Telemedicine for the Nyandiwa Health Centre

p
PROJECT STARTED IN JULY 2018

TELEMEDICINE

Multidisciplinary asynchronous teleconsultation for the Nyandiwa Health Center
A collaboration between IKSDP and Global Health Telemedicine

Description of the project

GHT was born from the experience of the DREAM program and it counts 15 years of experience within the telemedicine in Africa.

In 2016 a new “web_based” platform was realized, with a particular feature: it can also work offline, which is quite relevant feature for many rural sanitary centers who don’t have a not stable connection.

This software allows to connect doctors and nurses from a peripheral health center with a network of specialists who will reply to the medical question with diagnostic and therapeutic suggestions, according to the required medical branch and language.

This network is now made up by 30 health centers involved in 13 countries: all engaged specialists relate to 18 medical branches and they are more or less 140 professionals, most of them from Italy but some from other European medical centers of excellence.

The medical specialties now available are: cardiology, radiology, surgery, infectious diseases, dermatology, hematology, neurology, ophthalmology, internal medicine, endocrinology, ortho, urology, angio, gastroenterology, oncology, nephrology, burn center.

Every request can be sent to a single doctor or group of doctors belonging to the required specialised branch.

Radiographies, photographies, electrocardiograms, procedures, blood and other diagnostic tests can be attached to each teleconsultation.

A Center of Service supervises the functioning of the platform. It is mainly made up of nurses and it intervenes when necessary to guarantee the conclusion of every teleconsultation request. Training of applicant personnel is essential not only for the correct use of this software but mostly to deepen every aspect of medical semiotics: to have a good answer you should ask a good question. For the purpose of helping the applicant doctor, the platform includes the chance of using “specialized wizards” that guide doctors or nurses to a good formulation of the question, by avoiding to forget relevant information or details.

GHT also guarantees both a health and technology help desk to provide assistance when necessary…

The platform works offline too and it provides the chance of sending and receiving data later when the connection becomes available. This feature is essential as it allows to work also when there is no connection.

 

Service organization and instrumentation

The organizational model, active for over five years, is specified as follows:

  1. The doctor of the African health center decides to ask a consultation for a specific clinical case;
  2. He inserts the patient data within the software, he chooses the specialist to refer the question to and he attaches all exams and procedures (radiographies, photographies, electrocardiograms etc.);
  3. He sends the teleconsultation online;
  4. A sms informing about the teleconsultation will be sent to doctors of the desired branch that speak the same language of the applicant doctor;
  5. When the doctor is online, he sees the teleconsultation and answers to the question directly online;
  6. The applicant doctor or nurse receives a sms advising him that someone replied. When online, he sees the reply together with diagnosis and all possible therapeutic advices and suggestions.

Instrumentation

  • Laptop with Windows Pro 10
  • Offline software
  • Software for acquiring radiogram
  • Digital BT Leetman phonendoscope
  • Webcam and HD webcam software
  • Stands for webcam
  • Light plane
  • HD digital scanner
  • Electrocardiograph (Carioline or Mortara) with related software
  • Oximeter and related software
FROM JULY 2018

A new location at the Nyandiwa Health Centre

result of the collaboration between IKSDP and GHT

Are you interested in collaborating on this project?