-wide mass casualties structured centers that mimic trauma and stroke centers in high-income countries.…”