The use of cell phones and tablets was identified as a key factor in the growth in the healthcare technology market.

Representatives of the UCA and Neoteck stated that the objective is to establish Aguascalientes as a leader in modern, efficient projects that can have a major impact on public health.

Furthermore, Juan Camilo Mesa Jaramillo, the Rector of UCA, explained the role that universities and centers of learning and research play in improving people’s wellbeing.

The Director General of Neoteck, Fernando de Luna presented a model for care of degenerative-chronic diseases based on the remote monitoring of patient vital signs such as heartbeat, blood pressure and blood glucose levels. 

The Fermín Salaberry Hospital has joined the telemedicine network in the Province of Entre Ríos.

A few days ago, the Province’s Minister of Health held an event at the local hospital that addressed different issues including the Salaberry Hospital’s entry into the telemedicine network.

There is no fixed schedule for the implementation of the project at the hospital in Victoria, rather it is part of an ongoing process.

The Entre Ríos Telemedicine Network (RETER) is a communications network between hospitals and health centers in the province, the result of an agreement between the Ministry of Health and the Faculty of Engineering at UNER. For the moment the system is set up for medical consults: with clinical data and static images, for clinical decision making. Dynamic images are sent by conventional means.

As part of its presentation of financial results, Apple's representative, Tim Cook, and his vice-president and director of finances Peter Oppenheimer, presented a project with the Colombian Cardiovascular Foundation supported by the National Educational Service (Sena) as a successful case study in Latin America.

According to the directors of the technology giant, the initiative, led by the Cardiovascular Foundation, is a diagnostic imaging solution that helps to save lives through the healthcare services it provides to the most remote areas of the country, through mobile devices. 

Two weeks before, Apple had contacted the Foundation to inform them that, among hundreds of case studies worldwide, their initiative, based in Floridablanca, Santander, had been selected for presentation as a successful case study of the proper use of technology.

“It can also be applied to patients in intensive care units, as it allows the monitoring of vital signs. In addition we have nuclear medicine, CAT scans, ultrasounds, mammograms, and angiograms, amongst others. The most important progress in the project was achieved thanks to the support of Sena, by which we have moved into the age of mobile devices, making telemedicine more accessible,” explained Gilberto Reyes Ortiz, Director of Information and Communications Technologies at the Cardiovascular Foundation, speaking to the El Tiempo newspaper.

“It is designed with a capacity of approximately 375 beds, i.e.  it may well be larger than the largest hospitals in Lima. It will have an oncology unit to combat cancer and the most modern equipment possible,” announced the President of Peru, Ollanta Humala. 

Furthermore, he said that the modern hospital will be built over a five hectare area and is the result of an investment of approximately 300 million sols, a “message” to the population that they are getting the respect that they deserve with regard to the quality of healthcare.  

The president emphasized that the existing 79 year old infrastructure of Antonio Lorena hospital had been demolished to make way for a modern construction that the “historical capital of Peru, of Tahuntinsuyo; Cusco, deserves.” And he confirmed that the hospital services of the health center have been transferred to the Army barracks at Huancaro. 

“And it is also true that it is not the only regional capital of Peru that has this need, we want to make progress, to meet the short term healthcare needs of our brothers in Apurimac, Madre de Dios and other regions in the country who will be coming here,” he said. 

One of the objectives of the Digital Agenda for Europe is to achieve greater implementation of telemedicine services by 2020.

Online healthcare technology can improve the quality of care, facilitate and make patients’ access to treatment and their personal medical information safer, reduce the risk of medical error and contribute to the early detection of health problems. It can also facilitate the continuity of medical care across national borders.  

EU directive 2011/24/UE regarding the rights of patients to cross-border healthcare makes clear the right of patients to receive cross-border healthcare and even remote care via telemedicine.

Telemedicine improves access to specialized medical care in areas where there are not enough specialists or there are problems with access. It is not a new medical field and does not attempt to replace the traditional methods of healthcare provision such as face to face consults. Rather it represents a new way of providing healthcare services that can complement and potentially improve the quality and efficiency of traditional methods, as was recently recognized by EU Directive 2011/24/UE on the rights of patients to cross-border healthcare.

Javier Colorado, Vice-Director of Promotion and Prevention at the Ladera Health Network, a non-profit organization in Cali State was at the Las Mercedes Penitentiary in Cartago presenting a pilot healthcare project they are leading.  

 “We want to introduce a technological healthcare solution with telemedicine,” said Colorado. This consists of specialized virtual medical consultations that patients can access easily, in which an inmate can be assessed by a specialist at the health center in Cali. Waiting periods for medical consults could be as short as 7 days, a large reduction on current periods, which can be as long as 3 months and the system would also avoid the need for physical transfers.

For telemedicine, specialized medical care teams are needed, as the patients’ assessment is sent over the Internet to the medical specialist in real time. “The diagnosis is reliable, as the specialist is a supported by the doctor and the necessary tests and will thus be able to guide the patient’s treatment,” added Vice-Director Javier Colorado.

Karla Liliana Torres, Director of the Penitentiary in Cartago, stated that this would be an opportunity to reduce the congestion of legal proceedings as there are currently around 85 inmates who require different specialties and many of them present petitions and claims in order to gain access to these services.