Telemedicine

Project Coordinator: Matvey Kh. Nikolayev, Head of Telemedicine Centre “Republican Centre for Disaster Medicine” under Ministry of Healthcare of Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Ministry of Healthcare of Sakha Republic (Yakutia) International Telemedicine Cooperation Projects coordinator.

Project Member Regions:

  • • Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Russia - Matvey Kh. Nikolayev, Head of Telemedicine Centre “Republican Centre for Disaster Medicine” under Ministry of Healthcare of Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Ministry of Healthcare of Sakha Republic (Yakutia) International Telemedicine Cooperation Projects coordinator.
  • • Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, Russia - Aleksandr Tsaregorotsev, Deputy Director for Science, Ugra Research Institute of Information technologies
  • • State of Alaska, USA – Stewart Ferguson, Director of the Federal Health Network for Alaska Indigenous Tribes
  • • Gangwon Province, Republic of Korea - Dr. Ahn MooEob, Hallym University Medical Center “Holy Heart”, Cheuncheon

Brief Description:

One of the priority projects of the Northern Forum aimed at solving social issues of the North population is the international project of cooperation in the field of telemedicine between the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and Alaska, initiated due to the active work of the secretariat of the Northern Forum, cooperation with foreign partners, direct work of specialists abroad.

The goal of the project is to promote the development of telemedicine in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug using telemedicine workstations and telemedicine technologies used in Alaska (USA) and Kangwon Province, Republic of Korea.

In general, the project will promote the introduction of mobile telemedicine technologies and create a network of specialists who will work and help each other in telemedicine services to the remote northern communities.

Activity:

The International Telemedicine Project, launched under the auspices of the Northern Forum, has achieved some successes, in the framework of organized seminars and the exchange of experience in Messrs. Anchorage, Seward, Khanty-Mansiysk, Yakutsk, Seattle, Pyongchang. The last international seminar was held in October 2013 in Yakutsk, where a delegation of 8 specialists from the Republic of Korea participated. The main presentation at the seminar was a presentation by Dr. Ahn MooEob, Hallym University Medical Center “Holy Heart”, Cheuncheon, Korea about a technologically advanced telemedicine that is routinely used in all medical institutions in Korea and long being used at homes of every patient, as a home telemedicine set.

Today, all 34 central district hospitals of Yakutia, leading multisectoral republican hospitals and dispensaries, have computer and telecommunication equipment for conducting full-scale telemedicine consultations on IP telephony and videoconferencing, with the possibility of demonstrating medical images and data. Annually about 20 thousand patients with complex health issues are consulted remotely.

Within the framework of the Healthcare Development Program of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) for 2012-2016, the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) carries out program activities (9.2. Development of telemedicine technologies) to provide the people with affordable medical assistance using telemedicine technologies, in particular - remote transmission of electrocardiograms (ECG), patients with cardiovascular diseases, to Telemedicine and Consultative Centers of Republican hospitals, through mobile communication (digital GPRS, CSD channels). To date, 150 telecardiographs have been used in the central district hospitals in the country, 2,400 ECGs have been transmitted, 2000 consultations on complex patients have been received, and the number of consultations annually increases by 300%!

In 2015, as part of the program, the telemedicine information system AMS Doctor.Net was introduced in district and republican hospitals / dispensaries of the SR(Y). This system of delayed telemedicine consultations is designed to conduct telemedicine consultations between physicians in order to clarify the diagnosis, treatment tactics, and teleconceptions.

In 2016, 18 Arctic and northern central district hospitals were equipped with telemedicine diagnostic complexes of the 24-hour ECG monitoring system and arterial pressure by Valenta complexes, with electronic transfer of functional diagnostic data from Yakutia’s districts to the consultation center, in order to ensure timely detection of diseases, reducing mortality from cardiovascular diseases. Central district hospitals began an important diagnosis of Holter monitoring of patients, with the transfer of arrays of functional diagnostic data to our consultation center of the functional diagnostic department. Before that, all patients who needed Holter monitoring were forced to fly to Yakutsk, which entails great financial and attendant costs. But thanks to this project and telemedicine technologies, the people of these areas can receive differential diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases at the place of residence!

In June 2016, the Telemedicine Center was established on the basis of the Republican Center for Catastrophe Medicine of the Ministry of Health of Sakha Republic (Yakutia), and from 16.06.16 the established telemedicine center started emergency telemedicine consulting work using videoconferencing, between the central district hospitals and republican hospitals / dispensaries of Yakutia. More than 800 emergency telemedicine consultations were held, saving more than 75 million rubles, as compared to costly traditional consultations.

In 2017 the Republican Center for Catastrophe Medicine purchased complex equipment for the Telemedicine Center for Emergency Teleconsultations and intensive care units of the central district hospitals, for demonstrating all required documents and medical images of necessary quality, excluding ambiguous interpretation , with the demostration of the most serious patients (victims) during emergency telemedicine consultations, video conferencing system, designed for emergency telemedicine consultations, where requests come from fixed and mobile telemedicine consultation units. The basis of the Emergency Telemedicine Advisory Service for Patients and Victims in Emergency Situations has been created for conducting tele-consultations of doctors of state and municipal medical organizations of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).The system of emergency medical assistance with the use of telemedicine technologies allows to interact with the operational units of the Ministry of Emergency Measures, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, federal, interregional and regional health authorities and centers of catastrophe medicine.

In 2018, the Emergency Telemedicine Consultations System will continue to develop at the rural healthcare level.

Proposals for the development and improvement of the Telemedicine project:

  1. Joint work of the Northern Forum partners for obtaining state support for targeted telemedicine programs and budget financing for the implementation of telemedicine development projects in Sakha Republic (Yakutia) and Khanty-Mansiysk AO, including of international level, with the aim of applying the best foreign experience.
  2. Opening the Yakutsk representative offices of the following medical industry companies: a) Alaska, USA (AMD Telemedicine) b) Kangwon Province, Republic of Korea. Joint cooperation in the field of telemedicine technologies. Purchase of mobile telemedicine complexes with modern medical devices used abroad;
  3. To organize an international circumpolar telemedicine conference in 2017. The conference will help to develop the Arctic telemedicine program for northern regions, primarily in Sakha Republic (Yakutia).
  4. To conduct planned training and internships for health professionals on international exchange programs.
  5. Sharing foreign telecommunication networks technologies for telemedicine systems for introduction in the telemedicine healthcare network of Sakha Republic (Yakutia) and Khanty-Mansiysk AO;
  6. Implementation of the best software solutions - applications to mobile devices in medical organizations of the telemedicine healthcare network of the SR(Y) and KhMAO.
  7. Introduction and development of home telemedicine technologies, telemedicine systems for dynamic monitoring of patients suffering from chronic diseases and creating a network of telemedicine services for socially unprotected people.