An evaluation of the first year's experience with a low-cost telemedicine link in Bangladesh.
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Date
2001-05-10
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Abstract
In July 1999 the Swinfen Charitable Trust in the UK established a telemedicine link in Bangladesh between the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed CRP in Dhaka and medical consultants abroad This low cost telemedicine system used a digital camera to capture still images which were then transmitted by email During the first 12 months 27 telemedicine referrals were made The following specialties were consulted neurology 44 orthopaedics 40 rheumatology 8 nephrology 4 and paediatrics 4 Initial email replies were received at the CRP within a day of referral in 70 of cases and within thee days in 100 which shows that store and forward telemedicine can be both fast and reliable Telemedicine consultation was complete within three days in 14 cases 52 and within three weeks in 24 cases 89 Referral was judged to be beneficial in 24 cases 89 the benefits including establishment of the diagnosis the provision of reassurance to the patient and referring doctor and a change of management Four patients 15 of the total and their families were spared the considerable expense and unnecessary stress of travelling abroad for a second opinion and the savings from this alone outweighed the set up and running costs in Bangladesh The latter are limited to an email account with an Internet service provider and the local rate telephone call charges from the CRP This successful telemedicine system is a model for further telemedicine projects in the developing world