Primary Experience of Telemedicine at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences

Telemedicine plays an important role in providing medical services over long distances, particularly in developing countries. For better management and planning, periodic assessment of this system seems necessary. This study was aimed to evaluate the first phase of teleconsultation project so as to use the findings for addressing the current practical problems and improving the system for future projects. After installing the equipment in Imam Khomeini Hospital of Firuzkuh and Zaeem Hospital of Pakdasht as the remote sites, teleconsultation project was started and patients at these hospitals requiring specialist opinion were enrolled in the study and consultation via teleconference by specialists at Masih Daneshvari Hospital as the central site was performed for them. A total of 22 patients (13 male) with mean age of 54.13 years (14 in Imam Khomeini Hospital) entered the study. Pulmonary medicine was the most frequently requested consultation 36.4%), followed by cardiology (27.3%). Teleconsultation was resulted in recovery and discharge of 8 patients, yet 4 patients required emergency referral to a more equipped hospital. This study demonstrated that inadequate knowledge and unacceptability of telemedicine among physicians and medical staff and unavailability of necessary instrumentation in remote centers, and also lack of all the required specialties in central site, were setbacks in the uptake of teleconsultation system. Therefore, future projects should be conducted with enough funding and using the experience of this study to improve the quality and quantity of the consultations in order to perform a more meticulous assessment.